Lee, 2024.
Directed by Ellen Kuras.
Starring Kate Winslet, Josh O’Connor, Andrea Riseborough, Andy Samberg, Alexander Skarsgård, Marion Cotillard, Enrique Arce, Noémie Merlant, Arinzé Kene, Vincent Colombe, Patrick Mille, Samuel Barnett, Zita Hanrot, Ian Dunnett Jnr, Harriet Leitch, James Murray, Sean Duggan, Riley Neldam, Adam Boncz, and Camilla Aiko.
SYNOPSIS:
The story of American photographer Lee Miller, a fashion model who became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II.
Based on the life of fashion model turned historically significant and trailblazing war correspondent Lee Miller, director Ellen Kuras’s Lee largely avoids most of the sinking mistakes that commonly arise in similar biopics until it falls flat on its face, morphing its journalistic interview framing device into something more and hokey. The positive news is that, even if that ending sequence does ruin some goodwill here, it is only within the final 10 minutes and doesn’t entirely ruin the film. If anything, one could probably quickly shut the movie off at a certain point should they be inclined and come away having witnessed a solid, if broad, study of a complex historical figure.
Nevertheless, the crowded screenwriting team of Liz Hannah, Marion Hume, and John Collee (working from a biography by the same journalist mentioned above who goes unnamed until the climax and is played here by recent breakout star Josh O’Connor) smartly isn’t trying to tell the entire life story of Lee Miller. Played by a compelling Kate Winslet, instead, it begins when her time as a fashion model is winding down while offering just enough of a glimpse into that lifestyle and the artsy European companions she keeps, right at the time Hitler’s influence and control is rapidly and dangerously rising ready to start World War II. She also falls in love with aspiring painter Roland (Alexander Skarsgård), who would become a conscientious objector in the war, creating camouflage techniques through his art to be used in battle.
Frustrated and seeking purpose, Lee Miller winds up with a photography gig at British Vogue, working under a team of editors, including the supportive, if not consistently successful at backing her unparalleled wartime ambition for a woman, Audrey Weathers (a nearly unrecognizable Andrea Riseborough), and some old-fashioned sexism from everywhere else at the company. Living in Europe, Lee has a sudden epiphany, thanks to Roland, that she can leverage American Vogue to her advantage, as they would be willing to embrace changing times and send a woman war correspondent into those heated combat zones if that’s what she wanted.
What follows is Lee Miller undergoing a dramatic, psychologically traumatized transformation as years in this field see her not only documenting horrific events such as the aftermath of Nazi death camps but also breaking up abuse of power through rape from soldiers against innocent women, not to mention seeing some of the same friends from earlier (played by Noémie Merlant and Marion Cotillard) suffering. To top it all off, she seems to develop more in common with American photojournalist/editor and field partner David E. Scherman (Andy Samberg, the latest sidesplitting comedian to prove that such funny actors can hang with some of the best around in more serious roles), whereas a certain point, Roland becomes more concerned with bringing her home and loses sight of how important getting this dark coverage out there in the world is to her. Fortunately, the film sticks to the journalism and doesn’t force a misplaced love triangle.
While the interview framing device allows for Kate Winslet to deliver some corny narration that doesn’t align with how intense her physical performance is, the one saving grace is that there is a jarring juxtaposition in appearance and age, showing what this draining work has done to Lee Miller mentally, emotionally, and physically (coming across battle tested and hardened, a far cry away from the model we are introduced to.) In that regard, this is also an exceptional, transformative performance from Kate Winslet, portraying Lee Miller across various critical points in her life, without the film ever feeling like it’s rushing or struggling to balance them. Fittingly, Ellen Kuras depicts the battlefields as a frightening place where one false move will result in something fatal; it’s another area where Kate Winslet’s body language and facial expressions speak volumes about the toll this is taking on her.
Outside of that striking performance from Kate Winslet, Lee isn’t particularly deep, primarily covering key events and moving on. For as impressive as the rest of the ensemble is here, the film doesn’t always have much for them to do beyond pushing Lee or the story forward. However, the film is worth seeing since it fundamentally understands how to convey such a harrowing identity transition at the expense of becoming politically active and enraged, observing unspeakable trauma.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
