As
a proper British gentleman, Sir Nicholas Winton never boasted of his heroic
efforts in the days leading up to World War II.
Fifty years after the fact, his beloved wife chanced upon a treasure
trove of documents in their attic. Much
to his surprise, she was rather determined to make his story known to the
world. A BBC special later, the newly
knighted Winton became known as the “British Schindler.” Czech filmmakers Matej Mináč and Patrik Pašš
reveal the full extent of Winton legacy in Nicky’s
Family (trailer
here), which
opens this Friday in New York.
Alert
and active at 104, Winton is clearly somewhat bemused by his new found celebrity. Since his parents converted to Christianity,
Winton is not officially recognized as a “Righteous Gentile,” but that hardly
matters. As a young man, Winton was a
promising banker, poised to become one of his generation’s “Masters of the Universe.” However, when a friend pulled out of a
planned skiing vacation, Winton agreed to join him on a fact-finding trip to
the Sudetenland-less Czechoslovakia.
More
clear-sighted than many of England’s blue bloods, Winton was already alarmed by
the rise of National Socialism. Seeing
the conditions in Czechoslovakia’s refugee camps only compounded his
concerns. He resolved to at least save
as many children as possible launching what would become known as the Czech Kindertransport. Winton’s fascinating story of intrigue, involving
beautiful German spies and a less than indulgent boss, came to an abrupt end
when Britain formally entered the war—until the BBC started tracking down
survivors of the Kindertransport for their benign ambush.
When
Winton comes face-to-face with the grown children of the Kindertransport, it is
powerful real life drama. It is also rewarding
to hear how the survivors and their children and grandchildren have embraced
humanitarian causes as a way to repay (or pay forward) Winton’s defiant
compassion, at least up to a point. However,
director Mináč and his editor-co-writer-co-producer Pašš, rather overdo the
feel-good call to service which ends their documentary. After a while, the cavalcade of classrooms
working to save the world becomes numbing.
Still,
the documentary’s undeniable strength is the story of Winton’s rescue
operations, told through his on-camera recollections and dramatic recreations. Gripping like an espionage thriller but also
inspiring, these sequences really constitute the guts of the film.
