At lunchtime today, I caught the Number 88 bus into the centre of the city. I had not been to the cinema in a good long while and what else can you do on a grey, drizzly day when you want to get out of the house?
I was off to see "Lee" starring Kate Winslet as the American World War II journalist and photographer Lee Miller. Before leaving home, I checked out a couple of film reviews from "The Guardian".
Surprisingly, one of those reviewers only gave "Lee" two stars. Apparently, he didn't much appreciate the background music. But the reviewer I trust the most - Mark Kermode - talked in glowing terms about the film in general and about Kate Winslet's performance in particular.
At "The Showroom", I sat in the darkness of Screen Two thoroughly absorbed by the film. It honoured Lee Miller but it also reminded film-goers of the horrors of war. Kate Winslet's performance was superb in my opinion and if she isn't nominated for an Oscar then something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
Lee Miller got herself into some very scary situations as World War II drew to a close and was one of the first photo-journalists to record the terrible scenes at two concentration camps - Dachau and Buchenwald.
Famously, she visited Hitler's apartment in Berlin and filled his bath with hot water before climbing in to bathe. This scene was replicated in the film along with several other of her most impactful images.
During its production "Lee" had financial issues to contend with and it nearly was not finished. Kate Winslet, now 49 years old, believed in the project so fiercely that at one point she kept the production afloat with her own money.
I am glad she did. Far from being worth only two stars, I thought that "Lee" was just about worthy of five stars. Maybe it's not your kind of film but for me it was better than expected and I was completely under its spell on a drizzly Tuesday afternoon.
