“Paris is like a smile with missing teeth” is a line that has resonated with me since watching Lee, as it encapsulates perfectly not only the meaning of war but also the meaning behind this film. Originally announced nine years ago in 2015, Kate Winslet has gone through trials and tribulations to get this film to the big screen, even having to help fund the film with her own money. This is a clear passion project, and it’s the first one to release this year that I can confidently say is worth everyone’s time.
Earlier in the year, we got Civil War, which showed us the point of view of a war photographer in the middle of a current war. It also had mentions of Lee Miller, which shows how impactful and powerful her work was. Lee makes you ponder the question: if Miller didn’t go out there, taking pictures of the harsh reality that was hidden from the world, would we have a barrage of photographers today, risking their lives in places like Gaza, trying to show us the truth? It’s hard to actually say, but I believe it would’ve been a long while before someone came over and took it into their own hands.
Lee starts rapidly, showcasing Miller (Kate Winslet) as she traverses the battlefield with gunshots and explosions surrounding her, nothing stopping her from getting the shot she needs. Throughout the film, we witness her unwavering dedication as she confronts situations that even the army men couldn’t endure. The film returns to this moment to conclude the first act, but unfortunately, Lee doesn’t reach these exhilarating heights again.
Although you never feel that rush at any other point in the film, Alexandre Desplat’s score really helps move the story; as Miller comes across the bodies of hundreds of innocent people, the music slowly rises, building tension and horror. Lee is far from a horror film in the conventional sense, but Desplat’s score says otherwise as we come across the certain tragedies that you find commonly with war.
The film is told through an interview decades after WWII by a journalist played by Josh O’Connor. There are a few of these scenes throughout the film that don’t allow Josh O’Connor to truly give it his all, making these scenes slightly hard to watch as they weren’t ever really giving me anything of value until the final moments of the film. Lee moves at a very steady pace at first that rises as we reach various parts of the war that Miller goes through.
The film starts off with Lee Miller having the time of her life with friends in France, meeting the love of her life, Roland Penrose (Alexander Skarsgård), and settling back into life in London before the Blitz begins. It continuously escalates until we reach that moment in the third act—the revelation of what happened to the missing people, the horror of seeing all those lifeless bodies, the special moment that Miller and David Scherman (Andy Samberg) share in Hitler’s house. Liz Hannah, John Collee, and Marion Hume achieved expressing the emotion with their writing, and Ellen Kuras brings it all to the screen perfectly in her directional debut.
Kate Winslet provides a moving performance as Lee Miller, one that’s groundbreaking and truly pictures the woman that Lee Miller was. She truly shines during the scenes where she reunites with her friends, taking us back to that quote, “Paris is like a smile with broken teeth.” We got to see how beautiful Miller’s friendship was with Solange (Marion Cotillard) and how the war has changed that. The film showcases how war can affect the happiest of lives, and even when you try to brush the dirt aside, some still remain.
What Lee truly excels in isn’t to do with the score, how the story is told, or Kate’s performance, but with the strong supporting cast that this film holds. Andy Samberg stars as David Scherman, a role that you wouldn’t usually expect to see him in, but he drops the comedic act and provides a strong dramatic performance, showing all sides of Scherman, a man who is seemingly always there for Miller, hiding his love for her and having to confront the trauma of all the dead Jewish people he has witnessed. One of the strongest scenes in the film and undoubtedly Samberg’s best performance yet, and hopefully, with how well Lee shows off his range, we could possibly see him in more dramas.
Lee might miss some opportunities at the next award season, but it’s still a biopic that tells a strong story about Lee Miller, with a supporting cast that are on par with Kate Winslet’s performance. The structure of Lee can sometimes feel off, but ultimately, when it focusses on the relationships of people and the women in war, it’s an engaging watch that teaches the audience about war photography and its hardships.
Lee releases in theatres on September 27.
