Lee

This film had not received the publicity of those such as Barbie and Oppenheimer, and my wife and I only went to see it because its synopsis sounded more interesting than the collection of cartoons, superheroes, and trendy films on offer at our local cinema.

We are very pleased that we did so, as it is one of the best we have seen for sometime. Based on the true story of Lee Miller, an erstwhile model, who became an acclaimed war photographer, it was a marvellous human interest story coupled with an accurate account of the last years of the Second World War in Europe, carrying warnings for us today.

The star Kate Winslet was a revelation, playing this at first somewhat blowsy American, far removed from her performances as Marianne in Sense and Sensibility, and Rose in Titanic. In our opinion, her portrayal of a woman determined to become a war correspondent, in the face of a refusal by the authorities to allow females in combat zones, plus her human reaction to the horrors she encountered, as the armies uncovered the reality of the Holocaust, should win her an Oscar. The rest of the cast were excellent, the production authentic, and the lessons to be learnt clear, particularly in three important areas.

Firstly, the British and the Americans often irritate each other due to minor cultural differences, but these pale into insignificance compared to those values which bind us together. In the greatest war ever, the British had held the line against the Nazi demons, thus making it possible for America to later join Britain in the liberation of Europe, something which could not have been done, had we submitted in 1940. The undoubted courage and strength of will of the Soviet Union drove the Nazis back, but without the efforts of Britain, bombing the Germans, and using the Royal Navy to send aid coming from America, they would almost certainly have succumbed.

However with all their faults the USA was then, and is now, that shining city on the hill described by President Reagan, and should she ever go over to the dark side human civilisation would be finished. It was American might, and the courage of its fighting men, which ultimately won the war, and this film shows the joy with which the English speaking troops were received in those nations who had endured years of vicious German occupation, something many in those countries might do well to remember now, instead of constantly criticising.

Secondly Lee Miller's photographs show the absolute reality of the Holocaust, and are a standing rebuke to those foul liars who seek to claim that it never happened. At a time ,when once again the Jewish people are imperilled by those who would destroy them, the horrors portrayed in her work should be mandatory viewing for all those silly youngsters marching under antisemitic banners.

The third lesson for us follows on from the latter truth. The circle of light from the beacon of the freedom loving countries of the West is shrinking, and the monsters in the shadows, who were driven back in the 1940s are again creeping closer, as totalitarians in Russia, China, Iran and North Korea form a new Axis of evil, while too many in our countries obsess over nonsense about men being women, the use of idiotic pronouns, and are intent on undermining our economies, and therefore our defences, in the name of unproven climate theories. If we go down then democracy and freedom will never rise again.

This film encapsulates all of the above lessons, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to see the world as it was, is, and may be in the future. It is truly excellent.