Lee

Kate Winslet has been having a much-welcome renaissance in recent years. As an uncompromising actress who has been unafraid of lambasting the sexism and ageism of the industry, it’s fitting that she takes on the part of pioneering war photographer Lee Miller in Lee, Ellen Kuras’s feature film debut.

Surrounded by fellow creatives in the South of France, Lee falls for British artist Roland Penrose (Alexander Skarsgård) and the pair settle in London. Lee and Roland, a contentious objector, are aghast when they observe the rise in Nazism in Europe, but they both feel compelled to do their part for the allies. For Lee, a photojournalist for Vogue, this means taking to the frontline.

She partners with Life Magazine’s David Scherman, played by Andy Samberg in a rare dramatic role, and heads to Normandy. There, she experiences sexism as a female photographer and soon faces the grim realities of war head-on. David, like Lee, is propelled to document his new reality in painstaking detail. The moment that he, as a Jewish man, comes face to face with the piled bodies of Holocaust victims is particularly poignant.

Given Kuras’s background as a cinematographer in enlivening works as diverse as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam, one would expect Lee to be imbued with artistic flair. But it’s surprisingly televisual. Winslet, however, is impeccably understated in the title role. She works well alongside Samberg, who gives an impressively grounded and humanistic performance.

It’s a fascinating story let down by stilted dialogue and a few too many clichés. The narration feels unnecessary, as the story more than speaks for itself. A scene in which she gazes at the bloodied amputated limbs of wounded soldiers, for instance, is blighted by Lee’s retrospective observations on the horrors of war. It’s a highly moving scene that could have been all the more visceral without the on-the-nose monologue, a decision made all the more jarring considering that Winslet is a highly expressive performer.

Nevertheless, the film is worth watching both as a history lesson and for Winslet’s powerhouse performance. Well-meaning and flawlessly acted, Lee is a heartening, if unremarkable, addition to biopics about extraordinary women.

Antonia Georgiou

Lee is released nationwide on 13^th September 2024.

Watch the trailer for Lee here: