A brilliant cast, led by Kate Winslet, takes us through the story of Lee Miller’s World War Two photography through an interview done in 1977. Kate Winslet’s performance in the title role is excellent and very quickly you will get lost in her performance. Whilst the film is a biopic, it's also much more than that. It’s much more interested in the ideas and themes it’s trying to convey than telling a life story. It’s a film about war and conflict. However, it’s also a film about women, how they’re oppressed, endangered and sexualised by men and society. Whether it's Lee being unable to enter certain military tents, or if it's women being assaulted or even blamed for attacks from the Germans, everywhere you look in ‘Lee’ this sentiment is clear and obvious.
If you like Kate Winslet, war films, photography or biopics then this will interest you
We are whizzed rather quickly through the war and shown only in-depth highlights of the most important points of Lee’s photography and war efforts, the photos of which then bring us back to the interview. Structurally, this works. It helps the viewer follow along really easily, although it doesn’t allow for an amount of room to develop ideas and relationships past the surface level. If it wasn’t for the fact that Lee Miller’s war mission is genuinely an exciting and interesting watch and that Kate Winslet is gripping, you might get left wanting some more depth.
All in all, it’s a good film and it makes some interesting and needed points. However, when compared to ‘Civil War’, the war photography film of the spring/summer, it pulls up a bit short. ‘Lee’ makes some clearer points than ‘Civil War’, however it isn’t nearly as creative or imaginative with its cinematography or sound and falls a little bit flat at the end with a strange double twist that didn’t have the effect I imagine was intended. Don’t be put off though. If you like Kate Winslet, war films, photography or biopics then this will interest you and it is worth a watch.
