There are times when many of us feel compelled to pursue something for reasons that we don’t fully understand but that we can’t walk away from, either, no matter what the personal cost may be. So it was for former fashion model Elizabeth “Lee” Miller (Kate Winslet), who, after a successful career of sporting haute couture, became a battlefield photographer for the British edition of Vogue magazine during World War II. Admittedly, she could have enjoyed a life of luxury in her retirement, but she felt a strong need to fulfill a purpose, a decision that led her to willingly immerse herself in this dangerous venture, one in which her life was frequently on the line. However, in doing so, she captured some of the most iconic images of the war in Europe, the stories behind which are recounted and re-created in this engaging biopic from director Ellen Kuras. In chronicling Miller’s life, the film details the hard choices she made, both personally and professionally, as well as her drive to document the hard truth about a conflict for which the world didn’t always have ready access to news about, at least not in the on-demand way we do today. While the picture has a tendency to be somewhat episodic at times, it nevertheless presents a series of intriguing back stories behind a variety of incidents from the storied career of this unlikely but widely regarded journalist. This offering’s fine period piece production design effectively captures the differences between the two diverse worlds in which the protagonist lived – the elegance of high fashion and the gritty wartime landscape – backed by Winslet’s superb performance (a strong awards season contender, to be sure) and the fine supporting portrayals from an excellent ensemble cast, including Andrea Riseborough, Marion Cotillard, Samuel Barnett and a surprisingly effective Andy Samberg. These attributes aside, though, it’s somewhat mystifying how this release came and went from theaters as quickly as it did. “Lee” truly deserved wider attention than it received, but, thankfully, it’s now available for streaming. It takes courage to stick to one’s convictions in a time of combat, especially when the potential cost to oneself is as high as it was for Miller, but the world is better off for her valiant efforts in showing us what we might have missed but about which we all desperately needed to know.
