Lee (2023), directed by Ellen Kuras

A young journalist interviews former model and war correspondent Lee Miller in the 1970s at the end of her life. This takes us back in extended flashbacks to France 1938, when she has finished her modelling career, meets her husband, artist Roland Penrose, and takes up professional photography. It’s a prickly interview and as the action flashes back and forth in time it becomes apparent that there is more to the relationship than journalist and subject. Lee was always a drinker and party girl, and her wartime experiences intensify her drinking. She was a trailblazer as a war photographer and as a woman in combat zones and this film celebrates her achievements while not shying away from her flaws. Kate Winslet is excellent, as always, in the title role, although extra credit should go to the make-up team for handling the age transitions. Comic Andy Samberg is surprisingly good in the serious role of her photography partner, while Alexander Skarsgard is a slightly odd casting choice as her very English husband. A very sound supporting cast includes Josh O’Connor, an underused Marian Cotillard and Andrea Riseborough. This is an interesting and moving film that does a great job at recreating the harrowing wartime experiences and Lee Miller’s amazing photography. However it falls a little short in the emotional framing device of the interview and its resolution.