Lee
Directed byEllen Kuras
Screenplay by
Story by
Based onThe Lives of Lee Miller
by Antony Penrose
Produced by
  • Kate Solomon
  • Kate Winslet
  • Troy Lum
  • Andrew Mason
  • Marie Savare
  • Lauren Hantz
Starring
CinematographyPaweł Edelman
Edited byMikkel E. G. Nielsen
Music byAlexandre Desplat
Production
companies
Distributed bySky Cinema
StudioCanal[2]
Release date
  • 9 September 2023 (2023-09-09) (TIFF)
Running time
116 minutes[3]
CountryUnited Kingdom[3]
Languages

Lee is a 2023 British biographical drama film directed by Ellen Kuras (in her feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Liz Hannah, John Collee and Marion Hume, and story from Hume, Collee and Lem Dobbs. Adapted from the 1985 book The Lives of Lee Miller by Antony Penrose, it stars Kate Winslet as war journalist Lee Miller.

The film made its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2023.

Premise

Lee Miller goes from a career as a model to enlisting as a photographer to chronicle the events of World War II for Vogue magazine.

Cast

Production

Development

The origin of the project began when cinematographer Ellen Kuras was at a bookstore in New York and spotted a tome about war photographer Lee Miller.[4][5] Kuras noticed a similarity between Miller and actress Kate Winslet–with whom she had worked in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)–and sent Winslet a copy of the book and kept another copy for herself.[5] Years later, Winslet started developing a movie project about Miller and asked Kuras whether she would like to direct it.[4]

The project was officially announced in October 2015, with Winslet attached to star as Miller.[6] In June 2020, cinematographer Ellen Kuras was set to direct the film–her feature directorial debut,[7] with Liz Hannah adapting the screenplay from the 1985 book The Lives of Lee Miller, written by Miller's son, Antony Penrose,[8] who supported the film and gave Kuras full access to his mother's personal archives, diaries,[8] and even her unpublished work.[5] The screenplay went through several rewrites.[9] It was originally written by John Collee and Marion Hume from a story they developed together with Lem Dobbs, with Liz Hannah joining on later.[5] Winslet also served as a producer on the film.[1] She chose the screenwriters and was also in charge of finances and casting, even personally calling her co-stars.[9]

The most significant development in the film came in October 2021, when Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Andrea Riseborough and Josh O'Connor joined the cast, with a crew including Alexandre Desplat as a composer, Michael O'Connor as costume designer, cinematographer Paweł Edelman and Ivana Primorac as head makeup and hair artist.[10] In February 2022, Andy Samberg was announced as being part of the cast.[11] He would be confirmed in October 2022 alongside additional castings including Alexander Skarsgård, who replaced Law in the role of Roland Penrose.[1] Winslet wrote a letter to Cotillard asking her to play French Vogue editor Solange d'Ayen in the film.[12] Winslet and Cotillard had previously co-starred in Contagion (2011).[13]

Winslet said she was patronized by male executives when she was trying to get funding for the film.[9] "The men who think you want and need their help are unbelievably outraging. I've even had a director say to me: 'Listen, you do my film and I'll get your little Lee funded...' Little! Or we'd have potential male investors saying things like: Tell me, why am I supposed to like this woman?", Winslet told Vogue.[9] During pre-production, Winslet covered two weeks of wages with her own money due to insufficient funds.[9]

Filming

Filming began in late September 2022 in Croatia.[14] Production paused for a short period that month when Winslet slipped during filming and was taken to the hospital.[15] The accident happened on the first day of shooting, when Winslet slipped and injured her back while she was rehearsing a sequence where Lee Miller was running down the street in Saint-Malo under bombardment.[9] Winslet decided to keep filming despite her back injury and barely being able to stand up.[9]

Filming also took place in Hungary and wrapped in early December 2022.[16]

Release

Lee had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2023.[3] It will be distributed by Sky Cinema in the United Kingdom.[1][17]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 68% of 25 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.4/10.[18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[19]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Wiseman, Andreas (27 October 2022). "Lee: First Look At Kate Winslet As Pioneering War Correspondent & Photographer Lee Miller; Alexander Skarsgård, Andy Samberg, Noémie Merlant, More Join Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  2. ↑ "Lee (2023)". BBFC. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Lee". TIFF. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  4. 1 2 Garrett, Diane (9 September 2023). "How Celebrated Cinematographer Ellen Kuras Finally Got a Chance to Direct a Politically Charged Drama With Kate Winslet-Starrer 'Lee'". Variety. Archived from the original on 9 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Canfield, David (6 September 2023). "Kate Winslet Embodies an Unsung American Icon in Lee". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  6. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (13 October 2015). "Kate Winslet Attaches To Play WWII Correspondent Lee Miller". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  7. ↑ "Ellen Kuras to Make History as First Woman To Receive ASC Cinematographers Lifetime Achievement Award". Oscars.org. 2 February 2022. Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  8. 1 2 D'Alessandro, Anthony (26 June 2020). "Ellen Kuras To Direct Kate Winslet As WWII Correspondent Lee Miller". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Steavenson, Wendell (11 September 2023). "Kate Winslet on War Photographer Lee Miller, and the Film She Was Born to Make". Vogue.
  10. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (21 October 2021). "Kate Winslet Joined By Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Andrea Riseborough & Josh O'Connor For Film On Model-Turned-WWII Photographer Lee Miller". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  11. ↑ Bergeson, Samantha (3 February 2022). "Cinematographer Ellen Kuras Makes History as First Woman to Win ASC Lifetime Achievement Award". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  12. ↑ "Marion Cotillard : « Le destin de Charlotte Salomon était plus nécessaire à raconter que jamais »" [Marion Cotillard: "The fate of Charlotte Salomon was more necessary to tell than ever"]. L'Obs (in French). 6 November 2022. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022.
  13. ↑ Jagernauth, Kevin (25 August 2011). "Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow & Marion Cotillard Try & Stave Off The Virus In New 'Contagion' Photos". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 9 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  14. ↑ Zajović, Milena (1 September 2022). "Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Josh O'Connor, and Marion Cotillard to Shoot Lee Miller Biopic in Croatia". Film New Europe Association. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  15. ↑ Gajewski, Ryan (18 September 2022). "Kate Winslet Taken to Hospital After Fall While Filming in Croatia". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 18 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  16. ↑ Evans, Chris (6 September 2022). "Kate Winslet and Jude Law Starrer, Lee, to Shoot in Hungary and Croatia". Kemps Film and TV Production Services Handbook. Archived from the original on 16 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  17. ↑ Ramachadnran, Naman (1 February 2023). "Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz, Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman Star as Sky Cinema Boosts 2023 Slate". Variety. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  18. ↑ "Lee". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  19. ↑ "Lee". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
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