LEE (in theatres)

Lee Miller (1907-1977) was a woman of prodigious substance, a feminine force, a rule bender, barrier basher and a lifelong, in tandem with Gertrude Bell (1868-1926), destroyer of the male, testosterone dominated universal sphere. She had it all: luminous beauty, sophistication in qualitative abundance, lover and muse of Man Ray (1890-1976); inquisitive intellect that transcended gender bias; as a realistic photographer with dauntless resolve, castrating the rules, she ventured into the bowels of the final, horrific stages of WWII. Kate Winslet’s depiction defies categorization, transcends accolades, resting in the sublime company of Academy Award conquerors; she holds the sculpture from the 2009 “The Reader” for Best Actress. Here, in rarefied air, she champions, claiming real estate in the celestial.

“Lee” directed by Ellen Kuras, commences with Lee in her dotage, gin–swilling, nicotine infested, being interviewed by a deliciously handsome young man (appropriately cast Josh O’Connor); they hover over stacks of photographs reflecting her life and the landscapes she transversed; we meet her husband Roland Penrose (1900-1984), (Alexander Skarsgard, clone); Andy Samberg as David Scherman (1916-1997), Life’s wartime photographer and Lee’s companion, erases his comedic flair, securing stature as a serious actor. Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”) with stratospheric wizardry gives a heart–wrenching performance as Vogue’s English editor, Audrey Withers (1905-2001); Marion Cotillard, rips to the core her interpretation of Solange d’ Ayen (1898-1976), (fashion editor of French Vogue) metaphorically encapsulates the agony of survivors.

“Lee” is Kate Winslet’s eponymous child stating “she was redefining femininity 80 years ago to mean everything it means to us now”; women of strength, determination, intrepidness. Recognizing the consequences of flinging herself into a man-made war, she photographed the victims, regardless of ethnicity, camps, never recoiling, repudiating, but gifting historical veracities of “man’s inhumanity to man”. And triumphs!

FOUR STARS!!!!

Peneflix