In her new film Lee, Kate Winslet is casted in the eponymous role and plays the famous model and war photojournalist Lee Miller, who focused her lens on the most pertinent events of World War II. One of the most exposed photographs of Miller’s works came to controversy when Miller shot a self-portrait of herself in the bathtub of Adolf Hitler. – This photo was taken even before the end of World War II and carries a lot of meaning, and recently Winslet spoke about it a lot during the press tour.
This photograph was taken in the apartment occupied by Hitler, destroying one of the most striking contrasts – that of life and death, upon a great day of conciliation and defeat. As the actress spoke about the moment in the film where her character reenacts this scene, she explained that this specific photograph was an understanding of what Miller witnessed during the war, its harsh realities.
“Lee Miller was not only making a point,” explained Winslet. – “In the face of complete evil, she was restoring humankind. That little bathtub is her way of saying, ‘I’ve been there, I survived, we survived.’ It is a fact of defiance and resilience and also the plea to reach inner peace. ”
The picture, Winslet went on, shows one of the faces of war: it is terrible, awful; still, it was also one of the great victories of mankind over oppression. “Documenting pain and violence for years, Miller at that point in time let herself fully grasp it,” Winslet added.
One of those is the bathtub photo of Miller, which has been popularly regarded as overt opposition against even the imposition of power in the most intimate space – the house of the Führer. Winslet’s depiction of the same moment in Lee relates the history; not just the feelings of Miller, but also the mental exhaustion of being such a witness to the events.
In Wyeth’s powerful performance as Miller, it leads the audience to the emotional journey of a woman who has recorded the unspeakable while struggling with her own wars up to the moment of capturing the distressing moments.
