“I didn’t waste a minute”

In delving into the life of Lee Miller, a woman who defied societal norms and reported from the battlefield during World War II, I found myself utterly captivated by her tenacity, courage, and unstoppable spirit. Her story is not just one of a remarkable journalist, but also of a woman who refused to be confined by expectations or boundaries.

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Elizabeth “Lee” Miller was captivating yet perplexing. Throughout the lengthy process of bringing our biopic “Lee” to the big screen, she constantly amazed, motivated, and drained us. Her 70-year life was so rich that the question was never, “What should we include?”, but rather, “What on earth can we omit?

In this movie, we meet Miller at middle age, a woman who had previously lived numerous lives spanning two continents. It’s no surprise that her biography is titled “The Lives of Lee Miller” as it accurately reflects her rich and diverse experiences. The book was penned by her son, Antony (Tony) Penrose, over 40 years ago, and he would readily acknowledge that his understanding of his mother has grown and evolved through a continuous quest for knowledge ever since.

Lee Miller was an American woman born at the beginning of the 20th century. Her family wasn’t wealthy nor were they poor, residing on the outskirts of a small, unremarkable town. However, by her late teens, Miller had left Poughkeepsie and found herself in Paris. In her youth, she was a model for Vogue magazine during the 1920s, and as she grew older, she became a war correspondent during World War II. Despite her various situations, she always managed to adapt and carry on. She had a passion for love and desire, and in all aspects of her life, she demonstrated courage. I believe her greatest fear was being unchallenged or uninterested.

In the movie, we are introduced to Miller at a time when she exudes the radiance and self-assurance of triumphant midlife. She stands firmly as an individual, independent woman. Among her numerous talents, what truly shines at this pivotal point in her life is her ability to let go of the past.

A quick recap of that past. After living in Paris at the height of the Jazz Age, where a bottle of champagne cost less than a glass of lemonade back home, Miller moved to New York and began a dazzling career as a fashion model – a risqué profession in the late 1920s – that landed her on the cover of Vogue. Back then, the magazine’s cover images were illustrations, yet Miller was also a photographic model: an image of her in a second-skin satin evening gown saw her become the first real woman to feature in an advertisement for a female sanitary product. Miller being Miller, she turned the ensuing scandal into a handy excuse to leave America again and get back to Paris, which she always felt was her natural home.

“I didn’t waste a minute”

Montparnasse served as the bustling epicenter of cafe society within the most refined city globally during that era. It was here that Miller, alongside fellow American artist Man Ray, captivated onlookers – a height difference between them seemingly unperturbing to their impeccably dressed duo. They relished collaborating with the burgeoning Vogue Paris (now known as Vogue France), where Lee was a multifaceted contributor, working both in front of and behind the camera. However, when Man Ray claimed credit for Miller’s creative innovations, their passion began to wane. Their friendship endured until the end of their lives. In the film, we encounter Miller in relaxed company in the south of France; Man Ray is present, seated beside his new companion, Ady Fidelin.

The concept of friendship is central to understanding Lee Miller. Men wanted her, and women wanted to be her, yet she valued friendship from either sex most of all. There were the elegant French women Solange d’Ayen and Nusch Eluard (portrayed in Lee by Marion Cotillard and Noémie Merlant), and the rather more uptight Audrey Withers (Andrea Riseborough), the no-nonsense editor of British Vogue who was well aware she would never have held such a position but for the fact that, by the time she was appointed, there was a war on.

The heart of Lee’s tale revolves around a middle-aged woman’s experience during the war. Miller encountered significant obstacles, one being her association with an unconventional platform, British Vogue (which also distributed her work in the US edition). Initially, Miller clashed with Britain’s Field Marshal Montgomery, the commander of all Allied ground troops, who refused to allow women to join the D-Day press corps, stating, “I will not tolerate them.” Interestingly, Miller recalled her American nationality at this moment – a fact she had previously overlooked when American civilians were instructed to board the last boats bound for America as war approached. Thus, Miller earned the title of an “American D-Day Dame,” with the US War Department explicitly stating that these women reporters should not cover combat. However, the rule that women journalists could only go as far as women’s services extended was promptly disregarded by Miller at the earliest possible chance.

Beyond the physical resemblance, Winslet is as unstoppable as Miller

As a dedicated cinephile, I found myself pondering over how to encapsulate such an elusive woman through film. In my role as co-screenwriter alongside Liz Hannah and John Collee, I had the privilege of collaborating intimately with none other than the talented Kate Winslet, who breathed life into Miller on the silver screen, and also with Tony Penrose.

The indefatigable Winslet drove this project from day one. Many have noted the uncanny resemblance between her and Miller; indeed, there’s a photo taken of Miller in August 1944 at the Liberation of Paris when even I struggle to tell them apart. Yet the similarity goes way beyond physical resemblance. Both were and are unstoppable and courageous. The answer to the oft-asked question about why Lee is special lies, in significant part, in what Winslet brought to it, on and off screen. She brought everything.

Speaking of Tony Penrose, it was an exceptional opportunity for us all to have such unrestricted contact with his late mother. There wasn’t a question too daring to ask or topic too sensitive to discuss. The talented team at Farleys – the Sussex farm where Lee lived post-war with Roland Penrose, where Tony grew up and now preserves the Lee Miller Archives – unearthed numerous memos, letters, and diaries that enriched our understanding. One of my favorites is a note Miller penned to Penrose (portrayed in the film by Alexander Skarsgard). It reads, “I’ve been telling everyone, ‘I never wasted a moment, I had a great time,’ but if given another chance, I would be even freer with my actions and emotions.

In a French summer prior to World War II, when Miller encountered Penrose, it felt like a bolt of electricity had electrified them. Remarkably, they were both tied in matrimony to others at that moment. However, instead of parting ways with their spouses, they maintained friendships: Penrose’s wife, Valentine Boué, resided in a London hotel that was destroyed during the Blitz, so she moved in with Penrose and Miller in Hampstead; and Miller’s husband, Aziz Eloui Bey, journeyed to England post-war to complete their divorce proceedings and bless his ex-wife’s marriage to Penrose.

When a film is inspired by a real-life individual, you get to spend considerable time in their company, and we were never tired of Lee Miller; all we craved was more information about her. The movie initiates with a young reporter questioning her actions. As a fellow journalist, I can’t help but envy him, yearning for the opportunity to interview Miller across a table, my notepad poised.

2024-09-11 15:34

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