The popular term for movies and TV series that provide satisfying escape in predictable fashion is “Comfort Viewing.” No surprises, no stressful experience for the viewer. A tidy, pleasant ride.
We can’t accurately describe the Kate Winslet-starring, prestige project “Lee” as Comfort Viewing, given that it’s the story of Lee Miller, the pioneering photojournalist who captured the liberation of Paris, the Alsace Campaign and the horrors of Nazi concentration camps during World War II. As you can image, there are scenes that elicit shock and outrage, even after all these decades. However, it does make for a Familiar Viewing experience, as virtually every sequence in this impressively mounted and well-photographed docudrama is straight out of the standard-issue biopic playbook.
Based on Anthony Penrose’s book “The Lives of Lee Miller” and directed by the renowned cinematographer Ellen Kuras (“Summer of Sam,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) in her feature debut, “Lee” uses the time-honored framing device of an interview in “present day” interspersed with extended sequences set in the past. In 1977, a young writer (Josh O’Connor) chats with the older Miller (the makeup on the always brilliant Winslet is convincing enough), who has only reluctantly agreed to talk to him. Cue the flashbacks to the French countryside in the late 1930s, where the fashion model turned photographer Lee Miller joins her bohemian friends for outdoor lunches and.