1917 Movie Review
Nathan Swank
January 9th, 2020
If you are a regular to Flix66, you already know how much we love 1917. While we haven’t written an official review until now, the film has topped my Ten Best Movies of 2019 list and made the cut in our Top Ten Movies of the 2010s. But since the film will finally receive a wide release for all to see this weekend, I wanted to give a proper treatment to express why everyone should see this masterpiece on the big screen.
Set during the First World War, two young British soldiers (George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman) are tasked with an almost impossible mission. With no way of communicating through radio, the soldiers must race against time across enemy territory to deliver a message to stop a deadly attack that will save hundreds of soldiers.
Director Sam Mendes pieced the screenplay together with co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns through stories that his grandfather told him. Mendes’s vision of expressing the story through a seemingly single shot in a nearly real time war atmosphere makes for a visceral experience.
I’ve always been a big fan of Peter Weir’s GALLIPOLI from 1981 starring Mel Gibson. Also set during the First World War, GALLIPOLI follows a couple of Australian sprinters whose jobs were to pass information between officers to know that their command was on the same page. The idea of passing messages by human rather than electronic transmission in this day an age, when nearly every person alive has their own cell phone, is mind blowing. 1917 has taken this critical element within war life and turned it up several notches.
Roger Deakins is inarguably one of the greatest cinematographers of all time. He may have topped even himself with one of the most amazing cinematography jobs on screen that we’ve ever seen. I hate speaking hyperbole as it only can raise expectations to a height of being disappointed. But I can’t help myself, as every movement is picturesque with incredible camera work and lighting, making the audience feel as if they are in this walking nightmare of heroism.
Sam Mendes’s choice to give the film the look of one continuous take has never been more appropriate. The effect is mind blowing. While we’ve seen the technique terrifically used a handful of times over the years, most recently in the Oscar winning BIRDMAN, it has never been done quite so effectively.
Mendes’s longtime collaborator, and one of my personal favorites, Thomas Newman composed the score for 1917. This in addition to set design, costuming, makeup, effects design, sound editing, and whatever film element I’m leaving off come together for a visual feat of perfection.
Mark Strong, Richard Madden, Colin Firth, and Benedict Cumberbatch all pop up in very brief and intricall supporting roles. But the focus simply follows our two lesser known leads who represent every unnamed soldier that are all thrust into heroic leadership during wartime.
It’s amazing to think that twenty years ago Sam Mendes won the Oscar for best director and Best Picture for the AMERICAN BEAUTY. After many great films that have followed (ROAD TO PERDITION, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, AWAY WE GO, SKYFALL) I believe he is finally primed for a second.
I’m not sure why, but The First World War gets far less film treatment than WWII, which is another reason why 1917 feels fresh. It’s a good reminder of how important the individual soldier can be in war.
The one-shot technique utilizing a clever real time perspective creates an urgent non-stop intensity of danger and exhaustion. 1917 is an incredible technical accomplishment and it’s an emotionally moving story that demands to be seen on the big screen.
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