Released: January 2020
Director: Sam Mendes
Rated R
Run Time: 119 Minutes
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Genre: War/Drama
Cast:
Dean-Charles Chapman: Lance Corporal Blake
George MacKay: Lance Corporal Schofield
Colin Firth: General Erinmore
Andrew Scott: Lieutenant Leslie
Benedict Cumberbatch: Colonel Mackenzie
Richard Madden: Lieutenant Joseph Blake
Mark Strong: Captain Smith
When it comes to war movies, I’ve seen a lot of films that deal with different wars throughout history. Some of my favorite war movies include Saving Private Ryan, We Were Soldiers, Hamburger Hill, Apocalypse Now, Black Hawk Down, and Glory. Some of those films cover World War II, Vietnam, and the American Civil War. Those periods have tendency to get the most attention, because they’re extremely popular subjects in history and film. But there are some periods in history which don’t get a lot of attention: The Korean War, The War of 1812, and more specifically, World War I. World War I was a game-changer in many ways in terms of how we conduct combat on the battlefield. The old-style of having entire battalions line up and charge at each other no longer worked, because technology had changed. Instead of muskets, we now had machine guns, airplanes, and chemical warfare. WWI was one of the most devastating conflicts that the world had seen up to that point. While it was touted as “The War to End All Wars,” all it ended up doing was leading to World War II, a war that made the first one look like child’s play. World War I is a backdrop that not many films use these days. We saw it as the background of Wonder Woman, but we really haven’t seen a dedicated war movie about WWI in a long time. There have been a few: All Quiet on the Western Front, Flyboys, War Horse, and most recently, 1917. 1917 is the film that I will be covering today.
1917 follows Lance Corporals Blake and Schofield as they are tasked with delivering orders to another British battalion instructing them to not press forward with their attack. The Germans are leading them into a trap and it’s up to Blake and Schofield to deliver the orders on time to prevent the deaths of over 16,000 men. One of those men happens to be Blake’s older brother. So, with orders and supplies in hand, the two make their way across the treacherous No Man’s Land and across the country-side in order to accomplish their mission. As simple as the story seems to be, it’s still very compelling, because it’s about two soldiers trying to do their duty in the face of overwhelming odds and without knowing what might get in the way. The other thing is that the story is inspired in part by the stories that were told by Sam Mendes’ grandfather, Alfred Mendes, who served in the 1st Rifle Brigade along the Belgian Front. So, if the story feels personal, that’s because it kind of is for the director. The story presented here is fiction, but there is an element of truth and authenticity that makes it so compelling.
The first thing I want to talk about with this film before I get into anything else, is the cinematography and editing. I honestly don’t think I’ve really seen a movie that was made this way before. The cinematography is beyond exceptional. I’ve made comments about how movies like Joker have great cinematography, but 1917 beats them all. I usually don’t go into detail about cinematography, outside of how well the film looks, but there’s a reason for why this movie won Best Cinematography. The way this movie was filmed is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen movies that have long takes in them, but for an entire film to feel like it’s one long take? I’ve never seen anything like that before. This is also where the film’s editing is absolutely brilliant. There are cuts in the movie at the end of certain scenes, but you don’t notice them, and that’s because of Roger Deakins’ cinematography. I was watching the special features on the Blu-Ray, and it just blows my mind with what they did here. Every set that you see in the film was created in a way that the scene had to be the same length as the set. For a example, if a scene lasted 8 minutes, the actors had to walk for 8 minutes. It was the same deal for each set after that, and they never used the same set twice. This helped keep the flow of the film going smoothly. The camera-work is truly exceptional, because of the techniques that they used. The logistics for a movie done this way is mind-boggling. I would say that it’s not something that every movie should use, as it is pretty experimental, but it really worked for this film. Roger Deakins is a true master of his craft and he’s earned his Academy Award.
Because 1917 focuses on Blake and Schofield, everybody else gets pushed to the side, but again, that’s for the flow of the film. There are a number of high-profile cameos in the film, however. Colin Firth as General Erinmore, Andrew Scott as Lieutenant Leslie, Mark Strong as Captain Smith, Game of Thrones alumni Richard Madden as Lieutenant Blake, and fan-favorite Benedict Cumberbatch as Colonel Mackenzie. They all show up for only a few minutes in the film, but they still manage to make a huge impression. As I said, though, the film’s focus is on Lance Corporals Blake and Schofield, played by Dean-Charles Chapman(also from Game of Thrones) and George MacKay respectively. The acting on display here is superb, even if the characterization is minimal. It’s minimal in the same way that Dunkirk had minimal characterization, but there’s enough here to make us give a damn.
For anybody expecting Saving Private Ryan levels of violence here, you’re not going to get it. In fact, I would argue that it’s not a super-violent movie. It has its moments for sure, but it doesn’t dwell on them. There are some disturbing images for sure, but those are to be expected on the battlefield, especially No Man’s Land. But even though there’s not a lot of violence, the movie is incredibly intense, because we the audience are on the same journey as Blake and Schofield. In fact, the way the film is made, there are moments when you feel like you are part of the team. That’s not to say that there aren’t any war moments in the film, there are. They are spectacular. For a war film, 1917 is surprisingly and brilliantly restrained, as I think it needed to be. You don’t need graphic violence to illustrate the intensity of war. I would love for a World War I movie to be made in the style of Saving Private Ryan with all the graphic violence included, but 1917 is not that kind of film, and I respect it for that. Are there any real negatives about this film? Not really. No film is perfect, but any nitpicks that I have are just that, nitpicks. Quite frankly, it isn’t worth my time or effort to spell out nitpicks. The overall quality of the film speaks for itself. Sam Mendes has proven time and time again that he is an excellent director and he surrounds himself with the best people, including Roger Deakins. I love this movie in every aspect. It is, in my opinion, a modern masterpiece with an outstanding technical achievement in film-making. This is the kind of film that you want students in film school to take a look at and see how a film can pioneer new story-telling techniques. Even for those who may not be war movie buffs like me, 1917 is worth watching for the cinematography alone. Why I missed this one in theaters, I will never know, but it comes with my highest recommendation.
My Final Recommendation: 10/10. This is a must-see film for anybody who considers themselves a film enthusiast.