1917 Film Review

1917 is a masterpiece.

Written and directed by Sam Mendes and starring George Mackay and Dean-Charles Chapman (who you may recognise as Tommen from GOT). Also, brought into the mix is Roger Deakins a top class cinematographer, a recipe for success.

The film is built on a simple premise. Two Lance Corporals, Blake and Schofield set out on a mission to carry a message to another division of 1600 soldiers, deep in enemy territory, who believe they have the Germans on the run.

Aerial photographs show that’s not the case and the Germans have carried out a strategic retreat in order to lull them into a trap. However, during the retreat the German army destroyed everything they left behind, weapons, means of communication, farm animals and more. Meaning the only way to get that message across is to send someone. We find out early on that Blake is chosen not only because of him map reading skills, but because his brother is part of the battalion who were chasing down the Germans. So he more than had extra incentive to deliver the message. Now I won’t go into much more detail about the story because I don’t wish to drop any spoilers on you. So I’ll move onto the film itself as a whole.

1917 is nothing short of a masterpiece and deserves to pick up some of the top awards this year. The film is a “One Shot” film. There are obviously cuts in the movie, some more recognisable than others. But on the whole, if your not specifically looking for the shots it feels like one continuous take. Which most definitely deserves applause and recognition.

The camera never really leaves the side of the main protagonists. We are always with them, we are in the trenches with them, we cross no man’s land with them. Every single step of the way we are with them. Which draws you in as an audience member. You absorb the scene more and you feel like you’re part of the story. You feel like you’re the third Lance Corporal.

Not only does it draw you in, but it makes you more emotional and invested in the story. This is because you forget you’re watching a film, you feel like you’re watching a live stream of a story unfold in front of you. Which makes the horrors of war ever more powerful.

From a more technical view, the film is just as impressive. The work that went on behind each scene and location they used was massive. The crew dug and built over a mile of trenches and each scene had to be filmed step by step, and acted out as if it were a theatre performance. Some scenes where as short as 2 minutes and some as long as 8. Which will have been difficult and posed some challenges for the two young actors driving this story.

Every step they took not only had to be choreographed for them, but also for the crew handling the cameras and sound equipment. Also the hundreds of extras all needed to be on point and spot on with their timing. A huge amount of effort went into filming in this specific way. Not only did they face challenges like that, but they faced challenges from the elements. As the film was shot in chronological order, they had to ensure the weather matched with each take. Meaning a lot of waiting around for the clouds to gather. When they weren’t filming they where usually rehearsing the next scene for perfection.

The cinematography in the film as you will see is amazing. The realism, the beauty and the horror all intertwined to create a true and realistic masterpiece. If you watch the behind the scenes clips, you will see that lighting the scenes until later on in the film wasn’t really done. Because it’s all filmed in an exterior, and the characters are constantly moving through the film, especially in the trenches, setting up big lighting equipment was not feasible. So a lot of the film, up until the night scenes are naturally lit.

In terms of lighting, one of the scenes that really stands out, and the cinematographer and crew worked on is the flare scene. Whilst the protagonists run through the ruined buildings at night, the only way to light up the area and create and tense yet eye-catching display was using flairs along with burning buildings. They choreographed the movement and way in which the flare traveled across the sky in order to create the desired movement of Shadows within the scene. Absolutely breathtaking and creative.

There is little more I can say without giving more of the plot away, if you’ve already seen the film then you probably feel the same as me. If you haven’t yet, then what are you waiting for!? Get out there and see it. You certainly won’t regret it. One final point I would like to make is, English actor Laurence Fox has made a comment regarding the use of an Sikh Soldier in the film. He described it as distracting and forcing diversity on people. 1 in 6 British soldiers serving in ww1 where from the Indian subcontinent. Sikhs made up over 20% of the volunteered army. 74, 187 Indian soldiers lost their life and a similar number were injured (source @TellMamaUK twitter).

9.5/10