1917 - Review
Director: Sam Mendes
Cast: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Richard Madden
During World War I, Lance Corporals William Schofield (MacKay) and Tom Blake (Chapman) are tasked with delivering a message calling off an attack that will lead to the deaths of thousands of British soldiers.
Although not evident from the film's first trailer, 1917 has since made its one single tracking shot appearance the centre of its marketing and has been the primary point of discussion surrounding the film. Director Sam Mendes envisioned this technique for the film during the earliest stages of development and incorporated the idea into the script. To bring his extraordinary spectacle to the big screen, Mendes underwent a lengthy pre-production process and recruited legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, whose years of experience in the industry have seemingly led up to this.
There isn't a moment in the duo's journey where danger or imminent threat isn't present. As they cross the front line and venture into German territory, they encounter the horrors that could lie in store for them if they fail to reach their destination - bodies that have been abandoned on the battlefield, horse carcasses and rats scurrying over corpses. It's a grim and harsh awakening, but Schofield and Blake have no time to reflect or second question. Them moving forward is not only imperative to the success of their mission, but also to the film's reason for existing.
1917 is the first of his films that director Sam Mendes has written the screenplay for, collaborating with up-and-coming writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Much like Christopher Nolan's war epic Dunkirk (2017), backstory or motivation is not even a consideration as our sympathies are with the characters from the very get-go. War has been thrust upon them and survival is their only goal, but despite this fundamental understanding, the film is essentially a fluid connection of set pieces. The skill on display is irrefutably stunning, but the mechanical and choreographed nature of the film is occasionally too difficult to overlook.
A near-incomparable cinematic achievement, 1917 is a technical marvel that cements Deakins' legendary status and Mendes' ambition but the action-fuelled story may leave you feeling a little hollow.
EB
Cast: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Richard Madden
During World War I, Lance Corporals William Schofield (MacKay) and Tom Blake (Chapman) are tasked with delivering a message calling off an attack that will lead to the deaths of thousands of British soldiers.
Although not evident from the film's first trailer, 1917 has since made its one single tracking shot appearance the centre of its marketing and has been the primary point of discussion surrounding the film. Director Sam Mendes envisioned this technique for the film during the earliest stages of development and incorporated the idea into the script. To bring his extraordinary spectacle to the big screen, Mendes underwent a lengthy pre-production process and recruited legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, whose years of experience in the industry have seemingly led up to this.
There isn't a moment in the duo's journey where danger or imminent threat isn't present. As they cross the front line and venture into German territory, they encounter the horrors that could lie in store for them if they fail to reach their destination - bodies that have been abandoned on the battlefield, horse carcasses and rats scurrying over corpses. It's a grim and harsh awakening, but Schofield and Blake have no time to reflect or second question. Them moving forward is not only imperative to the success of their mission, but also to the film's reason for existing.
1917 is the first of his films that director Sam Mendes has written the screenplay for, collaborating with up-and-coming writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Much like Christopher Nolan's war epic Dunkirk (2017), backstory or motivation is not even a consideration as our sympathies are with the characters from the very get-go. War has been thrust upon them and survival is their only goal, but despite this fundamental understanding, the film is essentially a fluid connection of set pieces. The skill on display is irrefutably stunning, but the mechanical and choreographed nature of the film is occasionally too difficult to overlook.
A near-incomparable cinematic achievement, 1917 is a technical marvel that cements Deakins' legendary status and Mendes' ambition but the action-fuelled story may leave you feeling a little hollow.
EB
Comments
Post a Comment