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1917

A review by Brooks Rich

Sometimes a film comes along that I have so much to say about but have a hard time finding the right words. 1917 is easily the best film of 2019. It is the best war movie in years and easily one of the most stunningly shot films of the year, if not the best shot film of the year. Director Sam Mendes has crafted a masterpiece.

The film follows two soldiers in April of 1917 during the first World War. Schofield and Blake, played by George Mackay and Dean-Charles Chapman, who a lot of you will know as King Tommen from Game of Thrones, are tasked with crossing no-man's land and sneaking behind enemy lines in an attempt to reach a platoon of soldiers and stop them from walking into a trap. 

It's a simple plot. Two solders have to get from point A to point B. The film is also shot in what looks like one long continuous take. Of course this isn't true, it's all done in the editing, but it's a seamless effort on Mendes’ part and probably the best way to tell this story. There's never a chance for the characters to catch their breath. Even in moments where the film seems to slow down, there's still the chance something else can go wrong. 

This is one of those instances where I don't want to spoil anything. The story might be simple, but I do not want to explain any of the shots in this film. There are moments so exquisitely crafted I literally got chills… whether it was the visuals, the music, or a combination of both… the film is stunning! Speaking in the vaguest terms I can, there is a sequence at night that is one of the most impressive things I've seen on film in years. You'll know it when you see it. 

This is the type of film I like to refer to as a technical juggernaut. It beats every other film on a technical level and so it's the favorite heading into awards season. It's not just the cinematography either. This film is art directed to within an inch of it's life, putting us right in the middle of World War I. No other film this year has the craftsmanship that this film does. Other examples of technical juggernauts include Birdman and Titanic, which both won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and Gravity, which fell short. 

 I think this film is a masterpiece. It is in my opinion the best war movie since Saving Private Ryan as I found Dunkirk to be a major letdown and I never cared for films like Hacksaw Ridge and We Were Soldiers. Absolutely seek this film out and see it as big as possible. It's my favorite film of the year and I'm pretty sure some of the other writers on the blog would list it as their favorite too.

 Rating: 5/5 (Masterpiece))




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