Filmed like a video game with increasingly more difficult and unexpected challenges, tickets to see 1917 should come with your own personal seatbelt and adult diaper.
The buzz around Sam Mendes’ new war thriller is deservedly centered around its “one shot” style. As the camera follows our two protagonists Blake and Schofield in long tracking shots with no conceivable breaking point, the tension steadily climbs. This is no gimmick, however, as I have seen some critics claim. Rather, every expertly crafted camera movement works in unison with the realistic sound design and anxious score to create an assault on the viewers’ senses.
It is this sensory bombardment that is the very point. The camera moves as its own third character, placing us firmly alongside the heroes of the story as they are thrust into a suicide mission, allowing us to feel every moment of panic and shock as if we were holding a rifle ourselves. This also humanizes Blake and Schofield, who feel like real, lived-in people despite their limited dialogue (thanks to Dean Charles-Chapman and George MacKay’s intense physical devotion). These are young men, teetering on the edge of adulthood, fighting for survival.
Beyond 1917‘s jaw-dropping technical display, there is an impressive attention to detail and realism. The trenches feel dirty and grimy, swarming with rats. Every open field carries a sense of dread, every “empty” building leaves the viewer uneasy and cautious. The hundreds of soldiers Blake and Schofield come across have their own way of dealing with their surroundings: joking, sleeping, telling stories. I haven’t even mentioned brief cameos from A-listers Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch because they masterfully disappear into their roles like the unknown extras alongside them.
1917 also contains a few of the most gripping action set pieces of the year (one frantic escape from a collapsing mine shaft gave me chills), and yet, it’s the remarkable realism that leaves the biggest impact on me long after the credits. I felt every bullet and bruise on Blake and Schofield’s journey as if they were inflicted on me, and the film left me marveling at the heroism of the real life men who fought in World War I.
1917‘s rhythmic pace is slightly predictable at times, but otherwise, this is one of the most impressive technical achievements of the decade that doubles as a cautionary tale against the horrors of war. This is must-see cinema on the biggest screen possible.
The Cast: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Scott, Mark Strong, Richard Madden
The Elevator Pitch: Birdman + Saving Private Ryan
The Score: 9.75/10
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