R, 1hr 59min,
Drama, War
Now in Theaters
As tensions with the United States and Iran teeters back-and-forth between boiling over and returning to a simmer, I couldn’t help but be mindful of the world’s current state of affairs as I walked into Sam Mendes’ extraordinary war film “1917.” Perhaps that sense of melancholy with how society has to thread the needle to make sure another World War never happens again (or it will be our last, as President John F. Kennedy once commented) enhanced my cinematic experience. It could also be that “1917” is an excellent movie on its own merits.
The film, which was inspired by stories the directors Grandfather told him when Mendes was a young boy, tells the story of two young British soldiers during the First World War who are given an impossible mission: deliver a message deep in enemy territory that will stop 1,600 men, and one of the soldiers’ brothers, from walking straight into a deadly trap. If there is a front-runner for “Best Picture” at this year’s Academy Awards, this most certainly should be it. Almost every sequence is superb film-making. In Mendes, we are seeing a very gifted filmmaker at the height of his powers. The movie is horrific, beautiful, gruesome, unsettling and poetic all at once. It’s not a World War One movie. It’s a movie about two men trying to survive World War One. There’s a difference.
The score by Thomas Newman is understated until it finds the most appropriate moment to flex its presence in the movie. It’s one of the better scores of the year. I was shocked to discover Newman, who scored such motion pictures as “The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Green Mile,” “American Beauty,” and “WALL·E,” has been nominated and snubbed 13 times for the Academy Award for “Best Score.” Hopefully this is his year.
Speaking of snubs: Cinematographer Roger Deakins’ work on the picture is (of course) sublime. As audience members we are not merely a bystander staring at the screen but an eyewitness into the 24+ hours in the lives of these men. Deakins camera hovers behind the main characters like the POV of another soldier in the first act. When he opens up his camera and adds scope and an eerie stillness in act two, you know that the man who finally won best Cinematography last year after 13 nominations will probably take home another statue this year.
The two brothers in arms, Dean-Charles Chapman (“Game of Thrones”) and George MacKay (“11.22.63”), carry the movie on their extremely capable shoulders, especially MacKay, who can add an entire context of story with one intense look. Their characters and the performances behind them are a remarkable tribute to the men who died in “The Great War.”
Director Sam Mendes (“American Beauty,” “Skyfall”) delivers emotional heft and a bit of brevity to the proceedings. The film is a clever sleight of hand to make the audience believe it is one long take ( à la “Birdman”). It’s not, but what Mendes and his technical wizards accomplish in those long takes is nothing short of exceptional movie making.
The First World War is sometimes the forgotten war in history. Compared to World War II, it sometimes lacks the historical reverence of that war, at least where Hollywood is concerned*. 102 years after the end of that war Director Mendes has delivered a cinematic tribute that has changed that, at least for the 2020 awards season. It will have you thinking about the film, and how they pulled it off, long after you leave the theater. It may even lead you to research and learn more about the brave men behind the story and learn more about World War One in general. There is no better tribute.
*for further viewing check our Peter Jackson’s excellent World War One documentary “They Shall Not Grow Old (2018).”
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