1917 (2019): Review by @Kush_Hayes
When Sam Mendes and his team have a story they want to tell, give him a camera, a blank check and get the hell out of his way. I do have to say, Im in the minority of people who did not like Skyfall, but I was able to recognize when I was watching a scene that was perfectly created and exhibited and while Skyfall and ultimately Spectre had all that, it was lacking something else for me. Not Important. His work in the early 21st Century was also fantastic, including American Beauty, Road To Perdition and Jarhead. All fantastic stories, all beautifully shot. Despite being set in a specific time, Perdition and Jarhead still hold up going into 2020.
And then we have 1917…
This was being telegraphed to me and my circles as clear Oscar-bait with lots of title cards of various festivals giving it high acclaim and the top tier film critics gushing quotes all over it… I can only say: Believe The Hype.
We meet two Lance Corporals enlisted in the Royal Army, taking a nap in the fields as seems to be the thing to do when they are assigned a mission to get a message to a certain battalion who are about to head straight into a trap. If this message is not received in time 1600 men will die including Cpl Blakes own brother adding that emotional motivation to the problem at hand.
While the two Corporals are walking through trenches and alike, theres very simple dialogue that plants seeds of drama setting up possible danger for these two and it never gets old. While we are receiving this information and Sam Mendes is physically following them with a steady cam for our two hour journey. They are trying to sell it as one continuous shot and thats just not true, however it even if you can see where the cutlines are, this should not deter from your enjoyment of this film. Danger is omnipotent, stakes are very high, and consequences for failure have never been more real.
Krysty Wilson-Cairnes is also credited with writing this, but her resume is very slim and at the end of our feature we are presented a title card stating that most of this movie is based off the stories that Sam Mendes grandfather experienced during “The Great War”. Im sure if I look in the EPK Ill find some info about how involved she was. However much work she did, it turned out great and theres a lot in this movie to be proud of.
I cant recommend this movie enough. It seems to have a slow release schedule, but get to it however you can. This does deserve to be seen on a big screen. I dont know yet if this is The Best Picture of 2019, but its right up there and has very strong chances to become so.
Five out of Five Blueberries
Rated R for violence, some disturbing images, and language
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