1917 : "Thrilling, powerful, and breathtaking"

Rating: 10/10 (9 February 2020)

In two words, "PUNK ROCK". This movie makes/lets you experience the dark, unexplored side of a war.
Generally, war movies are based on WW2. This one is inspired by the WW1 stories told by the director's grandfather. Due to his short height (5.1"), he was usually assigned the tasks of delivering the messages, crossing German territory. Inside the German borders, the mist used to hang at about 6 feet, so he wasn't visible above the mist.
Thanks to the smart editing of the movie, it creates an illusion of the continuous shot. It leaves an immersive effect on spectators. You feel like you are also going inside the German borders with the two English soldiers. This movie is going to win three Oscars for sure : 1 Best movie, 2 Best Cinematography, and 3 Best sound mixing... and (Maybe, 4 Best director..)
The story:
"Two young British soldiers, resting under a tree, receive new orders. They are instructed to pass on a message to the troops at the front line who are planning to attack the Germans, who have retreated. The English command, however, gets to know that the German withdrawal is a tactic, an operational Trojan horse. The telephone lines are down. The two messengers must quickly traverse the dangerous ground and physically deliver the order to the fellow British troops who might charge directly into a German trap, thereby saving countless lives. Among those troops, one soldier is the elder brother of the messenger "Lance Corporals Blake".
They go to a nerve-shattering journey: an unfortunate barbed-wire encounter, a mysterious bunker to contend with, a German warplane crash-landing, an intense clash with German soldiers during the night, and swimming through the blood-freezing water of a German river.
In their dangerous mission, one of those two soldiers, Lance Corporals Blake, gets martyred."
According to me, the most emotional scene is the conversation between the surviving messenger and the elder brother of the martyred messenger.
There wasn't a single person in the audience with dry eyes when the elder brother of the martyred messenger asked the surviving messenger, "ohh!! My brother has also come! Where is he?".