A masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (23 March 2020)

1917 is a perfect film. It's not only captivating, moving and thrilling but it's also one of the best crafted movies ever made. My favorite things about it is how easy it is to remember all of its scenes in a chronological order. Every single scene is an element and a tool for the progression of the story. It doesn't matter if it's a crossing of a battlefield, pushing a cart or having a one on one shootouts with the enemy, it's all beautifully done and an example of how continuity should be executed. My favorite scene is the one in which we see the soldiers sitting in a big circle and listening to the Wayfarig Stranger. In this scene, one of the most touching I've ever seen our hero finally reaches the soldiers he's trying to find, but he finds that out only after the end of the song, because it's so electric that nobody really notices his presence there. The death of one of the main characters also serves as an example of a wonderfully crafted picture, because it's as sudden and realistic as none of us expect to see. Another interesting feature is the pain that the characters go through. Its constantly present on screen with characters putting their bleeding hands in a rotting corpse, being blown up, shot, beaten and chocked to death. One of my favorite things about the film is the fact that it never addresses the physical pain and the injuries that William Schofield constantly sustains. Every once in a while he sits down for a moment, touches the back of his head, which is bleeding of course and at the next moment he is back on the road. The fantastic Oscar worthy cinematography, direction and effects add the finishng touches to this timeless masterpiece.