War is hell, this film is NOT!

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2019)

After reviewing movies for many years I have a sort of formula when it comes to writing about the films I watch. If the movie is really bad I tend to write the review straight away so I can get it out of my mind and never have to think about it again. When a film is good, as I find most are, then I tend to wait two to three days to collect my thoughts, do some background research and write it with a clear mind. But occasionally I see a film which absolutely blows me away. These types of films come around rarely but when they do I have to really sit back, take a deep breath and comprehend just how I'm going to convey how good it is in words. 1917 is that type of film - a movie that displays technical wizardry behind the camera and amazing work in front of it. It's been six days since I've watched 1917 and I'm still in absolute awe of what I witnessed!
The year is of course 1917. Deep in the heart of France British soldiers battle the Germans in what appears to be insurmountable odds. It's on the battlefield that we meet two young soldiers, Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and Lance Corporal Schofield (George Mackay). They've just been assigned an impossible mission by General Erinmore (Colin Firth): travel by foot behind enemy lines, avoiding German snipers and artillery, to find a British battalion that is about to walk into a trap set up by the Germans. It's a task so dangerous it will probably cost both men their lives, but if they fail it will lead to the massacre of 1,600 British soldiers. Adding to the urgency of the assignment, Blake's older brother is one of the 1,600 soldiers about to walk into the ambush!
THE GOOD
After reading the above description you're probably wondering what makes this film so spellbinding. Well it's the way that it has been filmed that really puts it above other war films. Director Sam Mendes (Skyfall, American Beauty) and cinematographer Roger Deakins (Skyfall, Blade Runner 2049) have collaborated to come up with a style of filming that makes it look like one long tracking shot that never takes a break or cuts away.
We follow soldiers Blake and Schofield all the way through their mission in real time: walking though crowded bunkers, dodging snipers and crawling through mud as if we are there with them. As an audience member it's disorienting, confronting and an absolute cinematic masterpiece like I've never witnessed before. This is a film that just HAS TO be seen in the cinema to get the full experience. It's a movie that really shows the horrors of war with scenes that will shock you and sounds that will scare you. A lot of people may compare it to Saving Private Ryan but I think it may even be better than that!
THE BAD
Apart from a couple of nit-picky things there is nothing bad about this movie. There are cameos galore where the famous actor always has his back toward the camera and then dramatically turns around as if to say 'look it's me!', and a lot of the story does fall into place rather too nicely, but nothing took away from my enjoyment or made me feel as I was watching 'just another movie'. Throughout this film's two hour running time I felt as if I was on this mission with these two soldiers and absolutely nothing took me out of it until the very end credits.
THE UGLY
Mendes has managed to capture the horrors of war in full, gory detail. From dirty, rat infested bunkers to brutal deaths and amputations, nothing is off limits as 1917 definitely doesn't glamorise what these brave men in the British armed forces had to go through. It may not be easy to watch for those of you with a weak stomach but it is probably a very accurate portrayal of what really happened in World War One.
The saying 'you have to see it to believe it' is an accurate statement when talking about 1917. Nothing I write will do justice to the film which definitely requires a second viewing to fully take it in. It's war and it's ugly but the way it has been told is just as engrossing as what is being told. A must see at the cinema!
FIVE MILITARY MEDALS OUT OF FIVE