A technical marvel, 1917's one-shot conceit is immersive and affecting

Rating: 8/10 (12 January 2020)

1917 is a very good film in general, but it's the way it's shot that marks it as an artistically cutting-edge film. It brings the technical excellence of Dunkirk, with great war sets and brutally realistic depictions of the intensity of war, but intelligently turns to a humanist angle in telling a simple story of two men trying to help their country's men. There are no bad elements of 1917, but it's the phenomenal execution of the one-shot technique that makes it great. The tracking shots in the trenches made me realize how much less immersive it is to be constantly cut to the front of the next shot, rather than seeing the path the characters take. Given that it's this one epic journey, it is fitting to go on it with Schofield the whole way. The colors and big war shots (especially Schofield running across the war zone to reach the captain and him jumping into the river) were gorgeous. The score is essential, ratcheting tension up quickly in scenes like the rat trip wire and also calming it down in personal scenes like one character's death and when Schofield meets the baby and woman. War is so extreme and all-encompassing that it's truly difficult for any film to accurately capture it, but 1917 belongs up there with the best efforts. It is a film of brutality and loyalty, but above all it's a beautiful work of art about one of the ugliest subjects known to man.