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Rating: 10/10 (1 May 2020)

1917 is a World War I drama directed, co-written, and produced by Sam Mendes. The film stars George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman, with Colin Firth, Andrew Scott, Mark Strong, Claire Duburcq, Benedict Cumberbatch and Richard Madden in supporting roles. It is based in part on an account told to Mendes by his paternal grandfather, Alfred Mendes. The film tells the story of two battalions of the British Army are being steered into a trap set by the Germans in World War I. Their only hope is a pair of British soldiers assigned the impossible mission to deliver a warning about this impending disaster. This message is especially important to one of the soldiers, Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) as his brother is taking part in the pending attack. Blake takes Lance Corporal Schofield (George MacKay) along on this harrowing journey across no man's land into enemy territory.
This brilliantly shot drama that won best picture honours at the Golden Globes - Mendes uses his favoured "one-shot" format from his previous works like 2015's Spectre, but this time stretches it out to feature length. 1917 uses several takes and set-ups, seamlessly conjoined to give the appearance of a continuous cinematic POV, albeit with periodic ellipses. The result is a populist, immersive drama that leads the viewer through the trenches and battlefields of northern France, as two young British soldiers attempt to make their way through enemy lines on 6 April 1917. But well beyond the ingenuity of the one-take shot, the story keeps you on the edge of your seat. This is reflected in the performances as well, with both leads swapping the narrative focus from each other in meticulously planned storytelling beats. The performances of the two young leads Dean-Charles Chapman and George MacKay are engaging, as facets of their otherwise ordinary personalities come through. The mission is the key focus as the two soldiers make their way through increasingly dangerous situations. Along the way, they encounter key army personnel, played by a cameo row of British actors, including Andrew Scott, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Richard Madden who put in brief, but impressive performances.
The cinematography by Roger Deakins is mesmerising, choreographed and executed to perfection around the horrific elements of war. Some of the frames are visually breath-taking, and demand to be revisited to absorb everything they have to offer. Throughout this journey, Thomas Newman's pulsing score builds up the tension, travelling "up the down trench", through the body-filled carnage of no man's land and into the eerie surroundings of deserted farmhouses and bombed-out churches. Occasionally, we hear echoes of the rising crescendo while elsewhere, the score is full of piercing melancholia mingled with distant threat. In a film in which music plays such a crucial role, it's significant that perhaps the most powerful scene is an interlude of song. Emerging from a river after a baptismal episode of death and rebirth, we find ourselves in a wood where a young man sings The Wayfaring Stranger. It's an interlude that brings the characters and audiences together in silence, communally experiencing that still-small voice of calm that lies at the heart of so many great war movies.