Went above and beyond

Rating: 10/10 (12 January 2020)

'1917' is a landmark in cinema history. Never before has WW1 been reconstructed and portrayed in such a terrifyingly honest and tender light from such an intimately human perspective. In fact, rarely have any films matched what Sam Mendes has achieved here.
Continuous 'one-shot' camera work places the viewer in a striking first-hand point of view. Gritty, bleak, historically accurate sets immerse you in the battlefield. Whether that's in the haunted bones of a crumbling French town, seeing the pockmarking of cavernous craters, brushing shoulders with servicemen in cramped trenches, or pacing through the sheer accompanying volume of corpses, blood, mud, and dust. The imminence of death overshadows constantly.
Mendes' focus on character development imprints a deep purpose for the events of the film; saving 1600 men, including the brother of one of the main characters, from a looming German entrapment.
The Germans have made a "strategic withdrawal", suggesting that they are on the run. In fact they're lying in wait, armed and ready to repel the planned British push. It's a race against time to deliver the message on foot to call off the push.
George MacKay and Dean-Charles are perfectly cast as Schofield and Blake. Each character's motivations are clear, at times shared, at times not. Mendes has developed above all believable, complex, and genuine human characters to colour the dark, dreary setting of the production. The outstanding score brings this to even greater heights.