1917: Cinema in real time!!!

Rating: 9/10 (27 January 2020)

The new movie of Sam Mendes tells the story of two british soldiers that have to take a message to stop another battalion from falling into a trap. The story is simple but Mendes tells it in a very effective and humane way. Moreover, this is, probably, one of the strongest points of the movie. Mendes shows the humanity and the cruelty of war at the same time through an amazing technique, making the movie look like it was filmed in one continuous shot. This fact, allied with a fantastic work of Roger Deakins and tremendous work of two relatively unknown actors (George MacKay and Dean Charles Chapman), makes this movie an immersive experience and seeming that we are accompanying the two soldiers in this mission as if we were also there. The soundtrack also plays an important role in elevating this film and, certainly, we cannot exclude the amazing visual effects that show clearly what happens during war and the fear a shooting or a bomb may cause.
To sum up, this is an immersive experience fantasticly directed that brings the world war I to the spotlight (rare in Hollywood) making us feel as if we were with that two soldiers that have a very simple, but at the same time, difficult mission. For me, this is one of the best movies of the year and, probably, the decade.