No Man's Land Nightmare

Rating: 9/10 (15 January 2020)

A British regiment is walking into a trap and the only way to reach them is by messenger. It's a long shot and the troopers know it so the commander has wisely chosen Corporal Blake, the brother of a member of the regiment to provide them with incentive to move with haste. His war weary mate's feelings remain mixed.
Fix your bayonet and join Corporals Blake and Scofield in a race with death across No Man's Land, April 1917. Without an ounce of let-up 1917 is a film experience like no other with director Sam Mendes seemingly only having to yell action once. Relentlessly paced it gives the audience like our protagonists little time to pause or relax as Mendes infuses every moment with tension, every movement one of unpredictable suspenseful outcome.
Dean Charles Chapman and George Mckay as the corporals give powerful performances as they make their way through this macabre obstacle course of death, decay and destrutction. Chafing with resentment at times, they nevertheless have each others backs and commit to the mission.
Pantheon cinematographer Roger Deakins simply delivers one rousing image and bravura camera move after the next that plainly states why he is. He along with Mendes and company (editor Lee Smith, production designer Dennis Gassner) have not only made the best film of the year but the best since its ground breaking predecessor Birdman (2014). Falling out of its high velocity synch only once ( a scene with a refugee and child) 1917 is masterful film making that will awe on many levels.