Deserves every Oscar nom

Rating: 10/10 (22 January 2020)

1917: A different kind of war movie: Up close and personal. Opening shot: a bucolic field of wild flowers, a lovely, calm day, blue cloudless sky, quite, serine, slowly pulls back to reveal a bivouac of British troops, sleeping, smoking, eating, refreshing, resting, waiting. It's WWI. The phone lines have been cut and two British soldiers are called to the Commanding General's bunker and are given the mission to deliver a message to the commander of another regiment a few miles away, that they must call off a planned attack scheduled for dawn the following morning because the German army has set a trap that will ensure the massacre of 1600 men, one of whom is the brother of one of the soldiers. We go along with them through enemy territory, through the mud and over the bodies of the dead, determined to complete their harrowing mission. The entire film looks like it was shot in real time in one continuous take with a hand-held steady cam. The cuts are nearly imperceptible. Birdman employed this technique wonderfully, but this endeavor far surpasses that in artistry, complexity, scope and length. This is a technical achievement without comparison. But technical achievement means nothing if there is no compelling story and investment in the characters and 1917 delivers. We are drawn in to the action so closely that we almost duck when bullets start flying. We care deeply about these two young men. It's edge-of-your-seat tension. The score by Thomas Newman enhances every moment and is profoundly moving. We're aware of it, but it doesn't call attention to itself as our pulses race along with the action. The production design is brilliant. Roger Deakins is probably the greatest cinematographer of all time. He was also the A camera operator and I can only imagine how he and director Sam Mendes managed to pull this off. I read they were in rehearsal for six months planning every shot. Score: 10. GO! Well deserving of every Oscar nomination it's gotten. 1/22/20