A Near-Perfect Cinematic Experience

Rating: 10/10 (11 January 2020)

If you're ever in the mood to watch a war film, there's an over-abundance of them throughout history. You can almost always find one that you haven't seen before. For this reason alone, I find myself being very cautious when one is about to get a wide release. With recent releases like Hacksaw Ridge or Dunkirk, my faith in the genre is always rejuvenated. Well, 1917 is yet another war film to come along and surprise me. For all the technical reasons to love this film on top of the powerful story itself, here's why I believe 1917 is one of 2019s very best films.
The premise is nice and simple. Two young soldiers are given the task of sneaking through enemy lines in order to deliver a message to their commander, which will, in turn, save thousands of lives if received in time. This premise makes for a very tense ride. On top of being an engaging story, this movie is filmed in such a way that it makes it feel like one continuous take, for the most part, which ultimately begs the core actors to deliver the performances of their career.
Although I've seen him in great films like Captain Fantastic and Pride, George MacKay never really stood out to me as award-worthy, but I stand corrected. This may very well be the best performance he ever gives, but that's not a negative, because I'll always remember him for this role. Alongside him is Dean-Charles Chapman, who I've also liked in Game of Thrones and Blinded by the Light, so I knew to expect a solid performance from him. With that said, he also delivers one of the better performances I've seen in 2019, simply due to the devotion he has to his character.
Now, this would absolutely be an incomplete review if I forgot to bring up how incredible the technical aspects of this film are. Roger Deakins is basically a god in the cinematography world, so his work astounds me every single time he brings his vision to a project, and 1917 is no exception to that. The way this camera seamlessly follows these actors in and out of small or big sequences was simply astonishing. Layered on top of this jaw-dropping cinematography is the superb score by Thomas Newman. The combination of being swept up in these performances, caring about the story, being impressed by the camerawork, and then finally being moved by how well the music was composed for each scene, I found it very difficult to criticize anything here.
Overall, 1917 deserves a standing ovation for the technical aspects, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that this movie also wouldn't have been as good as it is without the careful direction by Sam Mendes. Between his work on American Beauty or Skyfall, it should come as no surprise that he would make a great film, but the crew around him took it to another level in my opinion. I was sucked in from start to finish and the two-hour run time flew by. I can't recommend this film enough. Easily one of my favourite films of 2019.