Powerful War Film

Rating: 9/10 (17 January 2020)

1917: The trenches are narrow but crowded, some soldiers on one side waiting to go over the top, some crouched on the other side, eating, smoking, crying, in shock, petting a terrier. When you're moving fast through a trench system tempers are short when you bump into troopers, they are likely bereaved of friends, seeing their mates lose limbs. Blake (Dean Charles Chapman) and Schofield (George MacKay) are on a mission to inform two isolated battalions of the Devonshires to call off an attack due the next morning, the Devons will be advancing into a trap. The stakes are higher for Blake, his brother is in one of the battalions. The messengers cross no mans land, bodies caught on the barbed wire, rats gnawing on corpses, dodging snipers, booby-traps once they reach the abandoned German trenches. Watching an aerial dogfight. This is truly a journey into the heart of darkness for Blake and Schofield.
Wonderfully filmed by Roger Deakins in subdued colours with shades of brown, tan, green and khaki predominating as the soldiers progress through the mud and fields. Also some great scenes underground and in shelled out buildings lit by flares. The script is spare but gripping as not just MacKay and Chapman put in great performances; there are also great supporting turns by Mark Strong, Colin Firth , Nabhaan Rizwan and Benedict Cumberbatch. Director/Writer Sam Mendes delivers a film which will remain in your memory long after the final credits roll. 9/10.