1917

Rating: 10/10 (14 January 2020)

1917
2020
Director: Sam Mendes
Starring Dean Charles chapman, George makay, Colin Firth, Richard Madden.Bendadict Cumberbatch etc

1917 is based within the first world war. Where a battalion of 1,600 soldiers are sent to retreat the Germans but what they don't realise is that it's a trap and a massacre. So, it's down to Corporal Blake (Dean Charles chapman) and corporal Schofield (George makay) to stop this from happening but they will be met with multiple challenges along the way. Wow what a truly incredible movie that hit the mark on every level, visuals, acting and a compelling story lets talk more about this.
First, the cinematography was stunning. This film really was firstly phenomenal to look at, and secondly really transported you into the world of the film, and it really made you feel a part of the time, with its scarily realistic set designs and scenery truly making you feel like you were in the battlefield with them. Leading to a truly phenomenal film just to look at and I was often sitting in awe of the film. The visual creativity as well was of the chart, making me truly respect the artistry of Sam Mendes with what he can create.
Next the film really made you connect with the two main characters and their performances were fantastic. Due to the film largely being focused on just two characters it gave you more time to truly connect and spend more time with them as there friendship developed throughout the film, so they actually made a good decision by having more secondary characters with only a couple of scenes and two key characters to connect and focus on. And the performance from both Dean Charles Chapman and George Makay were truly fantastic. Considering that I had never heard of either of these two actors before they surprised me at there acting abilities. They showed emotional complexity of what it would be like being a soldier in the war, in truly versatile performances, hitting all the right notes with both serious, impactful and emotional scenes.
Next the film did not hold back with showing the harsh reality of war with its gore and action sequences. In order for the film to leave the impact that it did, gory scenes showing the true horrors of war was needed, and it was most certainly shocking to watch. The film did a great job at getting under your skin with surprisingly very realistic looking bodies. A key scene that stands out to me would be when corporal Schofield, is swimming in a lake trying to get on the shore, but there is a large amount of bodies that he had to swim through in order to save himself, this scene truly left one of the biggest impact for me, and I am glad the director did not hold back with showing what war was really like, and especially glad that he didn't play it safe.
My only slight nit-pick that stopped the film from being truly perfect for me was that I felt that they could have been slightly more creative with the films character arcs and development. The film didn't show a lot of back story to the main characters, which I got as it was more about the developing friendship, however it would have been nice to have learned slightly more about them, but this is only a slight nit-pick. As well as the death of corporal Blake I felt could have been saved for the final act, yes this gave corporal Scofield the motivation to find his brother, but perhaps another scenario for the film could have been where Blake reunites with his brother and then gets killed whilst the Germans were attacking, but once again I didn't have an issue with what they did but this could have been how this particular death could have been placed slightly differently.
Next, I thought the film managed to achieve an extremely tense tone and well executed jump scares. The film in a lot of places didn't have any soundtrack, which worked perfectly as I felt on the edge of my seat throughout the whole film, and I also think fear of the unknown for the audience and for the characters on the screen also made the film very tense as well. And due to this lack of sound in places there was a surprising amount of well executed jumpscares. These were largely just explosions or gun shots, but they happened completely out of the blue which I was not expecting but it was a welcome surprise for me.
My next two positives would be the films surprising amount of emotional weight and its incredible final act. Wow this film was surprisingly emotional, just seeing the large body count throughout, truly made me realise whilst watching how pointless war is, and I think that's a good message to spread. And to have corporal Blake get killed was extremely heart-breaking, due to him not being able to see his brother and the connection he had formed with Scofield you could really tell how sad he was feeling which is another credit to there acting abilities. And the long drawn out scene of his death really allowed the audience time for what just happened to sink in, therefore making it even more emotional to watch. The final act was truly one of the best things I have ever seen. Sam Mendes did an excellent job at misleading you into what was going to happen, he could of easily went the predictable root and just let the message be delivered, but no the soldiers were already on the battlefield when Scofield was attempting to deliver the message. They went all out with fantastic cinematography, surprising cameos and an impactful ending with Blakes brother which really worked as a show of respect for the character and to make you leave the film satisfied.
However, my final biggest positive would be how the film managed to look like one continuous take. Wow what a clever creative decision here. Yes, there was clearly a few cuts, but they were very well disguised and didn't affect the flow of the movie. Having one continuous take really gets you immersed in the film, and makes you feel like you are there with the characters truly leading to excellent experience whilst watching, as you connected with the characters more and it makes you feel like part of the movie.
Overall 1917 is a true cinematic masterpiece and deserving of all its awards buzz. With a fantastically acted and fantastically crafted immersive film that might be my favourite of the year.