Wayfaring Strangers

Rating: 8/10 (20 January 2020)

That's what war does to all of those young soldiers: turning them into alienated wayfaring strangers, just trying to survive in all the madness around. Sometimes the technical aspects of creating the illusion that everything we see is being shot in one take, dominate the story and the human implications.
But Mendes manages to keep the balance most of the time, supported of course by extraordinary young actors, who make the journey believable.
What i liked most were the moments of silence, of grief, of melancholy, the singing soldier in the wood, the surrealism of huge burning buildings at night, the loss of orientation in life-threatening situations. This exciting experience wouldn't work without Deakins brilliant cinematography, which is the real Oscar-worthy part here in my opinion.