Tense and Exciting, Yet Not as much Violence as One Might Expect from a War Movie

Rating: 9/10 (19 January 2020)

World War I has been a topic of interest to me for a very long time. Naturally, when I first heard about this film, I took the first opportunity I could to go and see it.
I haven't seen too many war films, but one of the things I noticed with a lot of the films that I've seen is that most of them focus on a single moment of action. They build characters either before or during in breaks between the action but generally with many of the war films I've seen, you always end up down and dirty in the middle of the action almost the whole time once it commences. This film is much different and it's one of the reasons why I like it so much.
This film is very unique because it doesn't really throw the viewer in the middle of a battle the same way a lot of other films do. Of course, the films that do that are trying to portray the horrors of the violence of war, which is important, but I think this film shows a different side of the grit of war. The mission at hand is simple and doesn't really require any grandiose acts of violence. Yes, there is still violence in this film, but what makes this film so successful is the constant suspense it puts you under. You never feel like the characters are entirely safe. They might be in a great, open field that's completely empty, but you never really know if they are safe or not unless they are in their home trenches. Somehow, the film is able to paint the trenches, which we are all told the horrors about in our history classes, are the only real safe place from sudden danger. This film is constantly tense and the way that it was shot- being made to look like it was all one single shot- helps to directly contribute to that constant tense feeling.
The cinematography of this film is fantastic. Many scenes are so uniquely lit and the movement of the camera during the long tracking shots help to keep this film visually interesting.
The soundtrack for this film is as awe inspiring as the cinematography is. I don't want to go too much into a music review, but the soundtrack only adds to the experience.
I think this is a war film that is definitely worth seeing even for those who don't like them very much. I can't speak highly enough about this film.