Astounding camerawork drives an often moving film

Rating: 9/10 (10 January 2020)

Though the acting here is good, this is most definitely a director's movie. The real star here is the use of the almost constantly moving camera, which is either following from the side or often leading from the front of the characters.
Since the main characters are sent, from the opening of the movie, on a DANGEROUS QUEST, this means that they are in almost constant movement across a dangerous terrain - the NE part of France during World War I - that gives the director the chance to keep us in almost constant suspense with that camera movement. In fact, I came to feel, as I watched it, that this movie was like the sort of video game in which the player must traverse a certain area, always on the lookout for things that might jump out at him or otherwise prevent his reaching his goal. But in the end, it is the standard format for almost any adventure, be it The Lord of the Rings or a medieval knight's tale: the hero must traverse dangerous lands in order to prevent a great catastrophe, with only his wits and - in this case - very limited weaponry to defend himself from those who try to stop him.
The movie most reminded me of a video game during the moments when it seemed least realistic. Without giving anything away, the main character's encounter with a rapidly-rushing, rock-filled river while still wearing his boots and kit goes far behind the realm of human possibility.
There were also a few scenes where the main characters do things that, while they build suspense, would not likely be done by individuals in their situation, like investigating an apparently deserted farmhouse that they do not need to worry about in order to continue their quest.
So, in short, though the movie presents itself as functioning in the real world of NE France during World War I, you have to suspend your disbelief on occasion when it enters a sort of fantasyland.
Still, the use of the camera is often downright remarkable, as I began by saying, and that carried me beyond such moments and held me to the end.