A time machine to the "torn fields of France"

Rating: 9/10 (29 January 2020)

I don't expect much when I go to the cinema. After all, most of the movies playing will fade from memory, and only a few will be cherished for generations to come. 1917 caught me by surprise.
From the very first shot, it had a sense of timelessness and immediacy, bridging the vast gap between a modern audience, warm, safe, and comfortable in a movie theatre, and the "torn fields of France." The sensory details--barbed wire slicing a soldier's hand, shell holes filled with muddy water, broken trees in the mist, corpses, flies, and rats--were overwhelming. You wanted to look away, but the horrors were filmed with such beauty that you couldn't. It was like a great symphony, majestic and overpowering, stirring your deepest emotions, with so many contrasts--fire and water, light and darkness, life and death--interspersed with scenes of peace and quiet.
Visually, 1917 is a masterpiece. However, I found it somewhat lacking in terms of dialogue and character development. The movie was also missing a theme, a metaphor, or a conclusion that would have made it intellectually engaging. Perhaps the omission was deliberate, so as not to distract the viewer from the visual poetry or hinder the pace.
Some reviewers are calling 1917 the greatest World War I movie ever. I disagree; I think the honour belongs to All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), based on the classic novel by Erich Maria Remarque. The movie is both visually and intellectually engaging, and the novel is a must-read for anyone interested in World War I. To quote the preface, "This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it." This was my biggest issue with 1917: it was, most of all, an adventure, not unlike Jumanji or Indiana Jones. A few times, I thought I was watching a video game.
Overall, 1917 was a pleasant surprise, and I strongly recommend it. Go watch it in the cinema. It will blow you away, but it may also remind you that great visuals are not a substitute for great storytelling.