Captivating

Rating: 7/10 (16 January 2020)

This film certainly opened with an awful lot of fanfare, and a part of me was intrigued because I do quite like World War I movies. However, for some reason I really couldn't get into this film all that much, but that didn't necessarily mean that I didn't like it, by no means, it just didn't grab me in the same way as some other World War I films have grabbed me.
The story is about two young men who are given a mission to cross over enemy lines and to prevent an attack on the Germans that will no doubt meet with failure. This is a little odd though because there were an awful lot of such attacks during the war. In fact, the Colonel at the end of this film does make mention that while this attack has been called off, no doubt sometime in the not too distant future there will be another order which will result in the same number of casualities.
The interesting thing about this film is that it appears to have been filmed in one continuous shot. Mind you, it hasn't, it is just that the film has been edited together to make it seem to be the case, though of course doing it in such a way is going to make filming it very difficult indeed, especially when the shots that are being taken take about ten odd minutes each. However, there were a couple of scenes, such as the one in the river, that certainly wouldn't be able to be done if the entire movie was made in one shot (namely because we would have to account for errors and all that).
This aspect of the film certainly does give it quite an edge though, and while it took me a little while to work it out, it certainly does have the ability to draw you in, and especially holds you glued to the screen all the way through. The suggestion is that this way it ratchets up the tension, and in a way that certainly works. Further, it doesn't give you enough time to sit back and breathe.
While, as I mentioned, that it isn't one of my favourite movies, it still is well worth seeing.