Immersive, thrilling, and just pure cinema

Rating: 8/10 (15 January 2020)

That's it, that's the review. It's meant in the most complementary of ways. But yeah.
Two young men are sent running towards, away from, over, under, around, and through enemy lines to save the lives of 1600 men doomed to charge headlong to their deaths. Throughout their harrowing mission is heartbreak and terror, success and setback. It's a film about survival and the extraordinary actions needed just to make it home.
1917 is a technical masterpiece. Even those among you that are familiar and fans of the work of Emmanuel "Chivo" Lubezki must reckon with the GOAT-ness bubbling forth from this master class of cinematography from Roger Deakins. Immersive feels like an understatement. Throughout the film are examples of expert lighting, production design that is both grandiose and detailed all at once, and marathon shots meticulously choreographed.
A razed French village illuminated solely by the glow of white phosphorus flairs. A brief respite and moment of humanity in a furnace lit basement. A palm-sweating journey into and through no mans land. This film's indelibility lies not in its story, but in its imagery.