{"id":3710,"date":"2024-08-29T02:22:08","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T02:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=3710"},"modified":"2024-10-14T13:17:21","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T17:17:21","slug":"1917","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/29\/1917\/","title":{"rendered":"1917"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"1917 <\/strong>(2019)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Universal\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 119 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (violence, some disturbing images, language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Sam Mendes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Thomas Newman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Roger Deakins\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: January 10, 2020 (US, wide)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburcq, Daniel Mays, Adrian Scarborough, Jamie Parker, Michael Jibson, Richard McCabe.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $159.2M (US)\/$384.6M (World)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0It seems like every war from the last 100 years or so has its defining film, one that puts you right in the trenches and battlefields with the soldiers as they fight for freedom and democracy. The Vietnam War has Platoon, WWII has Saving Private Ryan and now WWI has 1917<\/strong>, a harrowing cinematic experience not easily shaken off. It tells a compelling story, but what people will be talking about is the presentation. It\u2019s shot in one long unbroken take. I know it\u2019s been done before. It\u2019s an idea that goes all the way back to the opening sequence of Orson Welles\u2019 1958 film noir Touch of Evil. More recently, the highly overrated Birdman did it. But whereas it felt showy in the 2014 Best Picture winner, it makes 1917, <\/strong>which takes place in real time, all the more visceral and nerve-racking.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Two young British soldiers, Schofield (MacKay, Captain Fantastic) and Blake (Chapman, Blinded by the Light), stationed in Northern France are given a mission of the utmost importance. They\u2019re ordered to cross enemy territory to hand-deliver a message to the commander of another regiment telling him to call off a planned attack on German forces. It turns out their retreat behind the Hindenburg Line is a ruse to lure British forces into an ambush. If they don\u2019t reach their destination in time to stop the attack, 1600 men could lose their lives. One of the soldiers-at-risk is Blake\u2019s brother so there\u2019s a personal stake in this mission.<\/p>\n

\u00a0After helming the last two James Bond flicks, Sam Mendes brings his artistic mastery to 1917<\/strong>, an outstanding film that earns a spot right alongside classic WWI dramas like All Quiet on the Western Front and Paths of Glory. I can\u2019t say enough good things about his visual style, an amazing feat he accomplishes with the valuable assistance of Roger Deakins (Fargo, No Country for Old Men), unquestionably one of the finest cinematographers of our time. The whole one-take thing keeps the viewer not just interested but also involved. I felt like I was right there with Schofield and Blake trudging through crowded trenches and muddy battlefields littered with the fresh corpses of soldiers and fly-covered horses. Scene after scene is fraught with danger and anxiety like their brief stop in an abandoned, rat-infested bunker. The editing by Lee Smith is seamless; there\u2019s only one scene where it\u2019s obvious a cut is being made. Mendes also makes excellent use of sound. All of these technical aspects work in conjunction to make 1917<\/strong> a tense two hours in Hell.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Although we don\u2019t learn much about the backgrounds of the protagonists until late in the game, we nevertheless become emotionally invested in MacKay and Chapman\u2019s characters because they\u2019re young and willing to lay down their lives to save others. As actors, they bring gravitas to their roles. In a larger sense, 1917<\/strong> is a salute to bravery in service. Mendes\u2019 screenplay, which he co-wrote Krysty Wilson-Cairns, is inspired by his grandfather\u2019s experiences in WWI (the movie is dedicated to him). 1917<\/strong> also marks a Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy reunion of sorts with Colin Firth, Mark Strong and Benedict Cumberbatch appearing in small supporting roles. There\u2019s also a powerful scene with a young French woman (Duburcq) and a presumably orphaned baby. In this scene and a few others, the humanity of the two main characters shines through.<\/p>\n

\u00a0What\u2019s interesting is that you don\u2019t feel the movie\u2019s two-hour running time. I mention this as a counterpoint to the eternity in Purgatory that is A Hidden Life. Whereas its three hours felt like three years, I only checked my watch once during 1917<\/strong> when the movie was three-quarters over. My only regret is that I had to wait to see it because it meant delaying my Top 10 of 2019 list. The good news is that it was worth it. This movie will be on the list. Put it on yours too.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1917 (2019)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Universal\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 119 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (violence, some disturbing images, language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Sam Mendes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Thomas Newman\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Roger Deakins\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: January 10, 2020 (US, wide)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburcq, Daniel Mays, Adrian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dramas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1917-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3713,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3710\/revisions\/3713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}