1917

By: Arlene Allen

I must confess, I usually don’t like war movies. For the most part they are nationalistic, populistic and (ultimately) depressing. Sam Mendes’ (two James Bond films, Road to Perdition, Jarhead) gorgeous epic 1917 falls into none of those traps. It’s a groundbreaking cinematic spectacular that keeps you on the edge of your seat and your heart in your mouth throughout the entire movie.

The film 1917 takes place over a little more than eight hours as two young soldiers Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and Schofield (George MacKay) must cross through enemy territory to deliver a message to another battalion in order to stop their planned early morning attack. It turns out to be a trap and the lives of sixteen hundred men will be lost, including Blake’s older brother.

Blake is hell-bent and determined to forge ahead, danger be damned. He’s young, idealistic and from a loving family. Schofield, on the other hand, is older and jaded. He is well aware this is a suicide mission. Chapman and MacKay’s faces say everything about them; no men could be more different and yet they are more than friends, more than brothers as they are soldiers together. MacKay will stay by Blake’s side through fields strewn with the dead, through booby-trapped enemy tunnels, through sniper shots, raging fire and rushing water. There is just something magical about this film – it feels like watching your sons, brothers or husbands up there. Such is the emotional bond you develop for these two men. You forget you’re watching a movie. You feel like you’re running along with them and many times I had to remind to breathe.

Mendes’ filmmaking has everything to do with the immediacy and connection to Blake and Schofield. He filmed each sequence in a single shot and then digitally edited them together. When the soldiers are in the trenches the viewer is in the trenches. You can feel the confines of the makeshift walls closing in and you duck, feeling the sniper bullets soar overhead. It is an amazing feat, not like anything I have ever seen before.

The film is about war, so there are many gruesome scenes of dead people and animals. Thus, is the ravages of war and it can’t be denied. Mendes uses actual violence judiciously so that when something atrocious happens you just about come off your seat.  At one point a German plane crashes into a barn and, honestly, I covered my face because it felt like the plane was going to go straight through the screen and into the theater. It’s one of the most stunning things that I have ever seen.

Mendes never loses sight of his real story, the emotional story of two young men fighting for their lives as well as sixteen hundred soldiers. There’s subtle commentary on glory, what it is and what it means. Blake wants his. Schofield had his and traded his medal for a bottle of wine.

If you look closely you will see cameos by Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth and Mark Strong.  But the film is absolutely owned by Chapman and MacKay. Someone give them awards – now! Mendes also deserves recognition, not just for groundbreaking cinematography but for the deeply personal and emotional punch. (While not based on any one true event, the film was inspired by stories told to him by his grandfather who served as a soldier/messenger on the front lines during WWI. The film is dedicated to him).

In addition to directing, Mendes co-wrote the script with Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Running time is 119 minutes and it is rated R for disturbing images of war, carnage and some language. Give yourself a cinematic holiday gift and go see 1917. I’m already thinking of seeing it again!