Oh, cool, another film about war, is what you all thought when it was revealed Skyfall alum Sam Mendes was going to take us on a jaunt through the hellmouth of World War I in France with 1917, wasn’t it?
Then you heard they’d made the film to be one continuous shot. That’s right, never cutting from the scene, or character, to take on another angle. Throw in Colin Firth, Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch and Richard Madden and they got you, hook, line and sinker, yes?
1917, put quite simply, is a cinematic feat of brilliance that deserves all the awards thrown at it.
From the opening scene when we’re met with two British soldiers Schofield and Blake (played by George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman) taking five in a field of flowers, to the very moment they’re thrust over the parapet and into No Man’s Land to get a message to Blake’s brother (Madden). Sent on their way by superiors to hand-deliver a letter calling off an attack on the Germans, if they fail, well, it’s certain death.
We’re not starved for films that retell the horrors faced by the troops in WWI, but 1917 goes above and beyond, so to speak, in giving us the point-of-view of actually being there.
It focuses on just a tiny moment in the Great War and a day in the lives of these soldiers, knowing if Mendes is going to be telling it in as close to real time as possible let’s not babble on and chew the fat.
Mendes, and famed cinematographer Roger Deakins, may as well have plonked us in a VR headset, thrown some rats at us, blasted us with rubble and explosions and jabbed us in the heart a few times. 1917 is that vivid and surreal.
There is only one moment, maybe two, that I noticed, where it was positively impossible to have used the single-shot palaver but the scene was still stitched together like some perfect French tapestry. You never really notice any cuts, no other moments the camera may have broken shot – my eyes were a fool to the mastery of Mendes and Deakins’ craft.
Martin Scorsese – is THIS cinema?!
There is no glossing over the horrors of war, only brought more to life by the employment of this camera technique.
Oh, a dead body, bloated and decomposing in a muddy puddle? Sorry viewer, this camera isn’t cutting away, you best get used to it.
Oh, that’s Tommen Baratheon stepping on the head of a fallen comrade as they push for the enemy’s trenches? Had totally forgot – this is captivating stuff.
On screen 90% of the time, MacKay does an extraordinary job of maintaining the heightened tension of fear, anxiety, energy and character needed to tell the story in ‘one take’. But there’s a lot to be said for the dude running around a giant lot, while the camera crew hitch a ride on the back of a trolley, for two hours without missing a noticeable beat, as explosions go off inches away, when he probably wanted a break for craft services (or water? A wee?) 15 scenes earlier.
I must admit the film lost me near the end, when Schofield, hiding from the enemy in a shelled-out French village, stumbles upon a local who was harbouring another. It felt like an opportunity taken to get a female in the film (unfortunately not many female roles for a flick about the horrors of the British solider in the first world war, who’d a thunk?) that just wasn’t necessary. Perhaps it was a time for MacKay to get his breath back and recalibrate before the stunning final act? Was it a chance for us to digest what we’ve seen thus far?
It’s also a shame that due to the stunning scenery and want to show off how crafty they all are with the camera, character development is low and you’re left wanting to know more about the backstory of Scofield and Blake – anyone, really. It, at times, feels a little…dare I say, shallow?
But the set, the cinematography, the general urgency and foreboding cloud of war? *Chef’s kiss*
Pushed along by a soundtrack that did nothing to quell the nerves (strings will do that, thanks Thomas Newman, you madman), you’re on the edge right up until the conclusion, and not just any film can do that to an audience.
While it’s up against some stiff competition in the awards season praise-fest, it must be said its already-won Golden Globe was so very well deserved, for Mendes as best director and for best drama motion picture, while it’s upcoming Baftas nominations haul sends a clear message of its clout.
When the Oscar nominations ramp up the buzz even more so next week, I expect 1917 to be there front and centre – as it deserves to be.
1917 is in cinemas today.
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