Other than Peter Jackson’s efforts, there hasn’t been a lot of great recent movies about World War I. Well Sam Mendes and Roger Deakins changed that with 1917. Something as simple as delivering a message can be as harrowing an experience as actually fighting in a war when you have to deal with trenches, bunkers, and just an insane amount of rats.
Two British lance corporals, Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and Schofield (George MacKay), sleeping miles away from the front lines during The Great War, get summoned into the presence of General Erinmore (Colin Firth). Apparently, Blake’s brother is in a battalion near the front lines, and that battalion is walking into a German trap. With telecom communications severed, Blake and Schofield are given orders to halt the British advance, trying to spare 1500+ soldiers’ lives. To carry out this task, the two corporals have to walk through a series of abandoned German war lines, which may or may not be filled with snipers, trip mines, and other sinister traps.
Normally I don’t like talking about the cinematographer first in a review, but Roger Deakins’s shooting of 1917 gives the movie all of its power. Of all the movies Deakins has shot (Blade Runner 2049, Skyfall, No Country for Old Men, to name a few), this is his masterpiece. Mendes wants this 2 hour long movie directed in what appears to be 1 LENGTHY continuous shot. That means the camera never stops rolling while we travel with Blake and Schofield as they walk/run/jump toward the front lines, where, you know, there’s an EFFING battle going on. I honestly don’t know how Deakins did this; he had to set up elaborate sets, create all the action, and find out where to put the camera to follow these guys as they encounter peril after peril. However he did this, it’s hard to argue with the results. The audience feels like a 3rd companion on this quest, experiencing all the horrors, surprises, and tension Corporals Blake and Schofield feel as they try to deliver a letter. I was giving myself a hug for most of this film, terrified at what new horrid event was lurking around the corner. And thanks to Deakins and Mendes, what a fascinating, inspired group of horrors it is. Not like the world needed any more reminders, but 1917 shows how war is basically hell.
Kudos to Dean-Charles Chapman and George MacKay for their sometimes thankless participation as the two corporals. Boy are these guys put through the ringer, playing just normal guys put in extraordinary circumstances, being asked to rise to the occasion again and again. They not only acquit themselves well to the tenuous shoot, but they manage to create their own characters a bit. Chapman is the brave, funny innocent Blake, hoping to save his brother from an early death. MacKay leaves more of a mark, carrying years world weariness and sorrow in his face. Any ounce of serenity or peace given to Schofield is a relief to the audience, a testament to MacKay’s ability to connect with us. Helping the two fresh faces are the British acting elite, like Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch. Andrew Scott, forever underrated, leaves the best impression, a welcome humorous world worn cynicism that provides 1917 and us a little levity in dark times.
1917 feels like a dare for Sam Mendes and Roger Deakins. The two craftmasters who partnered so beautifully on Skyfall up the ante with 1917, creating a World War I masterpiece that viewers will not soon forget. I hope any war monger politicians see 1917, so they can see what atrocities they inflict because they lust for battle. No one deserves it.