1917 (2019)
War
Director: Sam Mendes. 1hr 59mins/119 mins. (15)
image four star rating very good lots to enjoy
Synopsis
During World War I, Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) is asked to pick a fellow ‘Tommy’ to accompany him on a new and secret mission.
Lance Corporal Schofield (George MacKay) agrees to join him but the mission turns out to be more than grabbing supplies from the Germans.
They journey into the hell, beyond ‘No Man’s Land’ to ensure 1,600 men don’t go ‘over the top’ and risk their lives based on false intelligence.
Review by @Reelreviewer
It's all grim on the Western Front in this gruelling trek through the hell of World War I, an odyssey of known danger and highest risk for the two everyman 'tommys' who take us through it.
The single 'continuous take'approach - used in films such as Birdman (2014) - can appear gimmicky and it isn't always successful in this particular movie, but it certainly up the intensity ante and leaves you with the firm impression that, wherever these young men turned, horror and carnage was all around.
The performance structure is commendably egalitarian. Big, huge cinema actors pepper the movie in tiny, but important, roles.
But at the top is the actor portraying a man from the lower rungs. George MacKay’s innocent face first caught my attention when I saw him in Pride (2014).
For more, read the full review: bit.ly/Film1917
Cast & credits
Amblin Partners/Dreamworks/Neal Street Productions/New Republic Pictures. (15).
Producers: Pippa Harris, Callum McDougall, Sam Mendes, Brian Oliver, Jayne-Ann Tenggren.
Writers: Sam Mendes, Krysty Wilson-Cairns.
Camera: Roger Deakins.
Music: Thomas Newman.
Sets: Dennis Gassner.
George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Daniel Mays, Colin Firth, Andrew Scott, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch. Pip Carter, Andy Apollo, Claire Duburcq.
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