As a part of my Hollywood movie review month, I watched 1917, released in 2020 all over the world but considered for the Oscars because it was shown at multiple film festivals. It won 3 Oscars for Best VFX, Achievement in Sound Mixing and Best Cinematography. It is now available on DVD, Blu-ray, 4K and in digital platforms. I was patiently waiting for the best time to watch it as this was my top priority movies to watch. now that I watched it, how the film turned out to be? Is this just trying to play tricks by the one shot stuff or is it the best WWI in recent times? My opinion after this title picture.
1917 is a British War drama starring George Mckay, Dean Charles Chapman in lead roles with cameo appearances by Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch and Mark Strong. It is directed by Sam Mendes. The story revolves around William Schofield and Tom Blake and how they deliver a message to Colonel Mckenzie to stop the attack they were staging on the Germans. The germans were trapping these guys and this would had led to a massacre of 1600 lives.
The plot line sounds very simple. Deliver a message from point A to point B. But, this is WWI. It's easy to travel 9 miles now but then it is the toughest task. The screenplay by Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns take advantage of it and stage some exceptional hurdles for the leads to pass and it makes the experience more thrilling and gut-wrenching to watch. As this film was shot in one single take, the screenplay had to be filtered to the maximum extent before shooting and the director has done a great job. The best part of the film though comes in its emotional parts. In the first act of the film, we see the death of Blake and Schofield is not given enough time to recover as there is a more important task ahead of him.That 10 minutes is one of the best. The best part though is the complete night episode of about 30 minutes. That is the perfect example of how this film is. The thrill, the spectacle, the emotion and the magic. OMG, This is the best I've seen in a long time.
The main leads carry the movie with them. Of course, they had the director's support but if not for them, the connect would have missed just a bit. All the cast has performed exceptionally. I personally liked the cameo of Benedict Cumberbatch after the two main leads.
But, the real stars of the movie are its technical department. First of all, the cinematographer Roger Deakins, take a bow. He's 70 years old and he's taking some extreme challenges and succeding in them as well. This is the platinum standard for cinematography. I guess 2-3 cuts were made while in the tunnel and while the bomb blast but that too is questionable. Half of the thrill and gut-wrenching stuff is due to this. We cannot move our eye away while watching this film. Next comes the Set design and locations. They range from being absolutely gorgeous to bone-chilling in a millisecond. The meadows and cherry blossom lead to floating bodies half rotten. This is that department which got depth into this film after the screenplay. The VFX. I did not even notice it. VFX ix getting very photorealistic nowadays and it is showing. The score by Thomas Newman was very good and was hooking me in instantaneously. Finally, Sam Mendes with his amazing technical achievements has shown that storytelling has no limits.
If I had to pick a negative, it is hard but I would say that a streak of 5 minutes every 30 minutes were boring me but I completely ignored it after the next scene. So, not a big problem. Had to be extremely picky throughout for negatives.
Overall, this film is a masterpiece in its own right. It picks the essence of WWI and war in general. IT shows us that hope is the best motivation and whatever the circumstances, utmost sincerity and discipline and determination will pull us away to success. A must watch for anyone(except kids, there is a lot of violence). Please check this out. It will be quite a ride. Definitely deserves its Oscars.
The plot line sounds very simple. Deliver a message from point A to point B. But, this is WWI. It's easy to travel 9 miles now but then it is the toughest task. The screenplay by Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns take advantage of it and stage some exceptional hurdles for the leads to pass and it makes the experience more thrilling and gut-wrenching to watch. As this film was shot in one single take, the screenplay had to be filtered to the maximum extent before shooting and the director has done a great job. The best part of the film though comes in its emotional parts. In the first act of the film, we see the death of Blake and Schofield is not given enough time to recover as there is a more important task ahead of him.That 10 minutes is one of the best. The best part though is the complete night episode of about 30 minutes. That is the perfect example of how this film is. The thrill, the spectacle, the emotion and the magic. OMG, This is the best I've seen in a long time.
The main leads carry the movie with them. Of course, they had the director's support but if not for them, the connect would have missed just a bit. All the cast has performed exceptionally. I personally liked the cameo of Benedict Cumberbatch after the two main leads.
But, the real stars of the movie are its technical department. First of all, the cinematographer Roger Deakins, take a bow. He's 70 years old and he's taking some extreme challenges and succeding in them as well. This is the platinum standard for cinematography. I guess 2-3 cuts were made while in the tunnel and while the bomb blast but that too is questionable. Half of the thrill and gut-wrenching stuff is due to this. We cannot move our eye away while watching this film. Next comes the Set design and locations. They range from being absolutely gorgeous to bone-chilling in a millisecond. The meadows and cherry blossom lead to floating bodies half rotten. This is that department which got depth into this film after the screenplay. The VFX. I did not even notice it. VFX ix getting very photorealistic nowadays and it is showing. The score by Thomas Newman was very good and was hooking me in instantaneously. Finally, Sam Mendes with his amazing technical achievements has shown that storytelling has no limits.
Overall, this film is a masterpiece in its own right. It picks the essence of WWI and war in general. IT shows us that hope is the best motivation and whatever the circumstances, utmost sincerity and discipline and determination will pull us away to success. A must watch for anyone(except kids, there is a lot of violence). Please check this out. It will be quite a ride. Definitely deserves its Oscars.
iMDB Rating : 8.4/10
My Rating : 9.5/10
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