1917 Movie Review


10/10

The year is 1917 and the war is raging across Northern France. Two young British soldiers are entrusted with a mission to deliver a message to save 1600 lives. They only have until sunrise and the clock is ticking. The nerve wracking, adrenaline fuelled journey through hellish landscape has begun. For these two it seems not just their lives but their verysouls are at stake, as so much depends on every step they take.

Blockbuster Director Sam Mendes (Skyfall) knows how to deliver gut punches through action and he brings an emotional roller coaster with this real time war thriller, where a few men stand tall in the impossible circumstances and find a way to triumph through sheer faith and will.

The movie is shot with one take, seemingly in real time, which gives it a bizarre dreamlike quality. This experimental filmmaking goes far beyond what Hitchcock had in mind with his movie ROPE and the final cinematic result of 1917 would have made the king of suspense proud.

They say the simpler the story the better it relates to the viewer, and the plot of 1917 is simple enough. All the complexity here is given through the imagery. The movie's name is 1917 and the visuals do give us the taste of what that year was really like. Senseless, impossible and terrifying, where the masses had been driven to insanity, but where a singular spirit still shines. "There's only one way this war will end," says the bitter colonel played by Benedict Cumberbatch. "With one last man standing." Which sums up the movies main theme, as one man's courage stands against incredible odds.

1917 leaves a long-lasting impression and takes along time to digest. This is also a film that will appeal to many tastes and ages, as with all its dramatic complexity, at its heart it is no more than an adventure movie.

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