Two young British soldiers are sent on a mission during World War I to stop a suicidal attack from occurring is the crux of Sam Mendes’ epic 1917.
George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman play the fresh-faced leads in a race-against-time film based on a war story Mendes’ grandfather once told him.
1917 has mostly been well received by critics with many highlighting the continuous-take technique used throughout by legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins who also shot Unbroken and Skyfall.
Filmed in England and Scotland, 1917 also stars Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburcq and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Mendes co-wrote 1917 with Krysty Wilson-Cairns. He was also one of the film’s producers. Read a sampling of reviews below.
JUDGEMENT
“The film is thick with atmosphere. Twenty minutes in, as Schofield and Blake leave the trenches, Mendes gives them a rude awakening — a portent of what’s to come, perhaps. Due to the insanity of the war — the horror and the madness — there’s a surreal quality to much of 1917, and for a large part of it the corporals’ quest feels like a dark The Wizard Of Oz, or The Lord Of The Rings — they are Sam and Frodo heading into Mordor, and soon after setting off they find themselves in a Hieronymus Bosch hellscape.” Alex Godfrey, empireonline.com
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“1917, the new film from Sam Mendes, is the latest attempt at the feature-length single-shot approach, and its technical accomplishments cannot be denied. But the film is so obsessed with its particular technique that it doesn’t leave room for the other things we also go to the movies for — little things like a strong story, interesting characters, or a reason for existing other than as a feat of technical derring-do. Sitting through it is like watching someone else playing a video game for two solid hours, and not an especially compelling one at that.” Peter Sobczynski, rogerebert.com
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“Given that the film is essentially a one-direction journey in which the camera rarely stops rolling, the production design is a real feat. Smoke and mirrors can’t possibly exist: We follow Blake and Schofield through a looooooong trench, a maze of a barracks, and French countryside that’s ravaged from the wages of war. The actors are all superb, but MacKay will rip your heart out as a low-ranking officer who’s resentful of his assignment but rises to see his mission through, no matter the potential sacrifice. Teens may be reluctant to see a movie about World War I, but 1917 could be a game changer: It’s hard to imagine anyone won’t appreciate its originality, heart, and grit.” Tara McNamara, Common Sense Media
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“Good artists borrow; great artists steal. Director Sam Mendes, telling a tale based on stories that he heard in his youth from his grandfather (who at age 19 had been a messenger for the British Army during WWI) has here combined elements of Dunkirk and Saving Private Ryan, among others, and used Alejandro González Iñárritu’s single-shot storytelling method (used for Birdman and The Revenant) to create some impressive, innovative world-building. You are there.” Mark Jackson, Epoch Times
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“1917 certainly held my interest, and I admire the technical skill of it. Moreover, had it been released a couple of years ago I might have swallowed it whole instead of spending portions of it scoffing and rolling my eyes at the increasingly manufactured nature of the situations. They Shall Not Grow Old, though it was a spectacular feat of filmmaking, didn’t call attention to its director; it felt as if Jackson were removing all filters and distortions in order to put us in the soldiers’ muddy boots. Mendes’s film, by contrast, is less a staggering belt of reality than it is a nifty bag of tricks.” Kyle Smith, National Review
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“Most of that credit goes to Mendes for balancing the tech and the acting technique. The director has had great recent success with stage productions, such as The Ferryman and The Lehman Trilogy, but his movies since 1999’s American Beauty — scratches head — have left room for improvement. However, 1917 is filmmaking at its best and most piercingly alive. Next time your pessimistic friend tells you there’s no reason to leave the couch anymore, drag them straight into the car and go see this.” Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post
Watch a Chris Stuckmann video review of 2017 below: