After exploding on the awards season in late 2019, Sam Mendes’ stunning WWI epic 1917 makes its way to the home formats. Visually stunning, stunningly stage, and supremely acted by all involved, the film is deserved of all of its plaudits.
Set in April 1917, the story focusses upon two young soldiers in German-occupied France at the height of the battles in the trenches during World War I. The set-up is simple; the two solders, Schofield (George MacKay) and Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) must get a message across enemy territory to allies about to embark on an attack. Little does the battalion know that the attack is a trap, one which will lead them to almost certain death and it is up to the two young men to deliver the message not to charge forward. The added charge to the story is that Blake’s older brother is also amongst the men heading towards harm.
1917 is a superb piece of work, amongst Mendes’ finest and also one of his most ambitious. Designed to play out as one continuous shot – the film is actually a number of sequences seamlessly stitched together – the feature is a visual marvel, aided by the genius of one of the greatest lens man of all time in Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins. Re-teaming with Mendes following his work on multiple features, including Bond movie Skyfall, 1917 is also one of Deakins’ finest hours. The sheer complexity of pulling this off as one shot with limited editing while also conveying and emotionally charged journey is jaw-dropping. It’s a near technical masterpiece.
Also full of wonderful performances, notably its leading two men in Chapman and particularly George Mackay who essentially carry every scene they’re in. There is some brilliant support from named ‘day players’ in Colin Firth, Daniel Mays, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Mark Strong and Benedict Cumberbatch, all of whom are dotted through the movie in important scenes.
Related: 1917 review [theatrical]
The transition from big screen to small sees the film lose little of its impact, particularly on a first viewing. It was my second time seeing the film and it was every bit as tense and involving as the first, though this time I was able to sit back and marvel at its genius knowing where proceedings were being taken. Again, the real-time one-shot narrative device was forgotten within minutes – a testament to the storytelling once again.
As well as wanting to see the film again, my interest in the home release was the story behind the making of the film. One this wish list was a feature commentary from Mendes and the distributor has provided it, along with a second track featuring insight from the masker Deakins himself. These two commentaries are worth the price of the disc alone but we also have a flurry of further, if a little brief behind the scenes featurettes The Wight of the World where Mendes discusses his personal connection to World War 1, The Score o 1917, which obviously focusses upon Thomas Newman’s music, and In The Trenches which looks at the cast of the film. All of these run between four and seven minutes in length, a little disappointing though worth a look. There are two further features, both of wic hare a little longer; Recreating History, where the Filmmakers offer a detailed look at the production design challenges of recreating the First World War which is an interesting watch, and the stand-out featurette, Allied Forces, which again looks at Deakins and co’s award-winning cinematography.
Stunning visually on the HD format with ear-bursting sound to match, this is a must on Blu-ray or the preferably 4K format if you have it. One of the year’s best movies, and while some of the bonus materials could have been delved into with a bit more detail, is well worth adding to the collection in any format.
1917 is available to buy on Blu-ray and DVD from Universal Home Entertainment.
