Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes returns with an ambitious First World War story told through the effect of one interrupted shot.
Any of us would’ve forgiven Sam Mendes for choosing to follow up two of the biggest James Bond movies of all time with a film of a smaller, more intimate scale. While his latest, 1917, may deal with a more intimate subject matter and is inspired by stories from Mendes’ own Grandfather, making a war film as if it were filmed in one shot is no easy task at all. The results are ambitious, staggering in scale and filled with imagery that will prove hard to forget.
Northern France, Spring 1917. The German forces are seemingly retreating, with the 2nd Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment planning on launching an attack on the apparently dwindling German troops. That is until new intel reveals that the British troops gathered for the offensive are walking into a trap. Young soldiers Schofield (George Mackay) and Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman), the latter of whom has a brother in the Devonshire Regiment, are tasked with travelling across No Man’s Land to deliver the message to call off the attack. With their journey fraught with peril, will they make it in time to save thousands of British lives, Blake’s brother amongst them?
Much has been made of the almost video game-esque aesthetic of 1917, and it is something that is hard to deny. In the age of impeccably produced war-time combat games, one can’t help but think of the likes of Call of Duty as these two young soldiers come across a number of dangers as they move across Northern France on their mission. Particularly in moments of high tension and action, the fluid, un-cutting camera movement does bring to mind moments in video games, but arguably in the best possible fashion, as you are thrust so aggressively into the perspective and peril faced by the two soldiers at the focus of the story.
The sensation that the uninterrupted shot creates (it is more like two shots, by the way) is also something akin to open space theatre, particularly in the moments where we’re first dropped into the proceedings and see soldiers going about their rather grim wartime lives in the trenches. The way the details fold out and populate the screen is remarkably immersive, allowing for the story to feel deeply researched, handled with incredible care by all involved. Everyone both in front of the camera and behind is clearly dedicated to doing their best work, and it is more than evident on screen, from the exceptional production design to Roger Deakins’ masterful cinematography to Thomas Newman’s exceptional score; this is impeccable filmmaking craft through and through.
Where the technique doesn’t fully work is in the quieter moments in between the more action-heavy beats. On occasion, some of the urgency of the mission dissipates as the film aims to show numerous sides of the conflict, meaning that the ticking clock element of this wartime thriller often doesn’t feel that consistent. That said, MacKay and Chapman make for such empathetic leads that it’s not hard to rally behind them, even in the quieter moments. It also helps that throughout, even when some of the tension sags, there is imagery that you will find hard to shake off, with a flare-lit chase through the ruins of Écoust standing out as one of the most stunning sequences you are likely to see all year.
1917 is a war film that thrives on technical wizardry, impressing more often than not. It may not be able to keep its high tension situation as taut as you imagine it would like to throughout, but it is undoubtedly an impressive account of the First World War that is filled with moments that are truly breathtaking. A dazzling experience that feels both authentic and thrillingly cinematic.
1917 will be released in cinemas on 10th January 2020.
