A ‘1917’ Review

While 1917 is a technical achievement that we will be talking about for a long time, there’s much to be said about the themes and the story beneath this masterful work of filmmaking and cinematography.

1917 is centered around two lance corporals in the British at the army who are given the task of delivering a message to a colonel on the front line in France during the spring of the titular year. Dean-Charles Chapman (Game of Thrones) and George MacKay (Captain Fantastic, 11.22.63) play the two young men traversing trenches, bombed out French villages, and no man’s land in order to prevent 1,600 men from being massacred by a German trap. In this way, 1917 can feel like a classic war film, a small group of young men being faced with incredible odds, mention of mothers and home, and the trope of telling a funny story just minutes before a battle or tragedy. Mendes’ and Kristy Wilson-Cairns’ (Penny Dreadful) script takes a turn from the typical by reminding us that just because these 1,600 men survive today, doesn’t mean that they live to make it home, doesn’t mean the war is won. Most war movies feel like they fall into two categories, beginning of the war or end of the war. 1917 takes place more than a year before the end of the war, thousands more men will die on both sides. Out of the 1,600 men whose lives were saved, who is to say that more than half of them survive to the end? Even after the colonel is delivered the message and decides to stop the attack, he comments that a week from then, British command will change the order and tell them to attack, tell them to sacrifice more men, tell them to kill more men. It isn’t often that I respond so much to the war film trope of telling an individuals story in order to draw people into the film, but something about 1917 was different. Maybe it was the inclusion of Sikh soldiers, or a discussion of types of cherry trees, or sending soldiers on a mission with tins of treat, whatever it was, I couldn’t help but be affected.

I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t take the time to talk about the king, Roger Deakins. Roger Deakins is my absolute favorite cinematographer, some of my personal favorites being Skyfall, No Country for Old Men, Blade Runner 2049, and The Big Lebowski. 1917 has earned its place as a true testament to the art of filmmaking. Through some slick editing from Lee Smith (Dunkirk, Inception) the film feels like a single continuous shot, the camera constantly moving, whether creeping along with them through no man’s land or running before them, escaping the light of signal flares. The time and effort taken to stage every aspect of the film and to find use natural light as much as possible is what helps 1917 to feel like the achievement it truly is. It is visual spectacle of the highest order.

There is one sequence in the film in particular that feel like the perfect “Best Cinematography” Oscar reel moment. The first being after Schofield (George MacKay) wakes up after being knocked out, he begins navigating a shelled French village under the cover of night. Deakins’ affinity for natural light is even more apparent here as the only sources of light are signal flares and burning buildings, each of them casting different shadows and revealing new information as one flare dies down and another is launched skyward. With the camera almost always staying on Blake and Schofield, the visual language of a sequence like this feels more like a horror movie than a typical war story. The lack of light, the feeling of being alone, the unfamiliar space all work in tandem to provide a feeling of tension not often found outside of a John Carpenter film. That sense of terror permeates most of the film. Despite it taking place during the height of the war, there’s long stretches where you don’t see anyone other than Schofield and Blake, which adds to this feeling of dread, like at any moment a shot could ring out, a bomb could go off, a plane could crash into a barn.

Wars are fought by individuals. Individuals with brothers, funny stories, cherry trees, and all with the desire to go home. 1917 captures these individuals and their stories and reminds us that often, the lives of others can feel very similar to our own. 1917 is a beautiful reminder that film is first and foremost a visual medium that still has more to say and explore.