A Review of "1917 (2019)"

 

People call this film “The Birdman of WWI” and to be fair that is a justified assessment. This entire film is filmed like it is one camera shot and it is AWESOME! 

 

I think one of the most impressive thing apart from the one looking shot is the AMAZING CINEMATOGRAPHY. This shouldn’t be no surprising since it is the legend himself Roger Deakins (Blade Runner 2049 Cinematographer). Every scene feels like a painting and it is absolutely stunning. There is a scene at night where the lighting was done in such a creative way that heighten the tension of the scene. On that note there must also be praise for the score by Thomas Newman who somehow manages to make a score that somehow manages toe elevate every scene and help tell the story. There is also some amazing sound design that manages to make the War actually scary with moments that give horror movie jump scares a run for its money. Additionally, the props and set design should also get praise for creating such large,realistic but elaborate sets to accommodate for a more natural one shot scene. Everything in this film just feels like a technical achievement. We haven’t even touched on the acting or story yet but just for the way this was filmed is already engaging enough. Nevertheless, the two main actors George MacKay as Lance Corporal William “Will” Schofield and Dean-Charles Chapma as Lance Corporal Thomas “Tom” Blake manages to do a phenomenal job in showing the horror of war and giving authentic,believable characters. The story, while relatively simple, is engaging enough to keep you invested in the objective of the main characters. They must send a message to allies stop them running into a trap. It’s simple but works well for the aim of one shot as now it makes the audience a part of the journey.

 

There isn’t much negative to this movie but I guess if I have to be quite nitpicky it is the fact that halfway through the movie there is a obvious cut. So this movie is actually really a two shot film. The cut was necessary to make the situation more desperate and allow for a unique change in scenery even though it was a bit of a jarring cut. Another sort of nitpick is that we don’t really get much info on the main characters. We get their names and we know what their mission is but their backstory is just given in tidbits. It goes in a Dunkirk route in which we care about these characters because of the situation they are in rather than the fact that we are invested in the characters. It can be argued that the tidbits more than gives you enough info about the characters but it’s really up to the audience in the end. Personally, I don’t find it too much of a fault but can see how others could consider it so.

Positives
+ Amazing cinematography
+ Great acting
+ Gripping moments and action
+ The amazing props and set design are realistically done
+ The music elevates the scene very well and great sound design
+ A simple but investing story

Negatives
- There is a scene halfway through the movie where they use a cut. While necessary it does technically not make the film a one shot looking film.
- No backstory or much information about the main characters

Honestly my negatives are just nitpicks. This movie is amazing and it is definitely worth watching right now. No doubt one of the best films to come out in 2019.