REVIEW: ‘1917,’ now available to rent or buy
Photo: George MacKay stars as Lance Cpl. Schofield in 1917, directed by Sam Mendes. Photo courtesy of François Duhamel / Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures / Provided by press site with permission.
Sam Mendes’ stellar 1917 is a pulsatingly intense World War I film that stars a transcendent George MacKay as a lance corporal tasked with bringing an important message from the backlines to the frontline during a pivotal battle in the European conflict. The film’s narrative, seemingly lensed as one long shot, is taut and never takes a moment to breathe. The horrors of war are on full display, but they are more intimate than global, more personal than professional.
Mendes, director of American Beauty and two James Bond films, is able to bring the full talents of his creative team to bear, especially Roger Deakins’ cinematography and Lee Smith’s film editing. Together they craft a nail-biting story that delivers emotion, drama, suspense and historical significance.
MacKay’s Schofield is given this mission alongside his friend and military colleague Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman), another lance corporal. They are two unlikely heroes, but their boss relies on their cunning, their youth and their bravery to work their way through trench after trench and into no man’s land to find the leaders at the front. If they arrive in time, the planned assault, which will surely end in further death and destruction for the British troops, will be halted — an action that will not exactly win the war, but most definitely save the lives of many young men.
The running and crawling that these two lance corporals must endure make up the bulk of the movie, whose only other cinematic parallel is Christopher Nolan’s equally exquisite Dunkirk.
As a character MacKay’s Schofield doesn’t say much, but he holds the entire war in his facial expressions and far-off looks of pause and contemplation. One can sense that he needs to find the inner-courage to deal with the doomed mission, believing somehow that he will overcome the odds and make it to his final goal.
Along the way, the earth — literally — blows up around him. He faces a barrage of bullets and untold dangers from the unseen enemy side. He works his way through a series of environments, whether rat-strewn trenches packed with injured men or bombed-out craters amidst crumbling ruins of buildings. He ducks and dives, elbowing his way toward the frontline, trying to keep his mind focused on the prize.
Kudos to Thomas Newman for an effective score that helps build the tension, ditto for Dennis Gassner’s production design. The entire film has a washed-out look, as if one were watching digitized newsreel footage or an actual documentary.
The script, by Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, is light on dialogue and heavy on situation. Schofield doesn’t have to convey much with the spoken word. His is a mission of sweat, blood and steely-eyed determination, and that usually says enough.
1917 is one of the strongest war movies in history, serving as an unflinching exposé on the ravages of armed conflict. It’s an individualized account of collective destruction and surely teaches more than a few lessons about the preciousness of human life — and how much blood has been spilled trying to appreciate that fact.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
1917 (2019). Directed by Sam Mendes. Written by Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Starring George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Colin Firth, Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Mays. Running time: 119 minutes. Rated R for violence, some disturbing images and language. Rating: 
