Also watched the new Sam Mendes’ World War 1 war film 1917. This film is primarily known as a “single take” war film – two solid hours of military suspense and action made to look like it was filmed without cuts. It also just won at the Golden Globes for best dramatic picture… which seems to have surprised many. It sure surprised me… until i saw this pretty amazing picture.
So 1917 is about a couple of soldiers in the trenches in France who are tasked with delivering a letter to the front lines. If the soldiers don’t deliver the letter in time, the troops will be sent into an ambush and around two thousand men will be killed.
It’s a basic setup for a film that is anything but basic. Like I said earlier, the film is shot to look like one continuous take… and that’s tough enough for most movies much less a war film. Of course, it’s not actually all one take but the skill and care they put into hiding the cuts is impressive… not hiding a cut behind a black object like a post. They do a very good job… even if sometimes you can tell they are playing fast and loose with time and distances.
The single cut takes the actors from a green meadow, into the trenches, inside bunkers, back into the trench, over the barricade into No Man’s Land and just keeps going. It’s pretty amazing that they can get some of the sequences on film. The camera work is just astonishing… hindered only by the fact you are aware of the gimmick and looking for the cuts. Or at least I was.
But ignoring the artistic flourishes, this is one hell of a suspenseful and exciting film. The tension is constantly being ramped up, especially the deeper the soldiers go behind enemy lines. Given the ground-level realism of what we’re watching, it really ratchets up the suspense… will these guys survive, is there a sniper over the next rise, etc. It’s some of the best and most intense action and suspense I’ve seen in quite some time.
But the film also takes its time to get to know the soldiers. We don’t get a LOT of down-time with them, but given the single cut sequence, sometimes the actors have to spend the time talking and getting to know each other. I was as equally surprised this movie took the time to care for these characters.
This is a damn good movie and one I think should see. It nails the tone and the feeling of being in the trenches in WW1. It looks fantastic and you can only sit back and marvel at how well they managed their single cut technique. Marvel at it and also be mesmerized by how well it works for the action and the tension. It’s a really great flick.
Score: 91