Netflix All-Star Epic About The War To End All Wars

1917 was written and directed by English filmmaker Sam Mendes, with some screenwriting assistance from Last Night In Soho scribe Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Mendes is highly regarded for his war films and experimental efforts, and has previously helmed such projects as 2005’s Jarhead, 2012’s Skyfall, and 2015’s Spectre. If the filmmaker’s name is ringing a bell for you, that may be because Mendes was recently tasked with directing 4 separate biopics for each of the four main members of the iconic rock band The Beatles, in a bizarre but interesting new experiment.

The narrative of 1917 centers on a pair of young British soldiers, William Schofield (George MacKay) and Tom Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman), as they rush across no man’s land to deliver an urgent message to their Colonel. As the duo have recently been informed, the German retreat from the battlefield is actually a covert operation, with higher military command preparing to ambush the British Battalion as they progress forward, jeopardizing the lives of over 1,600 soldiers. With no access to field telephone lines or outer communication, Schofield and Blake make a break across the most dangerous territory in the entire battlefield, encountering numerous roadblocks along the way.

While the narrative of 1917 is extremely gripping, the true selling point of this film is its unique presentation. The movie was shot and edited to appear as though the entire 2 hour runtime were contained in two extremely long and well choreographed shots. Obviously, there are hidden cuts throughout the entire movie, but they are placed so creatively and obfuscated using advanced editing techniques in such a way that you’d have to really be looking for them to even notice.

As mentioned, 1917 stars George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman, alongside a number of talented performers such as Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Claire Duburcq, Richard Madden, and Doctor Strange star Benedict Cumberbatch. Obviously, the film’s super long shot composition and intense action set-pieces take the main focus, but the powerful performances from the leading cast manage to take the larger than life premise and distill it into a deeply emotional journey.

GFR SCORE

1917 was immediately well received by critics and general audiences alike upon release, and currently touts a certified fresh critic score of 88 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The film has been hailed as one of the finest war movies of the 21st century, and received nearly a dozen nominations at the Academy Awards, winning three. If you haven’t yet seen 1917 in all its glory, you need to do yourself a favor and check it out on Netflix today.