“1917”: Set piece makes horrific war spy mission seem like a journey through an alien planet hell
“1917” (April 6, in fact), directed by Sam Mendes, honors the loss of one of his own family ancestors in World War I. The film is supposed to occur in more or-less “real time”, as if it were one continuous shot. That is not literally quite true, as explained in iNews by David Hughes.
The film was shot outdoors at several locations in England and Scotland (not France). It does start in a “city” of boarded trenches and underground bunkers that are quite lively with people (soldiers) and activity.
Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) is summoned by the General (Colin Firth) underground, because he is “good with maps” and navigation, to deliver an intelligence message to colonel MacKenzie (Benedict Cumberbatch) in another encampment maybe 10 miles away, where Blake’s own brother Joseph (Richard Madden) serves as a lieutenant, to prevent what would be a catastrophic misfired invasion. He is assigned a companion or buddy Corporal Schofield.
The premise of the film is predicated on the slower pace of communications in those days or less technology.
above, first 9 minutes of film in one unborken shot from Universal
The tag team goes on its journey, that seems like an alien world, or maybe almost like Frodo’s in “The Lord of the Rings” (at least the last one). The camera moves quickly as the pair escapes from one location into the next seamlessly, and the landscape changes. It’s almost as if they were puppets in a model railroad setup and the imaginary train moved from one part of the set to the next.
One of the most chilling is in the first half, when they find a German bunker with underground barracks that rather reminded me of my own Army Basic in 1968. Later, they watch a dogfight near a farmhouse, when a German plane crashes and the pilot, his trousers and legs burning up, stabs Blake, and Schofield has to do the rest of the journey himself.
Another touching scene occurs when Schofield finds a woman in a bombed out town nursing someone else’s baby, and Schofield gives her milk he had poured and food.
Above, George McKay on the Tonight Show discussing the film
The film reminds us of the premise of the “Red Pill” movie Jan. 5), that young men were expendable in this world (and even bragged about going to war, something I didn’t understand as a boy). Britain, of course, had its draft immediately, but in the US starting in 1917, people went to jail for sedition for criticizing the draft.
World War I trench scene (wiki).
A good comparison is the Disney Steven Spielberg film War Horse (2011)
Picture is from Fort Jackson, SC BCT museum (public domain, offered online to public because civilians cannot go on base unaccompanied to see museum now).
Name: “1917”
Director, writer: Sam Mendes
Released: 2019/12/15
Format: 2.39:1
When and how viewed: Angelika Mosaic, 2020/1/10
Length: 119
Rating: R
Companies: Universal, Dreamworks, Amblin, New Republic
Link: official
Stars: ***** Won Golden Globe for best dramatic picture; Oscar nominated for best picture
(Posted: Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 2:30 PM EDT)
Posted onJanuary 11, 2020
CategoriesB-Movies, conscription, historical period settings, horror, war
TagsDreamworks, Oscar nominated, Universal