Raiyan Shaik

Review: ‘1917’

Josh Palacios
Reporter

Rarely there are war movies that project the pure essence of war. Everyone will soon drive to theatres to watch CGI action movies that have battles between “heroes” that have “astonishing” CGI action points. While they are fun to watch, those movies don’t fully capture what men had endured in real wars. Nevertheless, “1917” gives an in-depth meaning of World War I left on soldiers that day.
The movie starts with two soldiers — Lance Corporal Blake (Dean Charles Chapman) and Lance Corporal Schofield (George MacKay). Both soldiers must deliver a letter to Colonel MacKenzie (Benedict Cumberbatch) before the 1,600 soldiers in his unit, are led into a German trap. And they also want to save Lieutenant Joseph Blake (Richard Madden), Corporal Blake’s brother. It is a race against time for these soldiers going through war zones, leaving viewers to speculate if they will survive the mission.
The colors from this movie are close to magnificent, similar to “Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse”; not because they pop in the theater but all the colors blend in beautifully. Most of the colors the viewer will detect are earth tones: light dirt brown, pale white, dark green, silver, and dead grey. One of the things that the camera shows from the beginning and the end is the color yellow in Europe the color symbolizes weakness, hazard, and warning, but it can also mean happiness, joy, and quality, which can be said in the movie.
The acting, including the extras–gives the realism of an emotional strain that is portrayed so well. The vehicle that drives with the small detail is outstanding; the majority of the soldiers will be either be smoking, walking where the other soldiers are going or napping in scenes and if listening well, hear the soldiers tell stories and laugh with them.
Though many could say its drawback is pacing or it’s slow, however, the timing- the execution of the camerawork works. The camera isn’t stationed to show only the faces of the main characters. Sam Mendes shows the environment as a character more than a prop. Viewers will see extreme wide shots, making the characters small, feeling lost in the burned wasteland. The camera never looks down nor up from the characters, never making strong or weak to the viewers. The movement of the camera is not quick to make things confusing, but slow enough to show
The only problem with the movie is not the movie itself. It’s the availability of the movie when it was released. The showtimes were limited in both Canada and the United States on Christmas Day, 2019. However, now the movie is wide release on 10 Jan 2020.
“1917” is a 9/10 and should be ranked alongside ‘Dunkirk,’ ‘Schindler’s List,’ and ‘Fury’ as a film that impacted the viewer and accurately portray war.