"1917" The Movie - A Review Of The 2020 Sam Mendes World War One Film...

"...Went To Sea In A Sieve..." 

"1917" - THE MOVIE

A Review of The Movie by Sam Mendes...

It's Friday 10 January 2020, opening night for 1917 The Movie in the UK and hot on the heels of its surprise win at The Golden Globes as Best Picture only a few days ago. Well, having been glued to my seat, heart in my mouth and jaw dropped unceremoniously to the sticky floor of Westgate On Sea's lovely Carlton Cinema - it will come as no surprise to me at all when it wins at least 4 Oscars come awards season - Best Movie and Direction for Sam Mendes, Best Cinematography for Roger Deakins (and about bloody time too) and Best Score (yet again) for Thomas Newman.

Visually and sonically part Revenant, part Saving Private Ryan with large dollops of Dunkirk's sheer otherworldliness thrown in - "1917" is seriously visceral stuff. Even now when I think about the opening single tracking shot that has to have lasted maybe as much as 20 minutes without a cut - had any single thing gone wrong - the whole set up would have been kaput (the action all takes place on 6 April 1917 near The Western Front). There are walks through miles of trenches with every horrible conceivable sight - hundreds and hundreds of extras all having to hit their mark on time (a beautifully understated Colin Firth and a nerve-frazzled cigarette-smoking Andrew Scott do their big name parts justice as various sides of the military brass).

But it’s the sequence that follows that utterly amazes as the two lads are tasked with finding a misguided 2nd Battalion's gung-ho Colonel to avert a slaughter of huge proportions by the supposedly retreating Hun – and it begins by finding a gap where they can go over the top. I can't even imagine how long it took to set up these miles of craters and mud and dirty water and rotten horse corpse and barbed wire and flies and the endless twisted mutilated bodies of men - but it stays with you long after the two try to navigate no man's land without being shot or blasted to oblivion.

The lion's share of the movie focuses almost exclusively on the two young lads burdened with a suicide mission that must succeed or so many will perish amongst them an older brother - George MacKay and Dean Charles-Chapman magnificent in their full-frontal roles as Lance Corporals Schofield and Blake. 

Having said that, if I was to nitpick - while the horrible relentlessness of World War I's trench/town conditions are portrayed with truly amazing set pieces - the sheer sickening waste of life seems somehow sidelined at times. I often feel like a convenient re-writing of history takes place with the First World War - swap upper class arrogance for ordinary-man heroism and the puppet masters of these completely avoidable massacres can divert responsibility and hide their shame. It's like the hero element is all when of course we now know from so many first-hand accounts that ordinary soldiers were left with only mental and physical waste, sadness, faith destruction and rage at the landed aristocracy back in London who put them and their buddies there in the first place to die with such callous ease for King and Country. You would also have to agree with some critics that the technical can and does overwhelm the emotional a little too much at times and I think it's only this that stops "1917" The Movie from reaching true greatness (I'd still rate it as a five-star barnstormer nonetheless). Richard Madden, Mark Strong and Benedict Cumberbatch also all make brief but hugely impressive appearances - men of war – just some more in touch with the humane than others.

Two huge elements in the film’s swallow-you-up envelopment are Roger Deakins stunning cinematography that goes up and down from muddy boot to bloodied uniform - somehow drawing you into their Hell in a new way that makes it all feel so horribly real - and Thomas Newman's score that ups the thump-pulse one minute then tugs on the heartstrings the next – and always just when you think no more emotion can be wrenched from a scene (he manages this time and time again even amidst the horror).

The other unspoken hero is the way Mendes has shot the film - always feeling like you're on their shoulders - behind them - beside them - in front of them. The choreography is astounding at times too - the camera casually observing the mundane – grunt soldiers on a truck talking about the dead cows in the fields they pass - and then terrifying in equally brilliant measure – Lance Corporal Schofield head-injured as he is sucked along in the current of a river where branches, rocks and dead bodies batter against him in the truly gross detritus of war. There's a chance night-time encounter with a beleaguered mother and infant entrenched in a French ruin where he recites Edward Lear's poem The Jumblies to calm the milk-starved baby and the words don't just do the soothing trick but somehow also describe the sheer stupidity and hubris of the war to end all wars. There are buddy-buddy talks as they walk with their rifles and bayonets at the ready - weapons that seem pitiful in the face of the merciless war machine facing them in every pasture - chatting one minute in beautiful cherry-blossom orchards and then dashing the next through collapsing wood and dust in horror dugouts where suffocation is only seconds away unless you can summon up the will to live and move that tired body and pummelled mind. 

"1917" is a brilliant film and it seems that all of Mendes work to date has been leading up to this. There is also a genuine Spielberg-like sense throughout of a master of his craft finally at work on something that really matters to him - aided by a cast, crew and technical know-how that can deliver such a mind-blowing one-continuous-shot vision (the movie is dedicated to his uncle Alfred and his stories handed down to Sam as a child). 

Oscar glory surely beckons for "1917" in the award ceremonies held 9 February 2020 - and when the BLU RAY (especially the 4K variant) is released later in the year - it's on my shopping list pretty damn quick. "Well done lad..." one of the soldiers says to Lance Corporal Schofield knowing what he's been through. Amen to that and huge congrats to everyone involved...

“Third Star”. A Review Of The 2011 Film Now On DVD.

"...Third Star On The Left...Straight On 'Til Morning..."

The affection afforded this British movie by other UK reviewers is absolutely on the money - "Third Star" is a superbly realised little film with a huge beating heart. I was very moved...

The story goes like this - James' lifelong but hapless pals decide that one last adventure will be a hoot and morale booster for their mate who is dying from an incurable disease - so they drag his three-wheeler chair loaded up with tents, drug suplies and a potted tree they will plant at journey's end - across fields, forest and coastal terrain. Their destination is Barafundle Bay - a stunning, secluded inlet in Wales that James adores. And you can see it in James' face too. He thinks that if he can just get there 'intact' - everything will be all right somehow. But of course nothing goes to plan and despite the odd belly-laugh along the way, the journey tests their friendship and loyalties to the absolute limit...

First up - praise has to go to HATTIE DALTON for her warmth and steady Direction in what could have been awfully cheesy material that's been done to bits too many times before. She's given this buddy-buddy story a lightness of touch that feels real and isn't forced. In fact, the constant wit and pranks reflect just how guys are when they're in real emotional turmoil - downright childish even. Kudos should also go to the four male leads who had to gel together convincingly, muck in on the arduous trek and physically brave the coastal weather - none of which can have been easy - or in the case of the freezing Irish sea - deeply unpleasant. And when the reality of their friend's terminal illness slowly begins to kick in and intrude on their 'fun' - they're skills as good actors make you 'feel' the heaviness of what their characters are all trying to block out.

Principal lead Benedict Cumberbatch has many fans - and on the strength of his acting chops both here and on "Sherlock" (the UK TV series) - it's easy to see why. His James is a demanding lead-role - a frustrated 29-year old who is being eaten-alive by cancer. His longing to live - to have more time - to realise at least some of his dreams - are always at the surface - and you ache for him as he slips in and out of a morphine-induced stupor that is numbing his escalating physical agony. As well as the pain - James has to also contend with his squabbling, tetchy pals - who are trying to be cool about it all but are freaked out inside and increasingly awkward with his now impending loss.

His fellow travellers consist of Adam Robertson as the witty and yet dependable Bill, Tom Burke as the needy but sincere Davy and JJ Feild as the handsome devil-may-care Miles (surely a new Jude Law in the making). They will even encounter Hugh Bonneville (of Downton Abbey fame) as a nutty Beachcomber looking for rare Star Wars toys. The dialogue is playful, smart and confrontational when it's needed. And then they're faced with the ultimate true-friendship decision - but can any or all of them - actually go through with it? Even with this much sadness at its core and end, "Third Star" remains hopeful - a sign of a great film rather than just a good one.

EXTRAS include a brief 'Making Of' and two shorts by Hattie Dalton called "The Banker" and "One Of Those Days". The only real let down for me is that it's on DVD only - and not BLU RAY - where all that great camera work would surely shine even more.

There are moments in "Third Star" when you genuinely ache for James' loss - when you hurt at the arbitrary cruelty of life - snubbing out one person, but letting another live. This is a very good movie - one that celebrates life and makes you think about it too.

Put it high on your rental/to buy list...