1917 review: Artful one-take wonder belongs with the classics
I don’t know if 1917 will, over time, become a classic among war movies, but it deserves to be included among the best of them.
In 1948 Alfred Hitchcock made a film called Rope in which he experimented by filming his story of two young killers in what appeared to be one continuous, uninterrupted shot. He was fooling the audience, because no camera could hold more than 10 minutes of film in those days, so he resorted to deception to disguise the editing process, but the result was effective nonetheless.
Since then several films have continued the one-shot experiment, most notably Alexander Sokurov’s Russian Ark (2002) and Sebastian Schipper’s Victoria (2015), in which the camera followed its protagonist for an uninterrupted two hours and 10 minutes.
British director Sam Mendes takes a similar approach with his World War I movie 1917, in which he follows two British soldiers over almost two hours as they travel on a dangerous mission across enemy lines; but Mendes takes a leaf out of the Hitchcock book and his film, though it looks like a seamless one-take movie, actually conceals some edits (a similar approach was taken by Alejandro Inarritu for Birdman in 2014).
Like Birdman, 1917 is, in most respects, a cinematic marvel. The plot is pretty simple. On April 6 of that year lance corporals Schofield (George MacKay) and Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) are sent on a mission by General Erinmore (Colin Firth). They have to take a message to Colonel Mackenzie (Benedict Cumberbatch), who is about to launch an attack on the enemy from his position in a wood on the other side of No Man’s Land; the message is to cancel the attack because intelligence has discovered that the Germans have laid a trap for the English. Communications are down, hence the vital message must be taken by hand. Blake’s brother is one of the officers under Mackenzie’s command, so Blake has a personal reason for getting through.
The mission takes the men from the relative safety of their own trenches across a blasted wasteland littered with the bodies of men and horses, into the recently abandoned German trenches, where huge rats and booby traps provide challenges, through ruined farmhouses and burning towns. It’s a nightmare odyssey and one that must be traversed as quickly as possible with little time for reflection.
Cinematographer Roger Deakins’s supple camera accompanies the men on their dangerous odyssey, sometimes following them, sometimes preceding them, sometimes gliding around them, always on the move.
The choreography of this journey is enormously impressive as incident after incident interrupts the mission. Chapman and (especially) MacKay give detailed physical and emotional performances in their roles and the film — accompanied by a fine music score by Thomas Newman — vividly follows their adventures from one dangerous confrontation to the next.
The film is dedicated to Mendes’s grandfather, Alfred, “who told us the stories” – and what stories they are. Leaving aside the dazzling technical skills of the movie-making, the film is also a tribute to unsung heroism, to the bravery of ordinary men, whether they are soldiers on the frontline or, in the contemporary context, firemen (and women) risking their lives to save others.
Speaking of women, there’s an immensely touching scene in a ruined house located in a blazing town where a young Frenchwoman (Claire Duburcq) is hiding, frightened and alone and caring for a small baby that, she says, is not even hers. The scene is a reminder of the collateral damage war brings with it.
I don’t know if 1917 will, over time, become a classic among war movies, but it deserves to be included among the best of them. It’s a cinematic experience that is at the same time exhilarating, nerve-racking and inspirational.
1917 (MA15+)
Wide national release
★★★★½