1917 (2019)

Genre: War/ Action

Time: 1h 59mins

Director: Sam Mendes

Quick Summary: As an infantry battalion assembles to wage war deep in enemy territory, two soldiers are assigned to race against time and deliver a message that will stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap.

I feel sad now

This is beautifully designed and incredibly thought-provoking. The story is simple, get from point A to B. But this has so much crammed into this journey that honestly at times, it might make you cry a little bit it's hard to say this is actually simple. It's nothing overwhelming though, you can follow this constant bombardment of events. There's always something to look at, even during some of the slower scenes.

The use of the long unbroken one-take technique is nothing short of masterful even if it was cleverly hidden when they did cuts the longest one-shot was 8 minutes. There are so many important close-ups that picture a thousand words and it also knows when to pull back from those close-ups to reveal the true scale of the horrendous and the shock of the battlefield which were honestly really devastating to watch. The scenes that were set in the trenches too were so tense as everything felt so claustrophobic and tight, which the tracking shots that are used constantly during this help wonders as it shows you how little room there is to actually move. 

I did find myself being bored by some of the conversations though strangely as I found them to be pretty irrelevant aside from showing character personalities. As a personal take, I do feel like this film would have been improved by having little dialogue. 

I'll be honest, I don't think I found the characters that interesting. The acting was good I'll say, but not the actual characters presented to me. I do say I wish there was little dialogue, but I also wish there was better dialogue to help develop these people, especially the main characters whom we're supposed to care about and root for. Don't get me wrong, You do feel for them, but not as much as I assume you're supposed to.

Visually and technically this is a treat, but I think this does lack in a few things. It somehow manages to be emotional, but without having properly fleshed-out characters. Didn't stop me from enjoying this while watching it though. This is a case of style over substance, but I'm not mad as the landscapes in this are gorgeous.

7/10

"He travels the fastest who travels alone."

 "Settle a bet. What day is it?

Friday.

 Friday, well, well, well. None of us were right. This idiot thought it was Tuesday."