1917 (2019) – Encore Review 3

“There is only one way this war ends. Last man standing.” – Col. MacKenzie

Number of Times Seen – 4 (2 Jan 2020, 2 Feb 2020, 26 Mar 2020 and 2 Jul 2020)

Link to original review – Here, Here and Here

Brief Synopsis – Two soldiers are sent on a mission across enemy lines during World War I in order to call off an attack that will fail due to the discovery of new intelligence information.

My Take on it – This is a film that I have now seen twice in the theater and twice at home and it still is quite amazing to watch because of the way it was made.

The story remains quite engaging from start to finish because it all comes across as such a fascinating drama.

The one cut aspect of the film adds so much to things because we can easily stay focused on the main characters as things revolve around this integral mission that they have been charged with.

The choice to tell this story almost entirely in real time enhances things because it raises the impact level so much as we watch how things play out.

The film has superb dialogue that help the story move forward in a way that keeps things feeling quite plausible the entire way through.

The way that they film everything is amazing but the battle scenes are especially realistic in their portrayal of the horrors of war.

The cinematography by Roger Deakins helps keep us constantly feeling as we are right there along side these character experiencing it all just as they do in all its visceral glory because that adds so much to the realism of war.

This is a very visually descriptive movie that allows us to take it all in via artifacts and bodies strewn all around the characters without a need to elaborate too much while showing the gruesome environment that war can create.

The way that camaraderie is integral to men in battle is portrayed really well here and we get to see that both when these characters are engaged in fighting with the enemy and when they are just walking and talking along their journey.

This helps make the story even more poignant to watch because it also allows these character to develop right in front of us which makes them characters we can easily care about along their perilous journey.

This is my favorite film of 2019 and I still believe that it is a film that will remain more engaging and integral to history than the film that beat it for the two top prizes at this year’s Oscars (Best Director and Best Picture), yet we will need time to allow us all to see it in hindsight.

Bottom Line – Amazing film that stays thrilling no matter how many times one sees it. The story is so engaging and the single cut aspect of things helps keep one’s eyes glued to the characters as things move forward. The fact that the story tales place almost in real time also enhances the way that things play out and keep it quite engaging throughout. The dialogue is great and that helps make things seem so realistic the whole way through. The battle scenes are filmed very realistically and since the cinematography gives us the feeling as if we are right there in the thick of the action, it keeps things so visceral to watch. The story is quite descriptive in a visual sense and we get to see the hell of war based solely on the various artifacts and bodies strewn around the environment of it all. The film is able to show how important camaraderie can be in the thick of battle and it is shown even when the characters are just talking to one another along the way which helps make things even more poignant because we see the way that these characters are developed along the way. This film is my favorite film of 2019 and I truly believe that in hindsight, we will get to see that this is a movie that will stand the test of time much better than the film that it lost the two big Oscars to (Best Picture and Best Director). Highly Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Cinematographer Roger Deakins won a total of 40 awards for his work in the movie. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (10/10) (no change from original review)