Monday, 25 November 2024

1917 (Sam Mendes, 2019)


Two soldiers are tasked with delivering a message to a frontline unit about to attack the Germans, but in fact walking into a trap Prompt delivery of the message could save 1,600 British servicemen, so they cut through hazardous no man's land, a waste of barbed wire, craters and corpses.
Not too many modern war films deal with the First World War since its relentless, mindless meatgrinder progression leaves no room for tactical masterstrokes, daring missions or even moral high ground. This means that the key theme can be contemplations of futility instead of any pressure to slavishly work through historical events in order. 2017 achieves this ably, and as ever, the luminous photography of Roger Deakins is truly astonishing.

8/10

No comments: