1917 Movie Review

1917

Movie Review

4.12 out of 5 Stars

While this film was mildly on my radar when I saw the trailer, the more and more buzz started happening around it, the more and more interested I became in it. Considering the hype that has been going around about this movie, I'm really glad that I saw it and I'm even more glad that I really liked it! I don't know any technical phrases or cinematography jargon, but there was something about this that just seemed smooth and seamless, which was really fascinating and entrancing. ***Note: There will be spoilers. ***

It was such a moving story. It was very action-filled as well, but the whole thing was permeated with very personal relationships, then put into sharp contrast with the fatigue and almost distance with the general troops. You could see the connections between them all and how the general horror of the war was taking its toll on everyone. But really, its the bond first between Blake and the unknown brother (later revealed to be Richard Madden) that initiates the film, and then it's the friendship between Black and Will (Schofield?), and then it ends with the other Blake brother finding out about the death and Will looking at the pictures of his family. So while there is a lot of action, this whole story was so strong though because it explored the depth of those relationships in a traumatic time and explored the fabric of those relationships when they are twisted and pulled.


So many great actors came out for this movie. Even knowing that, for example, Colin Firth was going to be in the movie, I hadn't really looked up who else would be there. Let me list: Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Richard Madden on top of Colin Firth, Dean-Charles Chapman, and George MacKay. Everyone did a great job, but wow, there were so many faces I recognized. Again, they all did amazing so far as I'm concerned. There was some minor distracting pieces to having random actors show up from out of the blue -- or so that's what it felt like to me -- but really they all just contributed amazingly.

The visuals for this film were completely stunning. It was brutal and bleak, but stunning. I think this is part of the reason why the whole movie was so captivating, but I can't quite place my finger on more details as to why that would be. It was just constantly moving from start to finish, and in the mix, would capture these sweeping shots of the landscape. It was simply great.


The plot was slightly on the weaker side. It was a touching story, and even though at first brush very simple, it still was able to do a lot. It doesn't change the fact that this really was just about delivering a message to prevent a battle from taking place, and certainly there were stakes in preventing the battle from happening, but it wasn't overly complex. However, I think that it was good in this case because so many other things could be roped into the focus of the movie, like the horror of the war in general and how the relationships between the characters were so important. 

I'm trying to think of a favorite scene, and... I think... it may be... errrrrr... the scene where Blake is stabbed and dies? That's a very bleak and morbid scene, I know, but there's a lot to it. Not only is is a horrible death because Blake wanted to do a good thing for the soldier who stabbed him, but it flips the roles between him and Will. Suddenly, everything falls on Will to deliver the message, and added to that is the new message to the other Blake that his brother is dead. What's more is that Will is forced to take on the mantle again of the same sort of heroic acts that he didn't want to accept before. What's even more compelling is that Blake was the one trying to tell him that the medal of honor means a lot, especially to families left behind and Will is the one who really just values getting home to his family. In a sad way, Blake's family will get the medal from his deeds, and Will will get to go home.

Overall, the story seemed excellently emotionally executed. Really, this seemed to me like a British, WWI, version of Saving Private Ryan, hitting a lot of the same emotional notes. It was stunningly put together and excellently emotionally driven. While the plot was on the simpler side, it highlighted the weight of the emotions and bleakness of the setting, and the acting was great. Definitely would want to watch it again.

Thanks for reading!