‘1917’ is unlike any war movie we’ve been given before now

Posted on January 24, 2020

By MARK VIOLA

Even with the number of war movies Hollywood produces each year, we never seem to get many films about World War I. The most prominent one I can think of from recent years is “War Horse,” directed by Steven Spielberg. Then, of course, there was the 2018 documentary, “They Shall Not Grow Old,” from director Peter Jackson, which wonderfully restored actual footage shot during the war to give audiences a never-before-seen look at the horrors of that conflict.

The most recent film about the Great War is “1917,” directed and co-written by Sam Mendes (“Skyfall”).

One of the presumptive front-runners for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards, the movie is a technical marvel, filmed to appear as if it is one single camera take from start to finish. Although there have been other films that have used similar techniques — a recent example being “Birdman” — none have featured the level of action and the number of moving parts as “1917.”

But, as beautiful and tragic as the resulting production would have still been, it could have devolved into little more than a gimmick without the emotion and weight provided by its two lead actors – George MacKay (“11.22.63”) and Dean-Charles Chapman (“Game of Thrones”).

The story is admittedly simple. Two British soldiers (MacKay and Chapman) are tasked with delivering a message that some 1,600 men are walking into a trap. They must cross enemy lines and reach the advancing troops with a message calling off a planned attack for the next morning. If they fail, it will be a massacre.

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