Film No. 108 (2019) December 5th. 6:45 PM EVENT CINEMAS Innaloo.
"...... If you don't we'll lose sixteen hundred men, your brother amongst them ....." (Part of the brief issued to the Lance Corps by General Erinmore just prior to them embarking on their mission).
War films in the main project a message and hope that there never be another; 1917 has a power that encompasses those virtues ten fold. It is my favourite film of 2019, by a long one-shot that not even Birdman could match.
Sam Mendes pays tribute to his grandfather, Alfred Mendes, who told him many stories of his experiences in WWI with the film telling one such story; a story of gripping proportions. The story of Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and LC Schofield (George Mackay) on this day in 1917 over a momentous 12 to 15 hours has our heroes delivering a message beyond no-mans-land to save hundreds of lives, all shot in one take (it wasn't, but that's how it looks). It's brilliant and will become a Remembrance Day icon for years to come.
While the one-take feature film has become a style in contemporary cinema, there has been a self-indulgent quality to some, 21 Brothers, a prime example. Mendes uses the technique to gather us into the high power tense moments never letting us be confused about time and place. 1917 is gripping, sad, joyous, angry, thoughtful, loving and finally reflective. Go see it. 12GUMS.
No comments:
Post a Comment