1917 2019
1917 has been getting good reviews and surprised people by winning the Golden Globes for Best Picture and Best Director. It is always tough to be impressed by a movie people are saying is the best one of the year. That is especially true with 1917 which is a war movie, but kind of a small war movie. It is a little like a cross between The Hobbit and Saving Private Ryan. I feel like I have seen a lot of war movies, even war movies where they tell a smaller story of a couple of guys making their way through a much bigger battle, like this one. But director Sam Mendes adds the trick of making the entire movie seem like one continuous shot (or nearly so). It is a good way to tell a personal story in a very linear way, so the big trick is done to really simplify things. The almost first person perspective shows the absurdity of war as you have to decide whether to shoot the person coming up to you or whether they are not a threat. It is a harrowing trip, but not in a big war epic kind of way. It is smaller, but still brutal. It is a neat movie to watch, but ultimately just another war movie (one of the better ones), so I can’t rave it about it that much. I will give it a low A-.
Written: 11 Jan 2020
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital