1917

 

1917 (2019)

• Director: Sam Mendes
• Seen by the director: Spectre, Skyfall, Road to Perdition
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Claire Duburcq, with small roles played by Colin Firth, Andrew Scott, Mark Strong and Benedict Cumberbatch
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Dean-Charles Chapman – Breathe, Before I Go to Sleep
• George MacKay – Sunshine on Leith, Defiance, Rose & Maloney
• Why? Subject
• Seen: 5 December 2020      

       Two young soldiers, Blake (Chapman) and Schofield (MacKay), are sent through no man’s land and enemy territory reportedly abandoned by retreating Germans to warn British troops of a trap being set by the Germans which would cost hundreds of lives. We follow Blake and Sco step by step through barbed wire, deserted trenches, bombed out wasteland, collapsing and booby-trapped German trenches, past rotting corpses of soldiers and horses, across empty fields, through empty farms, town ruins.

       We’ve seen many films about World War I. This is one day, one mission, two soldiers in France in April 1917.      

4 ½ * of 5