1917 Movie Review

Casserley Grace

Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, Sam Mendes’s blockbuster hit 1917 wowed

audiences with incredible cinematography and an extraordinarily compelling story. Having

directed 11 other films, which includes the likes of American Beauty and Skyfall, critics

questioned how Mendes was going to share his take on the often tired genre of war dramas.

Mendes responded by creating an Oscar-winning film that won categories like, Best

Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound Mixing. By collaborating with

cinematographer Roger Deakins, of The Shawshank Redemption fame, 1917 was able to use

innovative camera work to create intense action-heavy scenes that made audiences feel like they

were right alongside Lance Corporal Wiliam Schofield (played by George MacKay). Schofield

was trying to deliver a time-sensitive message to stop an upcoming attack, which if continued,

would cost the lives of almost two thousand British soldiers. Specifically, the entire film was

done to look like it was shot with two long takes. This isn’t the first time this effect has been

used in an Academy Award winning movie, most notably the one take effect was used in 2014’s

Birdman; however, the effect in 1917 helped directly place the audience in Schofield’s shoes to

illustrate the grueling violent task he was given. The effect of the long take paired with the

handheld camera created a grimy atmosphere that challenged the audience's view on what World

War I trench warfare looked like. This was helped by the detailed, concise, and historically

accurate work of the production designer, Dennis Gassner. Gassner’s job for this film involved

mapping out many locations that spanned over 800 miles in total. Through his precision, the sets

were able to show many locations ranging from the trenches to a destroyed French village. Due
to the two-shot look of the film, each scene had to be precisely rehearsed until the actors, the

crew, and cameras were able to perform a “dance” around each location. It is a technical marvel

that both the cinematography and production design were able to work together in such a smooth

choreographed way. Overall, 1917 does a fantastic job at taking audiences back to World War I

by creating an almost omnipresent view through the atmospheric camera movements and by

creating a maze-like set that leaves the viewer as stunned as Schofield. This movie is a must-

watch from the 2020 Academy Awards and it rightfully earned its spot among the top war films.