“If you get there, make sure there are witnesses. Some men just want the fight.”

From director Sam Mendes, 1917 is an epic war story that illustrates the randomness of war brilliantly.

The story is based on two British soldiers, Lance-Corporals Schofield and Blake, in World War 2 who travel across No Man’s Land to deliver a message to a battalion of 16,000 soldiers (one of them being a brother of Lance Corporal Blake) who are about to fall into a Nazi trap.

The acting is good, though there aren’t many acting moments as the movie is very fast paced. Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) is portrayed as a strangely optimistic man, with no real edge to him. He doesn’t have much complexity to him but does have a few good acting moments here and there.
Schofield (George MacKay) is definitely the character with more vigour and emotion. He’s a troubled character that is acted very well, as you can clearly see his desperation to finish his mission, whilst adapting to the anarchy around him.
The supporting cast is good – though none of them had a big enough role to be remembered properly.

An excellent part of the film is the camerawork, managing to capture it in what appears as one flowing, continuous shot. It makes it incredibly captivating and adds a feel of uniqueness to the movie, whilst also having opportunities for great cinematography.

One flaw to 1917 is the lack of character development and attachment, as I often found myself not really caring for the people in the film, due to the lack of information about them. Part of that might be that there wasn’t enough time to build up personalities and backstories and it may not have fit with its fluid style, but I still feel it was a missing piece to the movie.

Sam Mendes does a great job with this film and, although it has a few shortcomings, it’s an incredibly gripping war drama that nails the chaotic-ness of the battlefield.