He war film It has been a constant throughout the history of cinema, as it never hurts to remember both the atrocities and the heroics that humanity can achieve. In addition, every so often a title is released that does very well at the box office, normally because it has had strong support from critics. Today it is time to remember what I think is the best war film of the 21st century so far: ‘1917’.
Released shortly before the coronavirus pandemic forever changed the way many consume cinema, ‘1917’ was the first feature film by Sam Mendes after his time in the James Bond saga with the excellent ‘Skyfall’ and the slightly disappointing ‘Spectre’. In it, the filmmaker travels back to World War I to tell the story of two British soldiers trying to accomplish a seemingly impossible mission.
Extraordinary
The truth is that in terms of the plot, ‘1917’ is an extremely simple film and could have been a mere excuse for the incredible formal display that Mendes makes through the immersive use of the sequence shot. However, the director of ‘American Beauty’ never forgets the need to give the film a strong emotional support so that in addition to dazzling the viewer, it is also possible for him to fully immerse himself in what happens in the sentimental theme.
It’s true that ‘1917’ takes a few small liberties that some will use to say that they don’t believe what it says, but every movie requires a certain suspension of disbelief and here the race against time that it proposes is brimming with tension and is seasoned with some exceptional ingredients, from the soundtrack of Thomas Newman up to, especially, the extraordinary work in photography of Roger Deakins.
In addition, ‘1917’ also has an almost perfect rhythm Thanks to Mendes, who avoids unnecessary accelerations and plays very well with the search for realism without neglecting a great sense of spectacle when his two protagonists plunge headlong into the battlefront. Here, too, he makes a good choice with the choice of two lesser-known actors to lead the cast, first emphasizing the contrast between their personalities and then bringing them closer emotionally as everything progresses.
All of this helps to make ‘1917’, above all, an immersive experience. And that’s where what I mentioned before about the suspension of disbelief becomes particularly essential, because if there’s something you get out of that impossible mission of the two soldiers, it’s unlikely that you’ll go back in. You might recognize its technical merits – although then you’d get into sterile debates about, for example, whether that tricked-out use of the sequence shot was necessary – but it will never be the same as for the rest.
Luckily, ‘1917’ did great at the box office, grossing $390 million during its theatrical run when its budget had been around $100 million. True, ‘Dunkirk’ had fared better just a couple of years earlier – the film Christopher Nolan It grossed 530 million against a similar cost, but I personally think that Mendes’ film is superior -although not by much- in terms of artistry. In fact, the only one that has made me doubt whether or not it is the best of the century so far is ‘Son of Saul’.
We must not forget that ‘1917’ took home 3 Oscars, but the truth is that there was a certain feeling of defeat, since it ended up being eclipsed by that enormous phenomenon that was ‘Parasites’. For my part, I confess that I prefer Mendes’ film over that of Bong Joon-ho.
‘1917’ is broadcast tonight on La 1 starting at 10:35 p.m. An ideal opportunity to enjoy it, but if for whatever reason you are not able to watch it on television at that time, you have several options to enjoy it in streaming, since it is available in the catalogs the Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
