1917

Summary

“Some men just want the fight.”

Roger Deakins is a magician. The iconic cinematographer won his second Academy Award for Cinematography with his incredible work on Sam Mendes’s film 1917. The film was a passion project for Sam Mendes that came out of his affection for his grandfather’s stories of serving as a messenger during World War I. In order to create a war film that seems to be one continuous shot, Mendes sought out arguably the greatest living cinematographer to help realize his vision. The resulting film is visually one of the strongest films of the last decade. It ranks as one of the greatest achievements of Roger Deakins’ long and prolific career.

April 6, 1917-

Lance Corporals Tom Blake and Will Scofield (Dean Charles Chapman and George MacKay) awaken from sleeping in a field. They are summoned to the tent of General Erinmore (Colin Firth.) The General sends them on a mission of urgent importance. At the front line, Colonel McKenzie (Benedict Cumberbatch) has not seen the aerial photographs that would show that the retreat by the Germans was a strategic retreat. They are attempting to draw the British towards a new line where they have heavy amounts of force. If word doesn’t get to Colonel Mackenzie in time to call off his attack it will be a massacre. Adding pressure to the ordeal, the brother of Colonel Blake will surely be killed in the first wave of the attack. In order to reach Colonel Mackenzie the two men will need to cross through the no man’s land without being murdered by the enemy. The attack on the Germans will take place at dusk the next morning.

1917 is a fantastic achievement. Roger Deakins has long been in my mind in the same company as cinematographers Vittorio Storaro and Conrad L. Hall. The only contemporaries that are making consistently strong visual presentations on par with Deakins are Emmanuel Lubezki and Robert Richardson. In any other year, Robert Richardson would have won the award for best cinematography for his work on Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood. The truth of the matter is that what Deakins manages to do with Sam Mendes on 1917 is incredible. It takes brass balls to be willing to undertake a continuous shot war film that is made up of exterior shots for most of its running time. The amount of precision it takes to just make sure that the weather matches up through the running time is a daunting task. Add in the amount of extras that it takes to capably coordinate certain sequences and the achievement becomes even more extraordinary. The sequence involving the burning church will go down as one of the finest of the last couple decades. When you see it, you will be blown away.

I have been effusive with praise about Deakins, but I should also point out that Sam Mendes wrote and directed the film and it was his vision that Deakins figured out how to accomplish. For Mendes, this project was a completion of a personal project he had been nursing for years. Screenwriter Kristy Wilson-Cairns helped Mendes to get his thoughts on paper in a way that could work onscreen. The resulting film is the best film that Sam Mendes has done since Jarhead and is a highlight for a pretty remarkable career (that includes the great James Bond film Skyfall.)

There are some minor issues with the film. Some have complained about the lack of characterization of the two main characters, but I did not find this particularly galling considering that it is meant to take place over such a short stretch of time. Some have complained that the film is a bit slower moving than other war films, but I am a big fan of Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line so this film did not in any way seem too slow for me. For me, the only weakness of the film lies in some of the actual dialogue spoken by the two leads. While much of it rang true, a couple lines here or there seemed a little clunky to me. That said, every line spoken by the actors in cameos seemed spot on. I particularly liked the dialogue spoken by actor Mark Strong in his small role. The issue with dialogue was a very small quibble considering everything else going on with the film.

The acting in the film is pretty strong. George MacKay is a really great new face for the screen. He puts himself through Hell over the course of the film and the exhaustion looks real. Dean-Charles Chapman is pretty good in the role of Tom, but for some reason his performance had a few off notes to me. Then again, this could just be an issue with some of the dialogue he was given. The cameos by Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong, Colin Firth, and Andrew Scott are all well placed and well acted. It is also worth mentioning that the music in the film by composer Thomas Newman is a perfect fit for the film.

Overall – I give 1917 an enthusiastic recommendation. One of my favorite films from 2019.

Video

1917 is an absolute powerhouse of a film. The film was shot in 4.5K and given a 4K HEVC/H.265 encoded transfer in Dolby Vision from Universal Pictures. It looks absolutely fantastic. The detail on display is jaw dropping. Roger Deakins award winning widescreen cinematography deserves to be seen in the UHD format. I found myself constantly floored by how impressive this film looked on my television. The Dolby Vision and HDR make for an incredibly rich viewing experience. No home cinema will be complete without this film for demo purposes.

Audio

Universal Pictures have provided a demo quality Dolby Atmos track. This track uses the surrounds to totally immerse the viewer in the action. The film won the Oscar for best sound mixing and it absolutely deserved the victory. The sequence involving the barn and plane jumps to mind as one of excellent design, but honestly the whole film uses sound in ways that amplify the intensity of the film. Composer Thomas Newman gives the film an amazing backdrop to the actions onscreen. With a film this visually appealing, the sound was just as important. This track is one of the best I heard this year.

Supplements:

It is worth noting that all of the supplements are available on both the Blu-ray and 4K UHD disc. I also was happy to see that the supplements on the UHD disc are all in native 4K.

• The Weight of the World: Sam Mendes – a short but insightful look into Sam Mendes’ process of making 1917 a reality.
• Allied Forces: The Making of 1917 – this is a really cool piece where some of the films sequences are shown being filmed using the revolutionary techniques that Deakins and team developed.
• The Score of 1917 – Composer Thomas Newman’s score is the focus of this piece.
• In the Trenches – This piece focuses on the young actors and the other cast members in the film.
• Recreating History – Dennis Gassner discusses his work on the film’s production design.
• Audio Commentary: Director/Co-Writer Sam Mendes gives an excellent commentary on the processes went into crafting 1917.
• Audio Commentary: Director of Photography Roger Deakins discusses how the film’s cinematography was achieved. Deakins fans will want to pick up this disc for this commentary alone.

Overall scores 

Video – 5/5

Audio – 5/5

Supplements – 4.5/5

Overall – 5/5

1917 was one of the best films of 2019. The 4K UHD presentation of 1917 is one of the best releases of 2020. Aside from some very minor quibbles with some hollow moments of dialogue, 1917 is an incredible achievement. Sam Mendes deserves a lot of praise for writing and directing his passion project. Roger Deakins and the team of Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson deserve their Oscar wins for Cinematography and Sound Design. The supplements included are interesting and worthy of your time – especially the audio commentaries by Sam Mendes and Roger Deakins. This is a reference quality release that people will use to show off their home video equipment for years to come. Highly recommended.