To: Hollywood Observers
Today we look at ‘1917’, a much-lauded film about the experience of soldiers on the Western Front in the First World War.
What’s it like: Serious, tense, realistic, vivid, sense of danger. Brilliant reconstruction of the Western Front landscape.
Plot: On the Western Front in the First World War, two private soldiers, Schofield and Blake, are commissioned to take a vital message eight miles away across no man’s land to another battalion, which is due to go over the top the next day at dawn. The message is vital: that the troops must not go over the top, since they would be annihilated. The film recounts the journey of the soldiers on this mission.
Comment: This is an excellent film. Its strongest point is probably the extensive realistic reconstruction of the physicality and moods of life on the Western Front, with depiction of the range of characters and attitudes generated by the war experience.
As the two men journey, they encounter a range of settings and situations: the quiet and suspicious empty areas; the loud and threatening battle action; dismal and bleak long trudges; animated soldiers readying for battle; and war-weary combatants in lethargic rest. And so, in covering a journey lasting one day, the film depicts the varied experience of a soldier: excitement, fear, adrenaline-fuelled action; and on the other hand, boredom, reverie and cynicism. The journey element is a clever plot device to reveal to the viewer these different aspects: it is unlikely things would change so much in one place in a short period.
The visual reconstruction is brilliant and perhaps the finest ever done in a film of the Western Front (presumably helped by good quality film technology and a sizeable budget for settings): the long winding passages in the trenches, full of soldiers talking, preparing or resting; deserted homes and townscapes; underground bunkers; and open fields with signs of battle around.
The film traverses various moods and throughout holds the viewer’s attention with the intensity borne out of the seriousness of the mission and the ever-present risk of danger. This applies even to the quiet scenes in fields and forest, but is most present in phases of strong action, where the intensity is overwhelming.
The device of a journey was chosen by the director Mendes to counter the usual state of affairs on the Western Front, of ‘paralysis and stasis’; and for a Western Front film, ‘1917’ is unusual in being about a journey with action and varied episodes: the main experience of those on the Front was long periods of waiting in the trenches, with short intense episodes of attack and defence.
Another notable device is the long take and the live time: the whole film appears to have been made with one long take, with one short break in the middle. This gives a sense of the urgency and ongoing nature of the mission and also that one is observing events live, as they happen. The director Mendes explains he did this, to make the film more of a ticking clock thriller than a war movie. (In fact, production of the film involved long takes of about fifteen minutes (still v long), which were then merged.)
On acting, the two main roles are performed by little-known actors George MacKay (playing Schofield) and Dean-Charles Chapman (playing Blake) and it certainly works not to use celebrities, to emphasise the ordinary status of the soldiers. Schofield and Blake depict the personalities of their characters skilfully: one as a rather reserved, sharp and sceptical, the other as more open, expressive and trusting. There are three famous names, perhaps to boost the film’s profile, but they have minor roles, only onscreen briefly: Colin Firth as the dignified and decent General Erinmore; Andrew Scott (Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes, the priest in Fleabag) as the wearily cynical, Lieutenant Leslie; and Benedict Cumberbatch as the impatient and battle-ready Colonel MacKenzie. The director Mendes commented that, because they are well-known and experienced actors, they were able to stamp their presence on the film in just a few mins, depicting a certain type of character.
The one detracting feature of the film, I would say, is that it is a bit monolithic, focussed as it is simply on the journey of two people. It lacks the breadth, depth and complexity one finds in a typical drama with several key players with various inter-relationships; and various plots. Also, some critics have complained that the characters are not well-developed: possibly, but I didn’t feel it let the film down, though the film could have been made deeper by opening up the characters more, especially the main two, perhaps in the manner of the film ‘World Trade Center’ (2006) which largely involves dialogue between two firefighters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center_(film)
In general, people tend to respond to the film in different ways: some are struck by the reconstruction; others by the strong moods; and still others by the sense of it happening in real, live time.
Altogether, I think ‘1917’ largely speaks for itself and doesn’t need much explication or interpretation. It depicts the experience of life on the Western Front, portrayed through both the various places and vistas seen; and the particular experience of two soldiers who traverse a wide range of episodes in a single day because of their unusual journey.
Director is Sam Mendes. He won Best Film Oscar for his first film American Beauty (1999); and is also well known for James Bond films Skyfall and Spectre. The film is dedicated to his grandfather Alfred Mendes who was a messenger on the Western Front. Interview with Sam Mendes: https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/12/30/21021190/1917-movie-sam-mendes-interview-one-shot
What the public think: It has been v popular: on a budget of $100m, it has made over $350m.
What critics think: It has been highly praised as one of the films of the year and won the Golden Globes for Best Film and Best Director; and BAFTA for Best Film.
Verdict: 5/5 Excellent. A rich, realistic reconstruction, emphasizing the stress and seriousness of the situation on the Western Front.
Background
Other World War One films
There are quite a few WW1 films, though there are many more for WW2, since cinema was much more established by the mid-twentieth century.
The 1950s saw a huge number of WW2 films which were often triumphalist and very much from the Allied viewpoint. Also, WW2 produced a wide range of dramatic episodes (the Battle of Britain, the Dam Busters, the Great Escape), which presented suitable material for thrilling action films.
In contrast WW1 films tend to emphasize the harshness of the war. This is largely since WW1 was more of a gruelling long-drawn out struggle, with massive loss of soldiers’ lives; but also since the films were made long after the war, when any sense of triumph had been overtaken by an awareness of the senseless waste of life – not least because many people died in battle with little military gain.
Here are some eminent WW1 films:
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Account of life on the Western Front for German soldiers, emphasizing the stress of the situation and how they later found it difficult to integrate back into civilian life.
from a novel (1928) by Erich Maria Remarque https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Quiet_on_the_Western_Front
War Horse (2011)
Story of a working horse sent to the Western Front; and his owner who goes in search for him.
from a novel (1982) by Michael Morpurgo Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Horse_(novel)
Birdsong (2012) a two-hour BBC tv drama
Story of a British soldier at Amiens on the Western front and his relations with local people. Lead role: Eddie Redmayne.
based on a novel (1993) by Sebastian Faulks Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birdsong_(novel)
Regeneration (1997)
Story of British soldiers recovering from emotional trauma on the Western Front, at a convalescent home in Edinburgh.
based on a novel (1991) by Pat Barker, part of a trilogy of novels https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regeneration_(novel)
A Very Long Engagement (2004)
Story of a Frenchwoman seeking her fiancé who is reported fallen on the Western Front. Lead role: Audrey Tautou.
Based on a novel (1991) by Sebastian Jabrisot
Gallipoli (1981)
Account of two Australian soldiers in the military campaign in Gallipoli in north-west Turkey. One of lead roles: Mel Gibson
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_(1981_film) Paths of Glory (1957)
Classic anti-war account of an attack and miscarriage of justice on the Western Front. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Kirk Douglas
Based on a novel (1935) by Humphrey Cobb
Journey’s End (2018)
Account of soldiers waiting in the trenches in the days before making an attack.
Based on a 1928 play by R C Sheriff
The Western Front in the First World War
The Western Front was the main theatre of action in Western Europe during the First World War (1914-18). After the swift German invasion of autumn 1914 through Belgium and into France, the two evenly matched sides of the Allies and the Germans quickly reached a stalemate and settled into trench warfare which continued for four years. A system of trenches was dug by both sides stretching hundreds of miles from the north French coast to the France-Switzerland border.
Due to a tragic coincidence of events, numbers and technology, the Western Front became a place of unprecedented slaughter in modern warfare: the two sides were evenly matched and neither side had the weaponry to break the deadlock decisively. The new armoury of machine guns and cannons meant that it was v difficult for soldiers to overpower the other side but they were likely to be killed in huge numbers.
The battles of the Western Front have become legendary for their high levels of casualty: Ypres, Verdun, Passchendale and the Somme. The first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916, was the day with the highest rate of casualties in the history of the British Army.
Eventually, in summer 1918, the German army’s resources were exhausted: they retreated and signed an armistice on 11 November. The UK’s annual Day of Remembrance for soldiers fallen in war is the 11 November, the last day of the First World War.
To this day, the Western Front remains an ultimate example and symbol for Westerners of massive loss of life in war.
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Front_(World_War_I)
6 March 2019
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