With that thought in mind, I increasingly find 1917 reminiscent of LotR - the two faithful friends walking into a hellish landscape. I believe Tolkien was specifically at The Somme, which was about as foul as it got in terms of a corpse-strewn landscape of mud and filthy water.
@@Edninety I can't claim that insight as my own... years ago there was a 'Britain's Favourite Book' thing on the BBC, and the guy arguing for The Lord of the Rings was a historian who made some very interesting observations about Tolkien's wartime experiences and things like the dead marshes that Frodo and Sam have to cross. Of course there's also the whole thing about Frodo coming home and never being able to fit back into his old life, the trauma of his experiences never leaving him - also a common experience for many veterans in any war, but WW1 was when PTSD began to be medically recognised. I suspect you could find LotR in a lot of treatments of WW1, but I find it very strongly in 1917...
Lmfao true, but I remember reading somewhere that one of the dudes who ran in to him wasn’t supposed to do that, and after he fell he just laid there because he thought he had ruined the shot. But apparently the director really liked it and kept it in, so I guess in-universe that soldier just thought it was a good time for a nap
@@akorn9943 exactly, one of them hit him by accident, so the actor freaked out andstayed on the ground, but you can explain that by either 2 things 1: the character passed out with the impact (which sometimes happen) 2: the character took that as an oportunity to stay there because he was scared
They were actually told to go on filming if they messed up in small ways that didn't completely ruin the take. That's why you'll sometimes see them stumble, fall, bump into other actors, having to adjust their guns, and other little human details that just add so much to the immersion of this movie.
Well.... if you want to see what it was really like in the Great War there IS a way. Watch The Shall Not Grow Old. Real footage assembled by Peter Jackson (who made Lord of the Ring. It is combined with recordings of the people who were actually there. Very moving (again) and quite quite brilliant.
Quite possibly the greatest single restoration of old film I have ever seen. The voice actors used were from the same regions as those in the film , Welsh, Cockney, Irish, Londoner, Scot and where possible they were from the same units as those depicted
British soldiers actually salute differently than Americans, they do it palm forward. That’s one of those things people don’t know nowadays because there are so few war movies.
I'm American, but when I was in High School I developed some British like characteristics. One of my teachers who I was very close with was in the Air Force and I would salute to him. But I would salute to him the British army way. So the way you described.
THE UK Army chose to show the open hand as it is believed that the navy chose the hand palm down salute as sailors hands were often covered in grease and tar, and it was better not to show the dirty hand. This was a remnant left over when Queen Victoria once visited and inspected the men and found that dirty hands thing quite distasteful so since they decided to have open palms forward for a 'cleanliness' perspective. The open handed salute of the British Army was intended to demonstrate that hands were clean which meant, in turn, that a soldier paid attention to detail and took care of himself (there were no women in the army at this time) and his weapons and equipment. Another reason is a tradition that you are showing that you haven’t got any weapons in your hand. UK navy salute with the palm down so that a knife cannot be secreted. It would fall to the deck.
Uk and Australian are the same,right arm bicep parallel to the ground and 90 degree angle from the elbow up and put your hand against your forehead with palm outwards
My Great Grandfather fought in the Great War 1914-1918. He was raised in an orphanage. He guessed he was 16 when he signed up, and always looked older than he was.........turns out he was 14 when he went to war. I have his medals. I restored them recently, and will be contacting the M.O.D. (ministry of defence) shortly, to enquire about getting them re-ribboned.
My paternal Great-Great-Great Uncle fought as well. Robert Henry Swalwell, 340th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division "Custer's Own". He died October 13, 1918...less than a month before it ended. My maternal Great-Great-Great Grandfather fought also, in Germany. Sigmund Lässner. He died young from the strain of the war, none of his kids were adults, so his service information is lost to us. I'm not sure if Germany still has it archived, but I'd like to look.
I know my great grandad fought in WW1, as a marksman, deployed in France, then sent to Ireland in 1916, then back to France again. As a Welshman, I doubt he relished being sent against the Irish, having played them in rugby, and with a Scottish wife I'm sure he felt more in common with the Irish than with the English crown. He died in 1941, aged only 58, while his son served in North Africa. I wish at least he'd lived to the end of WW2. It must have been like a resurfacing nightmare for people of his generation, and my grandfather survived the war and died in 1993. Another side of my family I know almost nothing about, except that in the family treasure chest there are two ANZAC medals from WW1. After genocide, it's the worst thing people do. What a bloody waste.
During the rat scene, the Germans didn’t leave the food hanging as a trap, but did so because it made it harder for the rats to get to it, similar to how campers hang their food from a tree so that bears can’t reach it. The trip wires were on the ground.
Yep. Rats were a CONSTANT hazard in the trenches, and when men weren't fighting (most of the time) they were hunting and killing rats, any way they could. Just being in the trenches for an extended period could be as deadly as bullets, bombs and shells.
2:19 Yes love, they were doing it properly. The British Army and Air Force salute with the palm facing outwards. It’s just a slightly different style compared to how Americans salute. 13:43-13:57 No. The bullet ricochet off Schofield’s steel helmet. The impact was still strong enough to knock him out cold. The book in his jacket had nothing to do with that. 18:12- 18:20 The Captain is crying because he’s terrified and having a nervous breakdown. 18:55-19:07 Those poor guys aren’t tripping. They are getting shot, and they also might be getting hit by pieces of shrapnel. So they are either dead, or wounded. Sam Mendes directed and wrote this film based on the stories told by his grandfather, Lance Corporal Alfred H. Mendes, who served as a message runner for the British Army during World War I. So it’s based on an actual event that happened, and it’s inspired by real stories, but the characters are fictional.
@@oliver8296 I’m just guessing, but I think it’s most likely because most of the American colonists were more familiar with the Navy salute and so when they created their own army they used that one, also to differentiate themselves further from the British Army during the rebellion
The Great World War is often overlooked, and is absolutely worth remembering. Tolkien fought in the war and it inspired him to write the Lord of the Rings, the Shire being home, and the trenches being Mordor. He fought at the battle of the Somme, where there were over 1 million casualties.
WW1 is woefully under-represented in film and it's also extremely neutered in terms of how *horrible* the conditions actually were. In Passchendaele (which is east of Ypres in Western Flanders) it had rained so much that it essentially became a quagmire and if you could stand on the mud without some kind of bracing it meant you were standing on a dead body.
True, and horses got swallowed along with soldiers in the thick mud. The living conditions of a soldier in the First World War was definitely worse than the Second World War.
A horrifying detail that I didn't notice until I rewatched it (mostly because the single-shot effect keeps you so focused on Scho and Blake) is that the very earth in No Man's Land is packed with bodies. There are obviously a few moments where the camera specifically drifts a little to show them, or where it lingers with the bodies in-frame - but even when it is trained directly on Scho and Blake, you can pause on any frame in that sequence and see that the ground, the craters, every inch of territory is comprised of mud on bodies on filth on mud on more bodies, sometimes so deeply buried that all that remains visible is a patch of rotting skin, or a recognisable part of a uniform peeking through the dirt.
I'm hoping that may change, as a result of the success of this film. The suffering the soldiers endured during that war is deserving of remembrance. The snowflake youth of today could never endure it.
There is a reading in the film, a journey through hell and heaven like “The Divine Comedy”. I explain: 1. Blake and Schofield (the two protagonists) each represent opposing views on war. Blake is the idealistic young man, who believes in heroism and thinks that medals are an honor, Schofield on the other hand is the cynic who believes neither in honor, nor in medals nor in the glory of war. As the story progresses we realize that Schofield fulfills the same role as Dante, he must make a journey through hell in the company of a guide, Blake (Virgil). 2. Upon receiving the mission from him, the general tells them "Down to Gehenna, or up to the Throne, He travels the fastest who travels alone" Gehenna is a way of referring to hell. 3. Upon reaching the German trenches they must go through a bunker, that is, underground (they enter the circles of hell) 4. Blake dies, Schofield loses his mentor and must continue the journey alone. 5. When Schofield is shot and unconscious, it appears that he dies. There is a change in the color, music and rhythm of the film, a before and after this scene, it is the spiritual rebirth of the fallen soldier 6. The only visible cut is exactly in the middle of the film, dividing it in two; the first half is the descent to hell and the second is the ascent to paradise 7. When he wakes up he is in hell, he finds the city destroyed and burned with a fountain emulating a cross. He is received by a demon who chases and shoots him (the German soldier) 8. He is rescued by a woman and a child, the Virgin Mary, remember that she says that the child is not hers, so it is implied that she is a virgin. 9. Upon receiving salvation, after offering the milk that he found on the farm, bells ring, heaven opens 10. he escapes from hell through a river (he cleanses his sins through baptism) 11. In the river he meets some cherry blossoms like the ones Blake mentioned, it is an echo of his soul 12. Upon leaving the River he is greeted by a choir of angels (the soldier singing) singing about that he will meet the Father 13. When we reach the final trenches, everything is white, the gravel, the fog, he is in heaven. 14. When he looks for Blake's brother, he first looks for him among the wounded and then finds him unharmed; "Why do you search among the dead for the one who is alive?" Luke 24: 5 15. If Blake was Virgil, his brother would be Beatrice, the character with whom the protagonist finally reaches fulfillment and spiritual peace. 16. Our protagonist starts in a tree, and ends in a tree If you ask me, this movie, if it is not a masterpiece, it is very close to being one.
Something that twisted the knife for me upon realisation is that the passage through hell (Écoust) partially mirrors the German bunker scene. And in it, Schofield does the things that Blake was yelling at him in the bunker to keep him going. He's knocked unconscious, but he must get up. GET UP. Go. Move. Run. Hold onto me. Keep moving. Don't stop. Wait - now go. You have to jump. Trust me. JUMP. Blake is still keeping him going, even when he is lost, when he cannot see, when he is in the darkest depths. And then: the water. The water Blake offers him as a salve when they emerge from the trial of the bunker - and the water in which Schofield finds Blake once again, the cherry blossoms, after he has made his way through hell, and which give him the final bit of strength to claw his way over the bodies of the dead and up onto the bank.
Beautifully written and laid out. Very deep. I would surmise that the book/screenplay must have been based on Dante. Excellent comment, great insight. Thank-you. 🤔 👍
Honestly, fantastic movie, but the scene that gets me is seeing this brother that they were trying to reach all this time go from excitement to understanding, grief and then process it enough to talk to the friend of his brother who brought him the news... That is the scene I think of when I think of this movie.
The trench run scene gives me goosebumps every time. The score is perfect, the shot composition is perfect, the extras screwing up and running into McKay are perfect. Just that realization on his face what he has to do to have any chance, watching the first wave start across who you know many will now die even as he runs... damn.
That scene including the build up to it (our man entering the trenches and seeing all the troops huddled down, waiting to go over) is easily one of my all time top 10, maybe top 5 of movie moments for me.
@@phj223 know what's perfect? Just looked it up out of curiosity, but talk about defining the stakes - the score piece playing over that scene is simply called "sixteen hundred men"
They just kept in the shot of him tripping because it was too expensive to reshoot, frankly I think it was good to keep seeing as it was the climax of the movie and the end of the initial mission and overall added to the determined feeling that scene invokes.
The death scene of Blake is quite realistic... When I watched the movie, seening him turning from pale to white and how he loses it slowly, my experience of working as a paramedic connected. I've seen patients die in similar ways. This movie is one of a few, who really manage to show this
The Germans had much better trenches and living accommodations then the British and American forces. The Germans employed concrete, proper drainage and sewage handling while the Allies used more or less lumber and sand bags.
This was mainly because the allied strategy was based on steadily moving forward and taking back territory from German forces, so they didn't feel the need to make their structures more permanent. The Germans were more focused on holding existing territory rather than advancing, so their structures were built to last.
@@ajackdrew - Absolutely correct. The difference was doctrine. The Allies, particularly the French, had to take back the territory the Germans has seized. Building bunkers was forbidden as it was a defensive mentality.
I should add that the rationale for doing so was that the French and British took an entirely offensive approach and thought it was pointless to spend resources on building up their trenches when they were inevitably going to leave them when they advance, despite the fact the they were in an obvious stalemate. The Germans, on the other hand, realized sooner that this was going to be a battle of attrition and that they were inevitable going to lose the war if they continued to continued to launch offensive after offensive. They didn’t have the vast overseas empires of the British or the French to draw manpower from or the massive population of the Russian Empire, so they shifted to this defensive strategy to bleed the all the empires dry and with that, they invested immensely in their trench fortification network.
@@ajackdrew the military ethos of both the British and (especially) the French militaries before the war was a purely offensive mentality. Yes, they were fighting to recover lost ground, but they would have been doing so even if they were the reverse position, like if they had won the battle of the frontiers and had gained some ground into German territory before the stalemate set in. At the outset of the war, the french military didn’t even have heavy artillery and relied solely on light, mobile field guns that could be easily transported because their military was built entirely on the premise of constantly pressing the enemy offensively, even in the face of an attack. That’s why French casualties were so gargantuan in the first year of the war.
If you've not seen it 'The Trench' (starring Daniel Craig) is... well, it's not a *great* film, but it's a really solid depiction of life in a trench in the hours building up to the first day of the Somme. Craig plays an experienced sergeant effectively 'babysitting' a load of raw recruits - I'd always found him a bit so-so as an actor, but his performance here made me a fan, and was the reason I had faith in him when he was announced as James Bond (while much of the world was scratching their heads and saying he was completely wrong for it).
The reason its called no mans land (the point between two opposing trench systems) is the sighting in of artillery from both sides and the fact that there is absolutely no cover and it's being watched by sharpshooters (snipers) which is what got those guys you noticed that just "tripped".
Such a great film. Regarding how aggressive everyone was to each other in the film: When the war started in 1914, there was a mutual respect between enemy armies and believed the war would be over in a matter of weeks. By 1917, millions had been killed for very little gain. The armies were exhausted, frustrated, bitter and angry. They hated each other then, and just wanted the war to be over. That’s why the German pilot stabbed Blake, even though Blake saved his life.
I cannot think of ANY German who would have acted like this... maybe only to avoid becoming a Prisoner. ofc the British are the good Guys and the Germans the bad Guys. The usual Narrative, just like always. The whole Plot of this Film is unrealistic. They had other Communication Methods even in WW1. My Grandfather (1892-1990) was in WW1 and WW2, both Times marching against France. WW1 was the Horror for him but in a different Way than it was depicted in this Movie. Because of his WW1 Backgound he feared the western Front more than the eastern Front. When WW2 started they were all thinking it would be a second WW1 Experience again but then he found himself sitting around most of the Time and watching nice French Girls hanging out with the Soldiers... The Soldiers on the eastern Front would be the unlucky Guys this Time. cya.
I remember that there was a Christmas the two sides shared together in 1914 it's exaggerated but it wasn't authorised which makes the truce even more baffling
Honestly, though, in a situation like that where you're in absolutely no position to take or care for a prisoner or wounded enemy combatant, your only safe and viable choice would be a summary execution. It's horrific and to call it unfortunate would be a massive understatement, but leaving an enemy behind and alive to potentially kill one or more of your comrades, or worse, leaving an enemy pilot with knowledge of messengers out and about to be found by their own forces are neither good options whatsoever. Watching Saving Private Ryan, I was on the side of executing the one German prisoner instead of letting him go. Not because I hated him or was mad that he had a part in killing Wade, but because that small Ranger unit was trying to move fast and was in absolutely no position to take a prisoner. As we saw there, he ended up joining back with his own comrades and had information and knowledge that got a lot of people killed. Again, summary executions are absolutely horrible things to have happen, but war itself is an even more horrific beast with more lives fighting for survival than just that one person that could end up causing more destruction.
I saw it in IMax when it came out in December of 2019. The scene where he sticks his wounded hand in the body made everyone audibly gasp. The rat in the bunker was a jumpscare for the whole theater. I heard people sniffling during the scene where his friend died. Everyone, myself included, was crying during the Wayfaring Stranger scene. And I heard everyone breathing quite heavily as the movie ended and we walked out of the theater. 1917 was the most emotional movie I have ever see, and it was a roller-coaster of emotions at that. It is horrifying, and scary, and beautiful, and tragic, and cathartic, all at once. It hurts to watch. Going into the theaters with no knowledge about the movie other than that it was a war movie, and that "I heard it was made to look like a single shot the whole time," it was very unexpected, and I loved it. One of the best movies I've ever seen, and I think it's something that will be spoken of as a classic in the years and decades that follow.
I had a huge WW1 research kick abouts when this film came out. Anyone that's interested, I recommend All Quiet on the Western Front. Something that I don't think a lot of art has captured is the tedium of waiting coinciding with the constant threat of pain and death. The trenches of the western front are one of the most horrid and terrifying places I think this planet has ever known.
The cherry blossoms was a callback from when Blake talked about his family's cherry orchid prior to being killed. It's what moved Schofield to move from the river and finish the mission. It's such a moving and powerful scene.
The really impressive thing about this isn't just that they made it look like one constant shot, but that they did this in a long linear story. They had to time how much distance they'd cover in each scene, then build a model of the "sets", most of which had to be built contiguously, then build those for real. And they shot all outside so they had to wait for cloud coverage and stuff to line up in between takes. The behind the scenes stuff is amazing.
Great reactions The guys didn’t trip…. They were shot…. When you see original WW2 footage you’ll see actual soldiers full within seconds of the attack. For them their battle was over.
I was deployed to IZ and AF multiple times. My days overseas was more than triple the total US time in WW1. What those guys went through was 1000x worse than what I went through.
4:06 Yep, the way he delivered that line was the most believable in almost any movie, with any actor you can see the "performance mode" being displayed, the dude just talked as there was no camera and he was literally in that situation.
I was unsure about seeing this in, the trailer really wasn't doing anything for me. But last-minute I saw it in the theater with my wife and another couple. Wow. My mind was blown and we were all sobbing messes by the end...well and through most of it really. Movies deserves every Oscar it got.
So the dedication at the end of the film was to Alfred H Mendes. The Director of this film is his grandson Sam Mendes. It was not based on any one story but different elements from different stories that Alfred witnessed during his time as a courier during the first ww1 in the trenches.
Best WW1 movies you could watch : « Path of Glory » (by Stanley Kubrick 1954) « La Grande Illusion » (by Jean Renoir from 1937) « All Quiet on the Western Front » (Lewis Milestone from 1930) « Westfront 1918 » (German movie from 1930) The fact that these movies are old is actually a bless, the trauma from the War in Europe can be even more perceived and understood
The Great War was one of the most horrific experiences that the world experienced. From the American perspective, it really is a forgotten war. It has made me glad to see so much more attention given to it and the stories there in since its centennial. Excellent choice to watch.
It's a phenomenal film, for many reasons. But that whole sequence with the flares at night, and the music - on the big screen that was one of the best cinematic moments I've ever seen. Pretty awesome.
One of the coolest things I remember seeing about the making of this movie is that they built a special rig for the camera in the trench scenes. The camera essentially sat on someone's back and they walked forward as normal. The cool part is that the camera was remotely operated by Sir Roger Deakins which allowed him to move it around and keep the two actors in frame as the camera moved forward.
I was just thinking this, then read your comment. I've watched BoB so many times and it never loses it effect to move me to tears. 1917 does the same thing.
@@macondogamboa9981 What do you mean by "American Propaganda"? I agree that there is definitely a "Hollywood touch" to it, but that is good because most people could not handle watching real war.
@@garrettstephens91 Ignore him bud. It's a fantastic series that shows the connections between soldiers and the hell that they fought through. I've got many of my fiends to watch it, and they have never had a bad word to say about it.
I love cherry blossoms too. They’re my favorite flowers. Sadly, but fittingly they also symbolize the short life of a warrior. There’s quite a few instances of cherry blossoms being used as a symbol of war, usually in suicide missions.
5:45 some still exist actually ! If you visit France someday, you should go to the memorial of Verdun (where the famous battle took place in 1916, for about 10 months. Just to give you an idea... 143 000 Germans and 163 000 French died, while 196 000 Germans and 216 000 French were wounded. That means approximately 540 French soldiers and 470 German soldiers dead every day... for 10 months. And this, is just for one battle... and still nothing compared to the Battle of the Somme during the same year, where the Brits suffered enormous casualties too) Russia, France, Germany, England, Autstria (and so many other countries) were deeply traumatised by this War. So much that the resentment it created lead inevitably to a second global conflict, even more devastating.
Cool fact: The movie is based on the director's actual grandfather who served as a dispatch runner during WWI for the exact mission described in the film. There was a lot of content from eye witnesses the director had but because so much of what was said couldn't be verified by other sources, the director left much of it out of the film. For instance, it was reported that his grandfather captured a squad of Germans on his route to his destination but that was never officially recorded so the director didn't include it.
There is one movie that is actually a continuos shot with no cheating, Russian Ark. Another wonderful cheated one shot is Alfred Hitchcock's Rope. Maybe the most famous long take is from one of the best film noirs, Touch of Evil. All very worth watching!
One thing I love about this movie is how the single take is not just a gimmick, the history is so intense for people watching and Schoefield have the exactly same amount of time as us to emotionally process everything, that’s why the scene where he breaks down is so gut wrenching.
4:36 I think it'd be totally fair and even accurate to describe much of World War 1 as 'a horror'. The scale of death experienced in those 4 years is mind-bending.
My grandfather served in WW1 from 1915 through to the end of the war, except through 1916 when he was in hospital recovering from a wound. He would rarely speak about what he went through but this movie gives me some idea. An incomplete idea I'll admit. In reality it must have been so much more and so much worse. But he came home and so many did not. Remember them on 11th November please.
Thanks for an excellent review. The horrors of this war still scar families to this day. Both my grandfathers fought with the Glorious Glosters at Pascheandaele. William Druce had one of his legs blown off and Ernest Harmour died from his wounds after the war. My mother was only 3 years old when her father Ernest died and her bitterness regret was not remembering his face.
The continuous shot technique makes this a very immersive experience. You don't see anything before the characters do, you don't know anything they don't know, you are just right in there with them. This was a brutal theater experience. We just sat there in shock for the entire credits after it was over. One of the best movies I've seen a long time. The really heartbreaking thing about it is that Blake died and Schofield went through so much to deliver that message and stop the attack...and as the guy said at the end, probably the next day they got new orders and most of those men would die anyway.
I remember in my 3rd year of high school, while doing some written assignment in my German class, I meant to write schießen but got the "i" and "e" mixed up 🤣 The best part was I came SOOOO close to getting a pass as my teacher didn't spot it. However, she handed all the assignments to her teaching assistant (a woman originally from Munich)! I still passed (just not with as high a grade) but got the biggest chewing out of my life up to that point. I told my dad (who is near fluent in German) when he got home from work that night......he spent the next 10 straight minutes laughing his a** off !!
"Der Amerikaner hat hundekuchen in der tasche". (I did German at school, but that was a while ago and my last German lesson came when I was playing Medal of Honor on the PS1. The phrases I learned have yet to prove useful.)
Love this movie! I left the theater and had to sit in my car to decompress after watching this masterpiece. Saving Private Ryan was my favorite war movie until this movie came along. Great reaction! It was fun journeying with you and getting your thoughts along the way. Keep up the good work! 👍🏼
He was actually thinking about his child, I think, in the scene with the baby. That's why he's so sad. Not just because of the terrifying stuff outside. You see a child in the picture he looks at at the end. Though I guess it could be his much younger sibling. But I don't think so. It's why he straight away plays with the baby. He's not just nice to the child, y'know? He knows what to do to comfort a child, because he has one. And that makes him sad, because he doesn't know if he's ever going to see his kid again. It's so heartbreaking.
Sir Roger Deakins once again showing why he is the best cinematographer working right now and one of the best to ever work. He's truly a legend. Every film he's worked on is beautifully shot and his masterful work with lighting is unmatched.
The scene with the man singing...... the theater was beyond silent. You could hear a pin drop. And as the song went on you hear people sniffing and crying. My what a beautiful moment, a beautiful moment, a beautiful song. Maybe my fav emotional scene of all time.
This was the only film in the past several years that I've actually gone back to the theater to watch in IMAX - 3 times. The 'window'/night flares scene is surely one of the most awe-inspiring things I've seen in the cinema in a long time. And the emotional catharsis at the end with Thomas Newman's moving score were all worth the 3x admission price. And no wonder, this is directed by Sam Mendes, one of the best directors working today. And shot by Roger Deakins, one of the best cinematographers of our time. People pass off the one-shot thing as a gimmick, but it really isn't. The film wouldn't have been as effective were it not all in real-time, travelling with the characters moment by moment. I highly recommend American Beauty if you haven't seen it; it is Sam Mendes' debut film and one of my favorite movies of all time.
The night scene of the ruins of the town is one of my favorite parts of the movie. Its very reminiscent of the etching from the series Der Krieg (The War) of the German painter Otto Dix (who served in WW1) specifically III.5 Die Trümmer von Langemarck (The Ruins of Langemarck ) and II.7 Leuchtkugel erhellt die Monacu-ferme (Flare Illuminates the Monacu farm) very interesting painter but be warned he was brutally honest in his depictions of WW1 and post war Germany so it might not be to everyone taste but they are fascinating in a macabre sort of way.
I’d also like to point out that the movie started at the base of a tree and ended at the base of another. Just a nice little detail to finish the story, because at the start and the finish, Schofield was exhausted.
There are a lot of CGI scenes they made look so realistic it really does feel like a one shot movie. Like when they get out of the shell hole at the beginning of the movie, that's CG and its INCREDIBLE.
The making of this film is just amazing. They basically started with an empty field, and then walked across it as they read through the script so they knew where to dig the trenches and build the structures. Plus, the camera work and how they accomplished it was mindblowing. Definitely watch some of the BTS videos on this one.
In case nobody has mentioned it earlier in the comments, the gentleman in the black cap at 4:03 is actor Andrew Scott...who played Private John Hall in Band of Brothers, Episode 2 "Day of Days", the soldier who met up with Lt. Dick Winters after parachuting into Normandy.
It's crazy he didn't win earlier. I remember being disappointed when he didn't win for Skyfall. Thankfully they came to their senses a year later I think.
Yeah, if he hadn't won for those two films, I would have had to find someone to go hurt. If you haven't already, listen to his Team Deakins podcast. There are two episodes in particular where people ask him and his wife questions about working on this film and 'Fargo'.
One thing I found really interesting about the movie is the date the plot takes place. The 6th of April 1917. Just a few days later (on the 9th of April) the battle of Arras (which is in the general area) started, which lasted for over a month. Almost 300.000 people died there (158.000 Soldiers of the British Empire and around 120.000 - 130.000 german soldiers). So all that has happened is just stalling the next big slaughter.
10:14 - You have nothing to be sorry for. Though, in the future, you should reconsider how much mascara you choose to wear for certain movies. Kinda based on a true story. The director's grandfather (or maybe great grandfather, not sure) really did serve in WWI as a "messenger" like that. And this movie is based on the stories he heard from him before he passed away.
A lot of the soldiers in WW1 were young, some as young as 14. Dreadful war, so many died on all sides, so sad. 1917 is a truly wonderful film. I'd recommend certain reading up on certain battles and events like the Battle of the Somme and the Christmas Truce, it will truly move you and break your heart.
That was pretty incredible how it turns out the “main character” actually wasn’t. Only other movie I can think of to do that was Godzilla with Bryan Cranston.
The best part about it shot like an entire single shot was that there were no other scenes to distract you from the main objective of the movie. It's also forces you to keep focused on what is happening and going to happen. You are also not alone in falling apart through this movie.
What an absolute pro of a movie reaction. Take notes other reactors .. I felt like I was on two journeys, one with the movie and the other with her explanations and describing her emotions as well. I love seeing great content creators.
Such an intense movie and the cinematography was so good. I watched it for the first time earlier in the year and had similar reactions to you. My grandfather was in the war. His aircraft was hit by German anti aircraft fire over the Somme in August 1916. He survived with a head wound. One inch one way or the other and I wouldn't be writing this. He had a steel plate was in his head for decades after that. Retired as a school headmaster.
Thank you as always for sharing your heartfelt reaction with us, you moved me more than the film itself. I served 8 years active duty but not in war time, I operated mainframe computers and such. I got to see it from the inside, how the military works. It's a shame so much of our economy is focused on creating weapons of war. I'll never forget seeing on the news a sergeant who was in the national guard, how he'd been sent to Iraq, was home on vacation and refused to go back there. They military kept extending him past his commitment and he said he saw no reason to travel halfway around the world to kill other poor people. That's pretty much what war is, whatever the reason for it. It's not the decision makers down in the trenches. In high school we were shown films from WWII, of naked bodies being pulled apart after being gassed in the extermination camps, bodies being bulldozed into mass graves. I don't know if they still show those films, I do know they no longer show the wounded and dead on network news anymore, people might get the right idea about war.
I don’t wanna be the nerdy guy shouting “ackchyually” but… ackchyually the salute was spot on. There are different salutes in different nations militaries. The American military salute has a flat palm even with the eye brow (which you described) the British salute has an outward open palm facing the person you are addressing.
World War I was one of the darkest conflicts in human history. There was no good reason to start it because it was fueled by nationalism and colonialism, there were no good nations, everyone was jingoistic, battles that were won meant nothing since they would only gain maybe a few miles of cratered fields, no nation benefited from this war while many empires collapsed as a result of this war, and the darkest part about World War I was that we didn't learn our lesson and we plunged ourselves into another global war. 40 million people died for absolutely nothing.
13:53 he was shot in the head but the bullet ricocheted off his helmet. You can tell by the way his head flung backwards and how his helmet flew off his head
I love that scene when he's trying to cross the broken bridge. It was so tense just watching him balance, hoping he would make it, then BOOM the sniper shoots at him and the tension is elevated exponentially. so good
This was the last movie I saw in the theaters (and in IMAX no less, which was amazing!) before the pandemic hit. Really left an impression on me, and I'm glad more reactors are watching this film!
love your movie reactions and yes, 1917 is a bittersweet movie. As soldiers, they were just doing what they were ordered to do, and WW1 has been the most stupidest war in my opinion. So many fine young men lost their lives for literally nothing!
It makes me think of Tolkien, who fought in WWI, an experience which certainly influenced LOTR. How like Frodo carrying the one ring to Mordor is this guy carrying those orders to the front line?
One war film I like above many others is "A Bridge Too Far". It gives a different take on the Germans and their treatment of prisoners. "Slaughterhouse 5" is another one, very different take with a bit of sci-fi thrown in, written by Kurt Vonnegut. "Catch-22" is another out of the ordinary.
3:20 The trenches were very easy to get jammed up in troop movements, so there were trenches dedicated to directional movement at this time in the war. Earlier in the war, at the Battle of the Somme, the trenches becoming jammed prevented both reinforcements from getting forward to support attacks and also any casualties from making it back to aid stations. Also, the people falling we likely shot, as it wouldn't only be artillery shooting at the attackers, but also machine gun and rifle fire.
As a photographer, I totally nerded out on the cinematography from Roger Deakins on this movie; such a visual feast. If you haven't seen No Country For Old Men; I highly highly recommend you check out that masterpiece with Roger Deakins behind the lens as well.
Roger A. Deakins won his 2nd Oscar for Best Cinematography for "1917", the first one just a couple years back in "Blade Runner 2049". The leads George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman did smaller films and supporting roles in TV shows like Game Of Thrones. I don't think writer-director Sam Mendes wanted big stars as the leads because that would take away the believability of the soldiers on missions following orders in a very chaotic war. He would cast Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Scott, Mark Strong, and Richard Madden as the important supporting roles because when the audience sees them, those characters would stand out among the chaos because they're familiar faces and would pay more attention to their involvement with the leads. Great movie!
Great reaction. Fine combination of analysis of movie making and being emotionally involved. My favorite moment was omitted (probably for copyright issues): when the singer is singing just before the battle. It is a moment of rest, but also a sober reminder that these boys were heading to their death. When you said you liked old planes, I thought of Flyboys. Not as intense as this, but good.
Great film and reaction. When he’s in the gunfight with the sniper and crouched on the steps? I’ve stood on those steps and photographed the building from the same position. It was filmed at Govan Graving Docks here in Glasgow, Scotland. 😊
