Assignment 17 - William Begley - 1917

On December 25th, the WWI film 1917 came to theaters with an exceptional opening and will likely go down as one of the best movies of the entire year due to not only a great story and incredible acting but some of the most interesting cinematography of any movie in recent memory. 

One of the largest draws to this movie was the news that it was filmed in a “single shot.” This news is not technically true as the movie has dozens of shots but due to the thorough editing, the film appears to play continuously as if filmed in a single take. This allows for a smooth flow of action and plot. 

This film has a plot designed perfectly for this type of cinematography as it follows a journey by two friends tasked to save a group of soldiers that are following faulty information. The two friends, one of which has a brother in the endangered group, trek across no man’s land and then enemy territory in an effort to rescue the company of soldiers.

This films cinematography, that focuses on following the main characters, is only possible with great acting by these main characters. George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman lead the movie and create likeable and deep characters. George MacKay’s character, Lance Corporal Schofield, is one of the most impressive displays of acting talent during this film. MacKay effectively shows the deep brotherhood soldiers share when in similar situations and the lengths they’ll go to in order to help one another.

The Oscar-nominated score for this film was created by Thomas Newman and brings to life many of the otherwise silent scenes in the movie. The score brings together classic war music and slower classical music to create uniquely slow but triumphic tones through the movie. Newman aimed to avoid writing music about the tone of the movie and aimed to instead bring life to the movie. Newman successfully accentuated the single take idea of the film by blending moods and created music that doesn’t get tired as the film proceeds.

Overall, 1917 is a great film that has earned its six academy awards with a good balance of acting, directing, and musical skills.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1917_2019