Review of 1917 (2019) by Axet — 17 Jan 2020

The simplest storyline against the backdrop of great war it's more an exercise in high concept moving camera bravura filmmaking than a moving great war movie. Wisely given a mission plot which creates suspense it also tries hard for emotion with the tried and true brothers in arms sentiment, but it seems the main motivation was to make a seemingly seamless one shot feature length motion picture with no editing which has been done before going back to at least Hitchcock but perhaps never to this level of technical achievement traveling through such distance and complex choreographed action.

While very impressive it doesn't make for the most impactful experience which cutting across time and space affords. (There is one obvious cut and several transitions that certainly were used to disguise cuts, besides ability of VFX to now eliminate such.

) Hands down it should win the Oscar for Best Cinematography, but with big British stars only in cameos and unknowns in the leads the ride is somewhat diminished.