Sam Mendes had sent out a script for
"1917" with a bold ambitious vision, unfortunately this wasn't taken
as serious as he had hoped. The story was inspired by tales that Mendes’
grandfather had told him about World War 1. It follows two British soldiers on
their mission through no man’s land in hopes of delivering instructions to advancing
troops. For them there was no option except success, they could not fail, and
the cameras would follow them every step. This is the idea of “one-shot”
filmmaking which does not follow a fixed path. Unfortunately, the film does have one visible cut, however it is still marketed as a one-shot
film.
In my opinion this film is a very
creative idea brought to the public from a primary source. Although it would be
much more realistic if it was a true one-shot film, they were able to portray
the idea that the viewer is right in the film with the soldiers and you still
get a sense of the trauma these soldiers went through.
I think although this kind of story is
well known, nowadays people don’t quite know what the war was really like as a
soldier, only as teachers and professors told us what happened. This makes me
wonder if people will have even more respect for soldiers now that they have
seen a glimpse of their experiences up close.
