FightingTemeraire
Review of the film 1917
What a movie. The two main stars, Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch only had about 10 mins each.
The story is to get a message to the 2nd Devons to stop an attack they had planned, as it was into a trap set by the Germans. Two L/Cpls were given the job of getting the message to them and the brother of one of them was a Lt in the 2nd Devons.
The whole film was shot in one take and the sets for the battlefield with the trenches, barbed wire, shell craters and putrefying bodies were just as you have seen on films on WW1. The makeup, uniforms and gear of all the characters were accurate and the soundtrack when they were under bombardment made the theatre shake.
There are many surprises during the film that will make you almost jump out of your skin. There are no computer-generated scenes apart from an aerial dog fight between the Allies and Germans.
The only thing missing was the smell of the cordite and the stench of putrefying bodies.
If you are interested in history and good film making go and see it. It is based on stories that Sam Mendes was told by his grandfather who was a Rifleman in the 1st King’s Royal Rifle Corps. The film is dedicated to him.
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