1917 (2019)

Written by Peter McGinn on April 2, 2020

I see that a lot is made of the technique they use to film this movie in one continuous shot, and it is very interesting, but I must confess I am not a student of film, merely a viewer. So you will find no critiques of the director or editor or that sort of technical detail. I like what I like.

Anyway, I enjoyed this movie more than I expected I would. I am not big on war movies. The scenery seemed great to me, and though there were visually stunning scenes, they didn't try to pile on explosion after explosion to cater to that crowd. The two leads were at the same time heroes and regular guys. I could almost picture myself in their position. Moments of extreme courage and bravery under fire were balanced by totally justified panic and fear. There were also quieter moments here and there, breaks from the sometimes hard to bear tension. Finally, there was a plot twist that seems normal looking back at it, but it shocked me at the time. I will leave it at that and not risk giving anything away.

So while I probably won't watch it again anytime soon, I do recommend it, even to viewers like me, who aren't big on war movies. As a side note, one viewer warned others NOT to compare this movie to Saving Private Ryan. I guess he thought it doesn't compare with it. Maybe I should give that movie a second look.