1917...

I went along to the Watershed again yesterday to see Sam Mendes’ much-acclaimed film ‘1917’. It’s a WW1 drama based on the real-life experiences of Mendes’ grandfather Alfred. It follows two young soldiers Schofield (played by the impressive George MacKay) and Blake (equally impressive Dean-Charles Chapman) as they undertake a perilous mission in a race against time to deliver a warning message to save another regiment from a German ambush. Among the 1,600 men whose lives are at risk is Blake’s own brother…

It’s an incredibly powerful film – made all the more so by cinematographer Roger Deakins’ presentation as a ‘one take shot’ in real time (Schofield is never out of the frame).

The film underlines the futility and horror of war – with soldiers on both sides mere pawns responding to orders given by Generals who are positioned well back from immediate danger. 
The ‘one shot take’ emphasises the stark reality of what it was like to be a soldier on the front line… and the randomness and luck involved in survival (Blake had been given his orders to convey the important message and told to take a ‘mate’ with him).

The film underlines the dreadfulness of conflict… as Schofield and Blake make their way across no-man’s land, they have to contend with rats, bodies (in various states of decay), craters left by bombs and large shells, mud, noise, imminent danger and the fear of the unknown.

An important, hugely-impressive, memorable and sobering film.

I think you need to see it.

PS: It was also sobering to recall that my grandfather, Frank Walker, was probably positioned within 30 miles of Schofield+Blake’s frightening ‘escapade’. I wrote a blog about Frank’s war (he was one of the original members of the British Expeditionary Force that arrived at le Havre, France, at the very start of the war) – tracking his day-to-day movements from his unit’s war diaries now located in the National Archives. Sadly, the diaries from 1917-18 are understood to have been destroyed in a fire in London.