Racing the Clock

1917 – 2019 – R

Starting on April 6, 1917 (the day the US joined the Great War although never referenced) and ending the next morning, two baby faced British soldiers, Lance Corporal William Schofield (George MacKay) and Lance Corporal Tom Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) have 12 hours to maneuver through enemy lines of the Western Front. Their mission is to deliver a “call off the attack” message in order to save 1,600 troops who are unknowingly marching into a German ambush that will result in the complete slaughter of the Devonshire Regiment that includes Lt. Joseph Blake (Richard Madden, Robb Stark from GoT), Tom’s big brother.

If you feel you are running, jumping and zig-zagging right behind Schofield and Blake through northern France’s war zone of trenches, barbed wire, bayonets, snipers, booby traps, ash, mud, rats, bloated horse carcasses, rotting human corpses—“follow the stench”—bombed out fiery ruins of abandoned French villages, mortar and mayhem, you can thank the cinematography technique that shot the terrifying no man’s land dash to look like it was filmed in a single linear take. Action! It’s a wrap! No cuts. At least that’s how the 119 minutes feel start to finish. We don’t see or hear anything that Blake or Schofield don’t see or hear. They are not so much a duo as a trio, I was with them. When a foraging rat lumbers into the trip wire, I cringed anticipating the explosion. When a downed German fighter plane cartwheels towards the two young Brits, I ducked. When Schofield runs for his life plunging over a sheer drop into the river rapids below, I braced for impact. I stood and watched the eerily breathtaking beauty of the wartime night illuminated by bombs and flames. Think Apocalypse Now. The film was shot in Scotland, the landscape stunning, my senses satiated by a dramatic range of scenes, the gore of combat carnage to the beauty of cows and countryside. After the first fifteen minutes I was unabashedly in love with this movie. 

1917 is defined, not by blood and battles but by bravery and brotherhood. The relationship between buddies Blake and Schofield was close enough for an engaging balance of humor and hubris to emerge that never felt forced or contrived. Yet I never warmed up to the characters. But this may be precisely the cool response the filmmaker sought. Blake and Schofield‘s friendship was situational, a camaraderie spawning from the killing fields of war where guarding a requisite emotional distance is as essential to foot soldiers as combat gear. I felt that distance. So when the inevitable strikes, “It’s better not to dwell on it,” advice given by Captain Smith (Mark Strong) to Corporal Schofield in a moment of dazed trauma, I could pick myself up and keep moving. No grieving, no lingering, the 12-hour clock is winding down. In fact I was so invested in the mission that it frustrated me when the two corporals kept making ill advised decisions when confronted by their German counterparts, predictably crushing carpe diem under the shadow of death. I even eschewed the tender moments, a pail of milk, cherry blossoms, an orphaned child, a haunting Wayfaring Stranger solo—scenes that were clearly drawn up to infiltrate a symbolic flavor of humanity into the chaos and destruction—but the poignant minutes lingered a tad too long for my liking, slowing the urgency of the mission. I was channeling Winston Churchill, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” Don’t stop! Hold that baby later! You’ve got to get the message to Colonel Mackenzie (Benedict Cumberbatch)! Now! Towards the end I kept wondering if those sentimental diversions cost lives.

Still, nothing veered me away from absolutely loving this movie. Don’t wait for Netflix or Amazon. This is the type of movie that demands the big screen. You will learn from the ending credits that the film is dedicated to Lance Corporal Alfred H. Mendes—the director’s grandfather “who told us the stories.” Mendes at the age of 20 volunteered for a terrifying World War I solo mission through no man’s land to locate three British companies separated from their battalion. It was this mission through the muddy Flanders fields of Belgium that served as inspiration for 1917. In honoring his grandfather, Mendes crafted an epic war drama. I predict more honors: Oscar goes to 1917 for Best Picture.