THE winds of war are blowing in Europe. It seemed impossible these days but instead Putin it turned the clock back in time. Also Sam Mendes with his movie 1917, tonight on prime tv at 21.20 on Rai 2, takes us back to the First World War, when trenches were dug. It seems to witness the images of today’s news. Incredible.
The genre also held court at the recent Oscars with the film Nothing new on the western frontwinner of four statuettes (including one for the Best International Film), set in the same period as the film by the director of American Beauty and starring another young soldier. The horror of war is at the center of 1917 which, with a single sequence shot, follows the mission of two very young corporals, amidst bombs, the stench of corpses and trenches.
1917: the plot of the movie
The film, nominated in 2020 for 10 Academy Awards (he won three technicians), it’s a painful journey of two Corporals, Schofield (George MacKay) and Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman), on the fields of the First World War. The camera never lets go of the two protagonists who are in front of bombs, corpses, enemies and death.
The mission of Schofield And Blake is to deliver a message from General Erinmor (Colin Firth) to Colonel Mackenzie (Benedict Cumberbatch) in order to save 1600 soldiers from the attack of the Germans. Among the soldiers there is also the brother of Blake. That journey of a few kilometers for the two corporals, and for the spectators, will seem infinite: they will have to overcome obstacles, snipers stationedcontingencies, look out for hidden mines, and walk among corpses of men and animals rotting. Sam Mendes not only does he want to show the horror of war, but almost make the viewer perceive it. His is an almost sensory journey that reaches its climax only in front of a large screen in a hall.
George MacKay. (Universal Pictures)
Sam Mendes is inspired by the true story of his grandfather
Sam Mendes to make this film he was inspired by his grandfather’s stories. In 1917 Alfred H. Mendes was 19 years old, he was enlisted in the British army and because of his height (1.60 meters) he had been chosen as a messenger of the Western Front.
Not only that, the award director Oscarswas also inspired by the book Nothing new on the western front Of Erich Maria Remarque and to the 1930 film adaptation of Lewis Millestone. Text to which the German director also refers Edward Bergerauthor of the recent film version of Nothing new on the western front.
Sam Mendes at the 2020 Golden Globes. (Getty Images)
In 1917 a single sequence shot to “feel” the horror of war
Sam Mendes to immerse the viewer in the horror of war, together with the two protagonists, use the sequence plan: that is, a single two-hour long sequence that follows without editing breaks Schofield And Blake. The viewer almost lives their fight against time: in fact, their life depends on that mission, but above all that of 1600 soldiers.
The long take is not real, it was an illusion created thanks to digital effects. Let’s say we’re not from the parts of Lump in the throat Of Alfred Hitchcock, who to reproduce a real shot had to shoot the film chronologically and replace four different reels in planned moments in which the camera lingered on a detail. With 1917 we are more in the parts of Birdman: the director here too Alejandro G. Iñárritu, with the help of the visual effects department, simulates a long shot throughout the film. Even if it is a simulation the the result obtained is extraordinary: the involvement of the viewer is almost total.
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