#SCSuggests - Oscar Series - 1917

1917 - The words "War" and "Soldier" get defined with brilliance in this nerve-wracking patriotic drama.

War films have become a prominent Genre in this Millenial Hollywood Movie Decade with films like Dunkirk(2017), Hacksaw Ridge(2016), The Imitation Game(2014).  The genre is a fiddly choice to pick up, for the stories here are an inspiration or rooted to a real scenario and get weaved further with the creativity and mindset by a person born decades after. The authenticity in the story's timeframe blending with new-age cinematic techniques also is not everybody's chore.

Firstly, let's get familiar with the loose structure of Hollywood's "War" films. We have a Side or Entity(which becomes the audience's prime perspective), a Motive, a War running and a cost(mostly manpower). In Dunkirk(2017)  we have the British, France and the Belgium army with the goal of escaping(on a broader sense) Dunkirk (rounded by the Germans) during World War 1, else they may lose all the army present on this island.

 If Dunkirk(2017) is an Academy's pick for its gold standard edit with timelines (the mole, the air, the sea) crisscrossing each other in the screenplay, ultimately splicing a movie with a deft touch, then 1917 is the Academy's pick for its choices of film-making. Dunkirk had the underlying tension of a safe escape, though hardly present in a battlefield. 1917 has both the tension and authenticity of a Battlegrounds.

2 soldiers from the British Army (the side), during World War 1(the war set up), who receive implausible order from their General to deliver a message(the motive), an edict for the Bristish Devons (In Ecoust, France) to take aback the attack on the Germans, as it is a trap, if not, 1600 men including one of the 2's brother would die(the cost).  1917  embarks the Breathtaking and Brutal journey of 2 soldiers, where even a step went wrong by an inch, 1600 would be the casualty.

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These new-age war films have the stroke of intrigue for the quality of immersive story-telling. Dunkirk had it in its edit, 1917 has it in its idea of Cinematography and Screenplay. In my childhood, I had a notion of believing that a movie is uncut real-time footage of a real happening and not something being enacted. The characters and the situations being shown are real and are happening exactly now which we can see through a super-powerful god's device called Screen.

As my minimalistic knowledge of Cinema faded through the years and I got stock-taken once and for all that there is something called 'Acting' and 'Shooting' at the heart of film-making, the lame notion faded, only, to return with 1917, which, unbelievably is " an uncut real-time footage of a real happening".  

The certitude by the film's crew to pull off such a screenplay and cinematography added with the choreography(both action and scene) deserves a watch. The movie smoothly escalates and simmers down in its intensity complying to its proceedings without even a single recognizable cut. The one-note approach of the movie's story might have been problematic but Sam Mendes(Writer and Director) along with Cinematographer Roger Deakins with unique style make it a Multidimensional hued war movie.

The movie never feels empty or bored, which is a challenge in this Long Take as the gap between scene to scene becomes a void in front of the camera. Thanks to excellent Choreography and writing there never is a distraction or a bland stretch in this artsy. The best part being the Climax, complemented by an exciting cameo by Benedict Cumberbatch. It's worth the wait.

1917  isn't any regular War film,  it defines words "War" and "Soldier" with brilliance in a nerve-wracking patriotic drama.