The Mission
The Mission
The Long Days
February 13, 2020
Run Through Hell
1917 (2019)
We know what it means to “damn something with faint praise,” but is there such a thing as “praising something with mild criticism?”
The question is asked because 1917 is so expertly shot and unfolds so seamlessly that this World War I drama almost becomes distracting because while watching it we are forced to ask; “How did they do this?”
So don’t ask yourself that question. Appreciate the mastery and hard work of Sam Mendes’ film by letting yourself fall into the trenches as two British soldiers embark on a mission to deliver a message that will, hopefully, stop their comrades from walking into a trap.
1917 takes us through trenches, across fields, into farmhouses and bombed-out buildings and onto the steps of deathly churches as the soldiers race time and fight the Germans. War is terrifying, war is desperate, war is unfair and it is lonely, but 1917 does not tell us these facts but instead it refuses to let us escape these horrors.
This unbelievable movie is big in every way and should be seen on the big screen and put in your back pocket because the sacrifice of millions of people should never be forgotten. It has been more than a century since World War I ended and it’s almost as if this terrible conflict is, because of this film and last year’s documentary They Shall Not Grow Old is finally getting its just due.
These boys did not have to wait long to die. They should never wait again to be remembered. --TK
Thursday, February 13, 2020