Mr. Movie: “1917” an incredible movie experience

In my book “The Irishman” is the best picture of 2019. However, you can make a good argument for the Golden Globe win for “1917” in the drama category. Most of it has to do with how director and co-writer Sam Mendes put his film together.

It’s done in chunks. Huge ones. Some of the scenes run 9 minutes in length. Considering “1917” is a war movie and some of the scenes involve traipsing through World War I trenches, the coordination it took to get it done and make it look seamless, is nothing short of mind-boggling.

In fact, that’s the best description of the movie. Mind-boggling.

The premise comes from stories that Mendes’ (the two James Bond movies, “Spectre,” “Skyfall”) grandfather told him about the conflict. He was a messenger during the war. Two soldiers are picked to go through No Man’s Land to a unit that is about to go into a battle where they will all surely be massacred. The brother of one of the soldiers is in that unit.

Relative unknown actors George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman play the two men. Two things are striking about their performances. It had to be grueling. Their hike through the trenches and the obstacles encountered demand excellent conditioning. Mendes’ script and the accompanying explosions and weaponry demanded that the two actors be in good shape.

Second, their performances are as good as that conditioning. You struggle with them to make sense of the insanity of war in the trenches. At the same time, you also understand the importance of the assignment. Lives are at risk and they are willing to sacrifice theirs to save them.

That’s the story and the acting. The real star of the movie — however — is Mendes and his cinematographer Roger Deakins. They built trenches and other sets all around the United Kingdom and rehearsed the sequences over and over until they perfected the moves needed to make the movie work.

And work it does.

Whether you are a fan of the genre or not, even if you hate war movies, you need to see this just for the thrill of watching how Mendes, Deakins and their technical crew put this together.

It is amazing. In 2020 you won’t want to miss 1917.

▪ Rated R for mature themes, language and violence. It’s playing at the AMC Classic Kennewick 12, at the Fairchild Cinemas Pasco and Queensgate 12s and at the Fairchild Cinemas Southgate 10 and at Walla Walla Grand Cinemas.

▪ Rating: 5 out of 5

This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie: “1917” an incredible movie experience."