1917

Set amidst the relentless battlefields of World War I, Sam Mendes' 1917 unfolds as a gripping and poignant narrative, thrusting the audience into the midst of one of the war's most pivotal moments. The film's title refers to the actual historical date of the incident that serves as the storyline's basis: the execution of over 1,500 soldiers of the French army and British and French colonial troops for mutiny at the Nivelle Gunner's Fort in 1917. This backstory provides context to the central story: two young British soldiers, Lance Corporal Schofield (George MacKay) and Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman), fight their way through the ravaged landscape as they journey across the French countryside. Under orders from General Erinmore (Colin Firth), Blake is tasked with delivering a message from General O'Neill (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) to Colonel Mackenzie (Philip Kinnear). However, Captain Smith (Mark Strong) informs them of a different and bleak situation that makes the delivery of General O'Neill's message even more imperative. A massive push, code-named "Operation Hounds Tooth," scheduled for the very next morning, will see British soldiers facing an impossible attack that Mackenzie is urged to abort. This execution is one by which they will either fight through a hail of enemy bullets to reach safety or be cut down. Despite this imperative message from General O'Neill, the soldiers comprehend the treacherous landscape ahead; it has not just foreign forces but perhaps also treacherous terrain and unpredictable minefield. Yet still, despite these perils, Schofield willingly accepts the almost impossible task and asks to carry on Blake for his brother under the belief that life is more valuable than death. Thus begins their hazardous journey and what unfolds during it is something that will haunt them and forever change the course of their experiences as soldiers. In attempting to convey an audience the true extent of human sacrifice and the tragedy of those in the First World War, Mendes makes use of a visually compelling aesthetic to emphasize the idea that every minute on this battlefield is crucial – every step taken might require lives either saved or taken in battle. This compelling technique not merely adds poetic emphasis to the story but helps express the plight of soldiers, serving to transport viewers into the turmoil of a calamitous time. Furthermore, the constant passage of time also elevates the crisis they experience each minute they journey onward. Their path takes them across what appears to be a seemingly endless expanse of devastated countryside. Through mud and trenches, desolate châteaux and lonely forests, Schofield and Blake show themselves truly fearless as they defy the dangers at any cost – even as such resistance is seemingly worthless. There's only time to reflect momentarily, as every moment there's a looming uncertainty. Fate, cruel and relentless, cuts through even the short amount of peace and happiness in the narratives' hearts, emphasizing the terror and confusion their stories expose. The interaction amongst the survivors they meet provides opportunities to discover more than just their desperation for life – but a basic understanding of an ultimate reality. With each new chapter in their story comes increasing pressure, culminating in the unwritten stakes and profound irony of their situation. Soldiers having chosen a profession in which death lurks around each corner face perhaps one of the impossible choices of their careers in conveying a crucial warning through extreme odds: give it their all to do what is required of them. Their journeys on that dreadful day would seal Schofield and Blake's fate but also that of the hundreds of innocent lives at stake. But when history catches up with the soldiers after a close, unexpected finish – both offering nothing but pain and suffering in an operation more doomed than not, or they take their chances to survive together and send General O'Neill's message on the best hour in which. And in the end, the movie ultimately reinforces the overall humanity embodied by these forgotten soldiers.