1917 (2019) (1 Viewer)

[Tino]

The British and French High Commands were incompetent. They would plan and launch attacks that they knew would fail, but carry them out anyway because their planning had gone so far that they were unwilling to cancel their operations. Their incompetence and lack of concern for their men resulted in the massacre of thousands in one go.

The French were so bad that the men in their army literally mutinied.

There was one battle I read about where the British High Command planned an attack based on a salient in the German lines. They took so long planning it that the Germans had time to audit their lines, discover the bulge and eliminate it by straightening their line. The BHC knew that any reason for launching the attack had long vanished but went ahead and did it anyway, knowing it would be a massacre and a failure. All they cared about was they had put it into motion and were not about to stop it. The lives of their men were the last thing they were concerned about. I wish I could remember which battle it was?

Did you know that during the "Battle of Vimy Ridge", the Canadians involved in the attack were running from shell hole to shell hole, taking cover wherever they could. The British Army unit on their flank (IIRC, Scottish Highlanders) were walking upright in a straight line because they were trained and ordered to do so. Canadian soldiers involved in the battle were literally stunned by what they were seeing. They could hardly believe it. Those men got mowed down due to the stupidity that was rampant in the British Officer Corp.

That is why I find the premise hard to swallow of a British command being concerned about 1600 men, no matter what they were walking into. The French and British Commands were nothing but war criminals and the Germans were not far behind.

"Paths of Glory" showed the true face of the French and British commands in WW1. They were venal, incompetent and criminal.

All that being said, I'm not saying the film is going to be bad. I most likely will go to see it anyway I just will find anything involving "caring" British commanders to be hard to swallow.

I had a similar problem with Letters From Iwo Jima which showed Japanese soldiers showing compassion to American soldiers. Yeah right.

 

[Edwin-S]

I had a similar problem with Letters From Iwo Jima which showed Japanese soldiers showing compassion to American soldiers. Yeah right.

That is a good point, considering the Japanese record of their treatment of POWs and what American soldiers experienced on Okinawa.

I guess, in that case, Eastwood wanted to put a more human face on Japanese soldiers, even though evidence shows they had a record of brutality against prisoners.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

The film story similarly reminds me of another favorite war film; Gallipoli directed by Peter Weir. If you haven't seen it, check it out. Brilliant premise and great film.

Regarding how upper ranks view the foot soldiers, let me just pass this item on, from interviewing a general at Ford Ord near Monterrey when I was researching writing a film for Universal (that was actually going to be a National Lampoon film called Two Weeks at War about the reserves in 1968). A general actually said this to me (paraphrased):

You send your target developers out front and they get their asses blown away and you know where to aim your artillery.​

Imagine the experience of me drinking with the non-coms later that same night and revealing that foot soldiers or regular army were considered, "target developers."

 

[skylark68]

I think a major problem was that the Generals were still trying to fight a war much like their great grandfathers fought during the Napoleonic Wars even though the US Civil War had already taught many lessons about modern combat (even without machine guns).

 

[AshJW]

It’s a wonder the Germans has lost this war.

 

[MartinP.]

I don't feel one has to be an absolutist when it comes to viewing a film about any particular historical event or personage. I believe Edwin-S' assessment of how soldiers were used in WWI. I know that Japanese soldiers were vicious on Iwo Jima. But that doesn't mean every film has to adhere to the general concensus, nor that incidents that are portrayed in these films never happened at all.

I know a fair amount of WWI history and about the trench warfare. Besides historical footage and from films, reading about it and visiting a WWI museum in Britain with an exhibit purportedly made to experience what being in those trenches would be like (I'm tall and would have to have been hunched over all the time), the one thing I really learned from 1917 is what that exactly would've been like in those miles and miles of trenches.

 

[Mikael Soderholm]

View attachment 66098

'from the director of Skyfall'?
That's his most memorable film? Or is it the only one they think the audience knows? Also shot by Deakins, though.
Listening to the soundtrack by Thomas Newman as I type, another masterpiece from someone not given enought awards, IMHO.

 

[Tino]

'from the director of Skyfall'?
That's his most memorable film? Or is it the only one they think the audience knows? Also shot by Deakins, though.
Listening to the soundtrack by Thomas Newman as I type, another masterpiece from someone not given enought awards, IMHO.

And incredibly effective in the film.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

'from the director of Skyfall'?
That's his most memorable film? Or is it the only one they think the audience knows? Also shot by Deakins, though.
Listening to the soundtrack by Thomas Newman as I type, another masterpiece from someone not given enought awards, IMHO.

Well, I think in the advertising they like to reference the film the director, producer, actor made that made the most money.

So, that's why they put Skyfall on there I'd say.

 

[Mikael Soderholm]

Well, I think in the advertising they like to reference the film the director, producer, actor made that made the most money.

So, that's why they put Skyfall on there I'd say.

Understood, and both Skyfall and Spectre were big hits, but American Beauty did fairly well for a debut, no? About 130M domestic, and 226 international, totaling about 350. Not a bad way to start your career? Also, it won him an Oscar, for best director, no less. He hasn't even been nominated since.
I just reacted because while he hasn't done that many films yet, he has done much more than Bond, and much more interesting films. Glad to hear he is still working with Newman, they have done some outstanding scores and movies together, including Bond.

 

[Tino]

Steven Spielberg on 1917


1917 is such a revolutionary and groundbreaking film and I am so proud that the little boy fishing in the half moon gets to be a logo on this picture. I am just so honored to have been the company that co-financed this film,” he said. “But also in a way this is more of a homecoming for me and us at DreamWorks, because in 1997 I was making a film in London and saw a great musical there directed by Sam Mendes. A couple of years went by and I got this script, American Beauty… I sent the script to Sam and asked if he would be interested in making this his first movie. And that’s how our relationship began, and it was his very first film and he won his very first Oscar, and won DreamWorks our very first Oscar for Best Picture.

“There are scripts I read, and then there are scripts that I can get lost reading. The experience pulls me so deeply into it, and that was how I felt when I read Sam and Krysty Wilson-Cairn’s script for 1917,” he continued. “The screenplay was extraordinary. It was a real story in three acts and it put me right back into a period that I am very personally interested in, World War I, but also it is a moral story, a human story, a story about survival, about brotherhood, and it is a story I think with a lot of qualities to aspire to. I just thought it was extraordinary.

“This is a movie where the images and the words are together, where the images are interchangeable with the words,” he added before praising the cast and crew.

“The other thing I want to point out is that when Sam gave me the script he said and ‘Oh by the way, as I indicated in the pages, I am going to shoot this entire picture in one shot.’ And I said, ‘Sam this is not Birdman. This is outside, this covers miles and acres, and it is under a sky and its day and night and day.’ And he explained about the concept of one shot — that it is not to show off, it isn’t to show how inventive Sam is as cineaste. It is literally to make the audience that third character trying to get from A to Z in this amazing, amazing survival trip. It really makes you feel like you are watching something in real time. It’s not a gimmick, but a way to deeply involve you and press all your empathy buttons. This is one of the most revolutionary motion pictures I have ever seen, and one of the greatest examples of filmmaking I have really ever experienced.”

 

[TravisR]

Steven Spielberg on 1917


1917 is such a revolutionary and groundbreaking film and I am so proud that the little boy fishing in the half moon gets to be a logo on this picture. I am just so honored to have been the company that co-financed this film,” he said. “But also in a way this is more of a homecoming for me and us at DreamWorks, because in 1997 I was making a film in London and saw a great musical there directed by Sam Mendes. A couple of years went by and I got this script, American Beauty… I sent the script to Sam and asked if he would be interested in making this his first movie. And that’s how our relationship began, and it was his very first film and he won his very first Oscar, and won DreamWorks our very first Oscar for Best Picture.

“There are scripts I read, and then there are scripts that I can get lost reading. The experience pulls me so deeply into it, and that was how I felt when I read Sam and Krysty Wilson-Cairn’s script for 1917,” he continued. “The screenplay was extraordinary. It was a real story in three acts and it put me right back into a period that I am very personally interested in, World War I, but also it is a moral story, a human story, a story about survival, about brotherhood, and it is a story I think with a lot of qualities to aspire to. I just thought it was extraordinary.

“This is a movie where the images and the words are together, where the images are interchangeable with the words,” he added before praising the cast and crew.

“The other thing I want to point out is that when Sam gave me the script he said and ‘Oh by the way, as I indicated in the pages, I am going to shoot this entire picture in one shot.’ And I said, ‘Sam this is not Birdman. This is outside, this covers miles and acres, and it is under a sky and its day and night and day.’ And he explained about the concept of one shot — that it is not to show off, it isn’t to show how inventive Sam is as cineaste. It is literally to make the audience that third character trying to get from A to Z in this amazing, amazing survival trip. It really makes you feel like you are watching something in real time. It’s not a gimmick, but a way to deeply involve you and press all your empathy buttons. This is one of the most revolutionary motion pictures I have ever seen, and one of the greatest examples of filmmaking I have really ever experienced.”

I wanted to see this movie before but that's some high praise from a master.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I have to be honest that I'm not jacked to see this movie. Perhaps, it's because "War" films made recently are becoming a little too realistic for me and seeing this movie with trench warfare in it isn't appealing to me. With that said, I will force myself to see it on the big screen.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Understood, and both Skyfall and Spectre were big hits, but American Beauty did fairly well for a debut, no? About 130M domestic, and 226 international, totaling about 350. Not a bad way to start your career? Also, it won him an Oscar, for best director, no less. He hasn't even been nominated since.
I just reacted because while he hasn't done that many films yet, he has done much more than Bond, and much more interesting films. Glad to hear he is still working with Newman, they have done some outstanding scores and movies together, including Bond.

Concerning American Beauty:
Kevin Spacey.

It may not be fair to Mendes, but Spacey is considered so toxic that no publicist is going to attempt promoting something today with even a hint of a mention of anything he’s associated with if they can avoid it.

 

[Mikael Soderholm]

Concerning American Beauty:
Kevin Spacey.

It may not be fair to Mendes, but Spacey is considered so toxic that no publicist is going to attempt promoting something today with even a hint of a mention of anything he’s associated with if they can avoid it.

I know, and that is a shame. American Beauty is just as good a movie now as it was when it was released. Just saw Margin Call the other night, also a great movie.
While I understand he will never work again, I will not stop seeing good movies he made in the past.

 

[Tino]

"War" films made recently are becoming a little too realistic for me and seeing this movie with trench warfare in it isn't appealing to me.

The film really isn’t about trench warfare Robert. Its more of a journey. It’s not SPR.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

The longest single take in the film, per an interview with Deakins, is 8 and a half minutes. So it's not a single take, but they did a fabulous and seamless job of making it appear so.

 

[Tino]

The longest single take in the film, per an interview with Deakins, is 8 and a half minutes. So it's not a single take, but they did a fabulous and seamless job of making it appear so.

Yeah. They hid the cuts seamlessly

 

[Joe Wong]

Saw this in SF on Friday (I guess the AMC Metreon was one of the "lucky" 11 screens that started showing it on Dec 25!).

A beautiful, haunting film, filled with sublime imagery: most grotesque, hellish and ugly, but contrasted with scenes of pastoral serenity and welcome moments of relative peace.

It's an amazing experience, worth a repeat viewing for the visuals alone.

 

[Chris Will]

So, when does this open wide?