1917 (2019 film)

1917 (2019 film)

1917 is a 2019 British war film directed and produced by Sam Mendes. It stars George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman, with Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburcq, Colin Firth, and Benedict Cumberbatch in supporting roles. The film was a box office success, grossing USD 384 million worldwide. It received ten nominations at the 92nd Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, and three wins, for Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound Mixing.

About 1917 (2019 film) in brief

Summary 1917 (2019 film)1917 is a 2019 British war film directed and produced by Sam Mendes. It stars George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman, with Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburcq, Colin Firth, and Benedict Cumberbatch in supporting roles. The film was a box office success, grossing USD 384 million worldwide. It received ten nominations at the 92nd Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, and three wins, for Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound Mixing. It also won Best Picture at the 77th Golden Globe Awards, 73rd BAFTA Film Awards, and PGA Awards, while Mendes won Best Director at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and DGA Awards. It was also chosen by both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute as one of the top ten of 2019. It premiered in the UK on 4 December 2019 and was released theatrically in the United States on 25 December by Universal Pictures and in the U.K. on 10 January 2020 by Entertainment One. It is partially inspired by stories told to Mendes by his paternal grandfather Alfred, about his service during World War I. Taking place after the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line during Operation Alberich, the film follows two British soldiers ordered to deliver a message calling off a doomed offensive attack. This message is especially important to one of them because his brother will be part of the attack. The project was announced in June 2018, with Mac Kay and Chapman signing on in October and the rest of the cast the following March.

Filming took place from April to June 2019 in theUK, with cinematographer Roger Deakins and editor Lee Smith using long takes to have the entire film appear as two continuous shots. In the British trenches, with field telephone lines cut, two young British lance corporals, William Schofield, and Tom Blake, are ordered by General Erinmore to carry a message to Colonel Mackenzie of the Second Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. They are ordered to call off a scheduled attack the next morning that would jeopardise the lives of 1,600 men, including Blake’s brother Lieutenant Joseph. In an underground barracks, they discover a tripwire set by the Germans, which is promptly triggered by a rat; the explosion almost kills them, but the two escape. They arrive at an abandoned farmhouse, where a German plane is shot down in a dogfight with Allied aircraft. The pilot stabs Blake and is shot dead by Sch ofield, who is picked up by a passing British unit. He is then found by a French woman, who treats his wounds, and he gives her his canned milk from her farm. Despite hearing the chimes of a clock and realising that time is running out, he strangles one German soldier to death by jumping into a river. He then finds the town in flames, and finds the French woman and an infant.