1917 film

Saw this last night, glad I made the effort to watch it at the cinema, definitely the type of film that would be more enjoyable on the big screen. Having a whole film shot in what appears to be a couple of continuous scenes was really impressive, really heightened the traumatic nature of the story.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
We saw it on Monday. So background, I have researched Mrs S family history for the last few years and she has 4 great uncles that died in WW1 so I have read a great deal about trench warfare and am familiar with the history of WW1 and the major battles. We have visited Belgium, France and Germany to pay respects to our relatives that gave their lives.

I found the film emotionally very involving and it’s single shot structure incredibly immersive. It made you feel that you were present, with the major characters. It didn’t include any of the massive artillery fire, explosions or sheer painful noise that you would imagine typified WW1 instead featuring the challenge for two young lance corporals. The footage of no mans land looked very true and authentic. Mrs S has read much less about the conditions and reality of the war and found the film pretty harrowing and was close to /in tears for most of it. The film certainly demonstrated the extreme youth of the protagonists and the futility of much of what went on.

It was encouraging to see so many youngsters in the cinema to see the film. I hope they saw more than an action film.
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Saw it last night at an IMAX, if ever a film was made for IMAX it's this one.

Very few youngsters at my showing, I'd be interested to know what young people made of this film. My gran lost her husband and two brothers at the Somme, when I was growing up in the 60's all the old fellas had fought in that war, so the fact that it has now slipped beyond living memory feels very real for me.

I would urge anyone who has not seen it to watch the Peter Jackson documentary They Shall Not Grow Old.

 
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I watched it on IMAX.. not sure it was worth the extra £... It was OK (a novel way of filming) until the plane crash part ... then it got a little OTT / silly

Glad I watched it but not sure I get the hype

It did make me think that the things they portrayed were happening throughout the war.. A totally senseless waste of life on all sides
 
The perfect fumble said:
Saw it last night at an IMAX, if ever a film was made for IMAX it's this one.

Very few youngsters at my showing, I'd be interested to know what young people made of this film. My gran lost her husband and two brothers at the Somme, when I was growing up in the 60's all the old fellas had fought in that war, so the fact that it has now slipped beyond living memory feels very real for me.

I would urge anyone who has not seen it to watch the Peter Jackson documentary They Shall Not Grow Old.

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That looks like a must see
 
Bluemanc100 said:
I watched it on IMAX.. not sure it was worth the extra £... It was OK (a novel way of filming) until the plane crash part ... then it got a little OTT / silly

Glad I watched it but not sure I get the hype

It did make me think that the things they portrayed were happening throughout the war.. A totally senseless waste of life on all sides
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Seen this said a couple of times on this thread. What is it after the plane crash you thought was silly?
 
The Northern Baptist said:
Seen this said a couple of times on this thread. What is it after the plane crash you thought was silly?
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it went Disney.
Why didn’t they get a truck in the first place?
Why couldn’t Gerry shoot him, they had enough goes?
Why did he decide to get out of the river wading through corpses when ten seconds earlier there were none?
What was the point of the woman/baby interlude?
And why didn’t high command just have the message dropped from a plane in the first place?
 
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Starr Gate Blue said:
My dad was a film buff and in school holidays he took me and my sister to see countless films. The two WW1 films I remember fondly were "The Blue Max" and "Oh! What a Lovely War". The former was about the war in the air. Biplanes fighting duels in the sky above the stalemate of the ground war. The latter showed the horrors the ordinary soldiers faced while the incompetent officers lived the high life miles behind the front line.
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Used to love The Blue Max. Some quite sexy scenes with Ursula Andress.

And Oh What A Lovely War was largely shot on Brighton's West Pier, now a rotting hulk, and in Sheepcote Valley just on the eastern outskirts of Brighton where I often walk the dog.

But generally WW1 hasn't been fertile ground for filmmakers, not in the same way as WW2, aside from Paths of Glory and AQOTWF, which is strange as you would have thought the Western Front with all its horror would be quite cinematic.

There have been a few recent literary adaptations - Regeneration, Testament of Youth and War Horse, which were all interesting in their own way.

Aces High was pretty good.

There was a film called The Trench a few years ago as well, but I've never seen it.

Sam Mendes obviously saw a gap in the market.
 
Gelsons Dad said:
I'm 50 minutes into it. It aint Saving private Ryan.

Shit acting, shit script and mediocre cinematography.
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It wasnt sold as or meant to be that though. The whole point of the first world war is that nothing about is like Saving Private Ryan. It was a ludicrous method. All dug in and expect to have meaninful progress
 
AlfGreyruinedmyday said:
I also hated the trailer. Soldiers leaping out of trenches and running onto grass.
However, when you actually see the film you get the context. The long established static lines, which the two protagonists advance through during much of the of the film show the realism (or what I have always considered it to have been) of trench warfare. The more forward lines in the later part of the film, which have been recently dug due to the Germans' resetting of their defensive line, allowed me to change my view of the trailer's authenticity.
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Just seen it today.

Glad I did at the cinema.

I thought overall it was very good and quite emotionally charged. The filming technique of one shot was great and the effects were good.

I know it’s a movie and generally things that are in movies tend to be exaggerated from reality but I thought some aspects were a little too much. He’d have never got that far in real life, avoided so much fire without being hit and the french woman/baby part was needless.

I also wanted to see more of the machines of the WW1, the artillery fire for example and maybe a bit more of the fighting.

No man’s land was exactly how they described it on They Shall Not Grow Old and they really did it well, capturing the horror of what it must have been like.

I remember someone who fought describing no man’s land as the worst place imaginable and described it as being hell.

As you say the trench lines really did paint a picture.

8/10 for me, just missing one or two bits to make it a total classic. It’s a very good film though and people should see it in the cinema.
 
I watched it last night in the cinema. It is not the best movie I have ever seen but the one-take style is simply amazing, I have never seen anything like it in my life and it captivated me to the screen. Highly recommended
 
Watched it last night. It's alright. I agree with most of the criticisms from other posters.
I thought the second half of the film got a bit unreal.
My main criticism is I found myself getting bored regularly.
 
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