TITLE – 1917

DIRECTOR – SAM MENDES

CAST- George Mackay(Lance Corporal Schofeild); Dean-Charles Chapman(Lance Corporal Blake); Richard
Madden(Lieutenant Joseph Blake); Benedict Cumberbatch(Colonel Mackenzie); Andrew Scott(lieutenant
Leslie); Mark Strong(Captain Smith); Colin Firth(General Erinmore); Claire Duburcq(Lauri); Daniel
Mays(Sergeant Sanders).

THE GENRE – WAR

STORY- The movie 1917, directed by Sam Mendes is somewhat of a true story, it is based on a story
told by Alfred H.Mender to his grandson, Sam Mendes. The basic plot follows two soldiers who are
sent to a separate division of soldiers to warn them not to go into an ambush. This movie focuses on
the journey of the two soldiers who travel through enemy lines to get to their destination.
The movie is set during the time of World War 1. Though it is focused on the journey of the two
soldiers, it also shows how terrible a war of that scale is. It shows the hardships faced by the soldiers
and their families during a war. In the movie we see soldiers with their arms and legs ripped off,
dead bodies with white eyes and purple faces floating on a river, dead men, dogs, horses hanging on
barbed wire and many more brutal sights. We see how human life loses its importance during these
times.
Although the movie is set during a war, it has times of sympathy, love and brotherhood. During the
journey one of the two soldiers is killed by a german where we see the wounded soldier bleeding out
and last words being, “Will you write to my mom for me? Tell her i wasn’t scared.” The other soldier
who carried on with the journey meets a french woman who was living with a baby beneath some
ruins occupied by the germans. He gave her all her supplies but had to leave her in the middle of the
enemy ground to finish his task. The sheer will and courage of the soldiers are also seen. After his
brother-in-arms dies the soldier gathers the courage to complete his task and save 1600 men. He
finishes his journey even though he was shot at and wounded. From celebrating the courage of two
soldiers, to showing the brutality of war, this movie has covered and showed all the themes it meant
to show. 
I personally think that this movie reflects the pointlessness of war and tries to tell the world that
fighting for a piece of land doesn’t justify the killing of millions.

DIRECTION-

CINEMATOGRAPHY- Upon watching 1917 for the first time (on my own interest) …there’s one thing
you’ll notice, there are no cuts in the film. While this masterpiece is Sam Mendes’s first attempt at a one-
shot movie, the director really did outclass all his previous movies, some of which I watched myself. The
one-shot concept really develops a sense of fidelity and terror while keeping the focus on the 2 main
characters of the movie, while traditional war films include multiple camera cuts and thousands of
character introductions which take away the pace of the movie…1917 maintains both of them, the film
keeps reminding you the feeling of being with the characters right there in the moment because the
amount of time the characters spend in the movie to reach their objective is the same amount of time
you spend while watching the movie. The camera angles place you in the perspective of Schofield and
Blake where you know there is no safe spot for both of them and during the duration of this mission they
are left with no rest but a sense of constant alertness. By putting the 2 characters always in the
perspective of the audience without any cuts the movie ensures that the viewer connects with the
characters they don’t even know which surprisingly works really well and maintains the flow of the
movie. The neat camera techniques really help in developing a serious atmosphere which captures every
character’s expression. One attention to detail I loved about this film is how it started Blake and
Schofield’s journey with them resting under a tree in a farm but ended with Schofield being the only one
surviving and him resting under a tree in a farm but this time without his mate Blake.

1917 is the best movie in its genre and I really hope that it gives the one-shot concept a greater chance
for the upcoming future in filmmaking.

Writing- Even though the movie's actual plotline “2 World War soldiers against time to save 1600
soldiers which seems impossible to everyone around them” is a bit bland and tolerable but the movie
does a very good job of keeping us grasped in the movie. The writers do a good job of preventing viewers
from getting bored or just skipping to the end to see if the officers successfully deliver the order or not.
Whether it be adding a funny joke in an uneventful scene or having a tripwire bomb being activated by a
rat, the writers do an amazing job in keeping the audiences engaged. 1917 is a war film, Sam Mendes and
Krysty Wilson-Cairns understand about the sensitivity of a war movie and that little tinge of humanity is
clearly seen in the movie. The dialogues are very well written, and the actors did a phenomenal job in
delivering them. The characters made us believe every word they said and even feel those emotions. You
will not be able to help but cry in the end with happiness and a bit of sadness.

EDITING - Hollywood has long excelled at mining beauty from war. 1917 represents a World War – 1
set tale that plays out in one long, interrupted take. 1917 attempts to put the viewer in the headspace of
a soldier who might be fired on at any moment. Smith was actually editing 1917 in real-time throughout
production, as opposed to putting the majority of the film together after production had wrapped. Smith
was tasked with assembling the film as it was shot–taking each day’s footage and presenting Mendes
with a cut that included rough sound effects and temporary music. It was done partly to make sure the
edits were seamless, but also so that he and Mendes could pick the take they wanted to use for the last
shot of the day. The end of that take, after all, would determine exactly where the camera had to be at
the start of the following day’s shooting.

COSTUME DESIGN- The lead of the costume designing team was Jacqueline Durran. The costume
donated a great deal in making the film as memorable as it is. The costume designs helped to recreate
the early 2000’s at the start of the first world war. The costumes bring to light the conditions of the
soldiers time to time of the battle. The costumes in total contributed a lot to the overall tone. The choices
totally fit the style of war and the overall plot of the film.

SET DESIGN- It's not just any mud. In 1917, the muck and mire of "No Man's Land" traversed
by two British soldiers on a mission to save 1,600 fellow soldiers from a German army ambush,
oozes the very essence of messy wartime chaos. But like everything else in Sam Mendes's World
War I movie, even the mud was fine-tuned to the director's exacting standards. Production
designer Dennis Gassner mixed in soil samples from outside the battlefield location to achieve
the perfect shade of brown. Production designer Dennis Gassner mixed in soil samples from outside
the battlefield location to achieve the perfect shade of brown. They created a landscape that tells you
what these soldiers are feeling. You do that with two things that are paramount in designing a film:
architecture and colour. They made it as beautiful as possible, even though they were dealing with
horrific things. They did it with respect, respect for the experience these soldiers had to go through.

SOUNDTRACK- The music director of this movie: Thomas Newman. The silence is the best part of the
music, they used it perfectly. The best moments for the movie are the ending part and the river part of
the movie where the people will be in the edge of the seat by the music created. The music is extremely
first-class. People will love the tension of the movie created by the music director.

analysis relevant to society - This movie surely has and will impact the audience. There are
various morals and lessons to be learned from this movie. The first and the most important thing
is the harshness of war and how it should be avoided at all costs. The human life should be given
its importance in every situation. The second thing which the audience can learn from this movie
is that some sacrifices have to be made for the greater good, also in the movie we see dead
bodies of dogs, horses and cows all over the battlefield.The last thing which can be learned is
that during the course of war or any situation the innocent should not suffer or be harmed.

Personally, this movie really made me sympathize about soldiers in the war and also their
families. The hardships shown are really disturbing. War is responsible for countless widows
whose husbands have died due to petty causes. The pain suffered by the soldiers when their
comrades are blown to pieces in front of their eyes is really sickening. This movie made me
realize that we are lucky to be alive in peaceful times.

ANALYSIS OF MOVIE- George Mackay and Dean Charles chapman are perfectly cast as
Schofield and Blake, the lance corporals who carried a message to the east wing troop not
to engage with attack as they knew that the Germans made a strategic withdrawal
suggesting that they are on run. In fact, they were lying and were waiting like the spider in
the web, which is waiting for its prey. Every situation was creatively portrayed in the movie
by the director he successfully showed the dead soldier’s body which were left on the
battlefield signifying the war brutality, the dead horses were lying in the battle ground
showing animal cruelty. Being a one short movie the scene continues which are very rare in
movies, as far as editing is concerned it wasn’t choppy in this movie even though they shoot
scene by scene editing was fabulous, we find the lead character constantly keeps on moving
each location which are well crafted really great job, but I feel that some scenes were not
necessary the lead actor keeps on getting injured he face the taste of death for a minute
then he comes back to life and goes on moving. There were situations where the movie lead
sacrifices his food for the baby showing the values of the soldier. The OST of the movie was
relevant to the situation, not great nor bad.
WRAP UP REVIEW WITH A CONCLUSION- The main lead actors did a great job. Editing is
sensational because even though there are some cuts it seems like a one SHOT MOVIE . It is an excellent
work by Editor. 1917 is one of the movies where Editing, Direction and Cinematography are marvellous.
They did impressive job understanding how to take the movie like this were they presented ww1 look.
There are some moments where it seems like bit lagging but they were been cover by the next moments.
And also, the music department did wonderful job maintaining our sense to feel the scene of the movie.
The movie really feels like we are in the war. And it tells very much well that World War is really
disgusting by the dead bodies on the way to another battalion.

People who like war-based, historical and also more into cinematography, should not miss this movie.
People who don’t like war-based movies won’t like this kind of movie.

Harjeet Yadav -direction

Divya Aggarwal -writing

Vansh hooda – CINEMATOGRAPHY

Tarun Tripathi -editing

Karan singh Patrick -analysis relevant to society AND STORY

Saketh Kudupudi -analysis of movie

Manikanta mandala -conclusion and ost (original soundtrack)