1917

12 Jan 2020 2 Comments

by Debra Manskey in Movie Review, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

1917 (2019)

1917 (2019)

Written by Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Directed by Sam Mendes.

For the last six years I’ve been studying film analysis and two of my favourite books I picked up in first year were ‘Narration in the Fiction Film’ by David Bordwell and ‘Film Art: An Introduction‘ (now in its 11th edition) by Bordwell and Kristin Thompson. I dip into both regularly and they showed me how many seemingly innocuous things can add together to make a visual narrative bold, memorable and above all, meaningful to audiences.

I’ve just got home from a session of Sam Mendes’ new film and 1917 offers classic examples of what Bordwell and Thompson have been impressing upon undergraduate Screen Studies students for well over thirty years. I’m in no doubt why Mendes won Best Director and Best Motion Picture – Drama at the recent Golden Globes.

The story is very simple, loosely based on a story Mendes’ grandfather (the Trinidadian novelist and WWI veteran, Alfred H. Mendes) told about two Tommys with a message that had to get through to the front line in order to save the lives of 1600 men. The entire film follows this quest, giving the illusion of a two hour long single take. It is superbly shot by Roger Deakins, one of the best cinematographers around, and edited by Australian born Lee Smith – and this is extraordinary work.

It is spectacular and bold in so many ways but there is an immediacy about this kind of film making that tempers the spectacle. That is, we discover scenes and information at the same time the protagonists do – and we see the horrors they experience as well. And here, the horrors aren’t sugar coated or played down. Throughout, the tension is enhanced by a fine score from Thomas Newman, which didn’t detract at any point. There are a few jump scares that bought gasps from the audience at my well-attended Sunday screening and also moments of surreal imagery, particularly the eerie lighting of a bombed out town and a river strewn with cherry blossom.

Dean-Charles Chapman and George MacKay as Blake and Schofield respectively are memorable and well-played, and the supporting cast is superb, with Mark Strong a standout for me.

All in all, this is a film that does nothing to glorify war but throughout shows the suffering and futility. But perhaps it’s the movie we need right now in 2020.

1917 is currently playing at the State Cinema North Hobart, and is in wide release across Australia and other countries. Go and see it on the biggest screen you can.

They Shall Not Grow Old

27 Dec 2018 Leave a comment

by Debra Manskey in Movie Review, Writing Tags: , , ,

They Shall Not Grow Old 2018

Directed by Peter Jackson

One of the things about getting old is remembering when I was small.

I can recall old men who served in WWI, marching in ever dwindling numbers on Anzac Day and at services on Remembrance Day. Not one of them ever talked about the Great War and as I’ve grown older, and particularly after experiencing this film, I can certainly see why.

Directed and produced by Peter Jackson, this documentary opens with the usual WWI film footage – black and white, jerkily shot, uneven frame rates. About 10 minutes in, it changes to a smooth, full colour film, complete with audio and the effect is nothing short of jaw-dropping.

Jackson had access to the British War Museum’s archives, which included footage from various sources and audio interviews after the war with surviving servicemen. Rather than make the usual war documentary, Jackson and his brilliant team took the footage, shot with hand-cranked cameras and therefore of varying speeds, and smoothed it out with a precision that is simply staggering. The adjusted footage was colourised and then, perhaps most astonishing of all, a team of lip-readers translated what the men were saying to each other and the camera. Voice actors with appropriate regional accents to the regiments depicted gave their images life again. Interspersed with archive audio interviews with survivors, it lends even more gravitas to the camaraderie between the men and the sheer horror of what they experienced. The sound design too is magnificent and relentless, with nearly constant gunfire and shelling but probably only a taste of what these men must have experienced.

The results are an incredibly moving film that really should be mandatory viewing for all adults and a technical triumph for Peter Jackson and his team. It’s caused me to think that Jackson should perhaps make more documentaries than narrative films!

While I cannot recommend this work enough, it isn’t for the faint-hearted. Although I was well prepared, I still found some of the scenes difficult and was moved to tears more than once. However, this film in no way ever glorifies war. Rather, it humanises this brutal conflict in ways that I would not have thought possible. I saw this astonishing documentary on Remembrance Day (Armistice Day in other countries), the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI and I’m very grateful to have seen it in a decent sized cinema with a good sound system – kudos to my local, the State Cinema. To say I was moved is a complete understatement, it was a far more profound experience.

Undoubtedly one of the best films I’ve seen this year.