Don't know if any of you have seen that 1917 movie but if you haven't you should. It's been out for more than a year. I wanted to see it then but didn't for various reasons. But I finally watched it about a month or so ago on Showtime. What a fantastic movie! I've watched it a half dozen times since. The movie itself is great. The plot, while fairly riveting, is nothing exceptional...about two British soldiers delivering a message to another battalion in WW1 France. There isn't much in the way of big battle scenes or tanks and artillery you usually see in war movies. Just these two guys delivering this message and the dangers they encountered. The cameras never come off these guys as they trek from their trench thru No Man's Land to their destination that was about 9 miles away. The plot itself deserves three stars but what makes it a four star movie were the sets and photography. Simply as good as it gets. The story was fictitious (though common), but the portrayal of the trenches, No Man's Land, the landscape, uniforms, artillery pieces, and even the British standard issue Lee Enfield bolt action rifles were all 100% spot on. Really a perfectly made, four star movie.
That was just the beginning for me. This movie helped fill a void in my life. My grandfather, whom I knew for 26 years, fought in WW1. He was a sergeant. He fought in France where this movie takes place...about a year after. Toughest SOB I ever knew. He lost a leg when he was blown off his motorcycle from an enemy shell that landed next to him. He laid in the countryside unconscious long enough for the gangrene to set in. His leg had to come off. All he knew was he was on his motorcycle and woke up some days or weeks later in a hospital. Sadly, this is all I ever knew about his war experience. And that came from my father who got it from his mother. It wasn't that I didn't want to know more. Quite the contrary. I would ask and I never got an answer. He would always deflect to a funny story about the pranks they all played on each other. Nothing else. Though one time I did ask him how he could shoot another man and he said it was easy when you have bullets whizzing past your head.
I often think about having the chance to talk to him again, about his war experience. Sadly, he took those experiences to his grave without anyone hearing them. I think I've watched just about every WW1 documentary ever made. But film wasn't very good in WW1. Grainy, scratchy, no sound, poor movement. Certainly gives you an idea of what it looked like but less than ideal. I want to see what my Grandfather saw. This is where 1917 fills that void for me. The sets (especially of the trenches and No Man's Land) brought WW1 into the current world where we can see exactly what it looked like. The plot was good, but it's the look of the movie that has me watching it over and over and over. I thought it would be a typical Hollywood war movie and suspect that was part of the reason why I waited a year to see it. But as soon as it started, I knew right away it would scratch an itch I've had my entire life about my Grandfather. I could see what he saw. Now I have an itch to wanting to watch the movie with him...if it were possible.
Watch the movie.
That was just the beginning for me. This movie helped fill a void in my life. My grandfather, whom I knew for 26 years, fought in WW1. He was a sergeant. He fought in France where this movie takes place...about a year after. Toughest SOB I ever knew. He lost a leg when he was blown off his motorcycle from an enemy shell that landed next to him. He laid in the countryside unconscious long enough for the gangrene to set in. His leg had to come off. All he knew was he was on his motorcycle and woke up some days or weeks later in a hospital. Sadly, this is all I ever knew about his war experience. And that came from my father who got it from his mother. It wasn't that I didn't want to know more. Quite the contrary. I would ask and I never got an answer. He would always deflect to a funny story about the pranks they all played on each other. Nothing else. Though one time I did ask him how he could shoot another man and he said it was easy when you have bullets whizzing past your head.
I often think about having the chance to talk to him again, about his war experience. Sadly, he took those experiences to his grave without anyone hearing them. I think I've watched just about every WW1 documentary ever made. But film wasn't very good in WW1. Grainy, scratchy, no sound, poor movement. Certainly gives you an idea of what it looked like but less than ideal. I want to see what my Grandfather saw. This is where 1917 fills that void for me. The sets (especially of the trenches and No Man's Land) brought WW1 into the current world where we can see exactly what it looked like. The plot was good, but it's the look of the movie that has me watching it over and over and over. I thought it would be a typical Hollywood war movie and suspect that was part of the reason why I waited a year to see it. But as soon as it started, I knew right away it would scratch an itch I've had my entire life about my Grandfather. I could see what he saw. Now I have an itch to wanting to watch the movie with him...if it were possible.
Watch the movie.
