This week guest columnist Caleb Luther looks at the Oscar-nominated 1917.
I usually end my reviews with this, but I’m telling you up front…DO NOT MISS 1917 in the theater. Now back to the actual review.
1917 is a mind-blowing cinematic achievement that’s all at once exciting, terrifying, and downright emotional. I don’t throw around the term masterpiece loosely, but this is indeed that.
The cinematography is some of the best I’ve ever seen, not only because it’s staged to look like one continuous shot, but because almost every shot is otherworldly beautiful and dare I say perfect. But yes, the gimmick of it looking like one shot is extremely impressive. It’s kind of easy to tell where the scenes were cut, but honestly, I do not think there was a single cut in the first 25 minutes or so.
The movie gets started quick, introducing us to this dire mission that our two leads must go on. From there on, it’s just straight intensity mixed with some artful melancholy here and there. And while you could call this a war movie, I viewed it more as an action/thriller.
Even when the movie takes a bit of a breather in the second half, the emotional resonance is arguably at its strongest, really placing the viewer in these tragic and depressing circumstances.
I’ll close this off by saying that this is without a doubt the best movie of the past year and my new front-runner for Best Picture. Guess I’ve got to adjust my Top 10 now.
Grade: A+
Caleb Luther is all about movies and music and such. Find more on instagram and at Modern Day Masterpiece on youtube!