Moving on to business, it's already November, and in keeping with years past, we will be watching a military themed movie in honor of Veteran's Day. This year we will be watching Sam Mendes' WWI film, 1917.
1917 is a 2019 war film directed and produced by Sam Mendes, who co-wrote it with Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Partially inspired by stories told to Mendes by his paternal grandfather Alfred about his service during World War I, the film takes place after the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line during Operation Alberich, and follows two British soldiers, Will Schofield (George MacKay) and Tom Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman), in their mission to deliver and important message to call off a doomed offensive attack. Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Clair Duburcq, Colin Firth, Adrian Scarborough, and Benedict Cumberbatch also star in supporting roles. The film is shot to appear as only two continuous takes throughout the duration of its runtime.
The film received positive critical acclaim and currently holds an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film was nominated for 10 awards at the 92nd Academy Awards, winning three: Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects. Kate Erbland, writing for Indiewire.com gave the film a B+ and said this in her review, "The horrors of war are never far from the frame in Sam Mendes‘ brutal, bruising single-take World War I drama. The clock is always ticking in “1917,” and even as MacKay is offering a heartbreaking study in restrained emotion, he’s still at least moving towards the end goal of his terrible task. There’s no time to pause, even for great beauty, a lesson that even “1917” is often loathe to honor. The message is blunt but always effective: War is hell, of course — and while peace might be found in strange moments, more danger is always just around the bend, even if you stop looking for it."
We will be meeting Thursday, Nov. 21 at 5:30 pm. (Note that it is a week earlier than normal to accommodate Thanksgiving)
Here's the trailer:
Hope to see you there!
