WWI marked the confluence of terrifying new technologies unleashed on combatants of both sides and Europe itself. Machine guns—mowing down swaths of soldiers like never before. Soldiers—with tanks at their backs—bearing down on the enemy in cover and shooting streams of blistering flame. The gruesome suffering from poison gas was a whole other nightmare, and the devastation lent poignant credence when H.G. Wells dubbed the battle, “the war to end all wars.”
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It’s into this setting that Oscar-winner Sam Mendes (“American Beauty”) and the man behind the camera of the last two thrilling exploits of James Bond (“Skyfall” and “Spectre”) drops you into with his upcoming World War I film “1917.” Mendes reteams once again with the heralded composer and cinematographer combo of Thomas Newman and Roger Deakins to tell his second war story since 2005’s “Jarhead.”
Here’s the official synopsis:
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Sam Mendes, the Oscar®-winning director of Skyfall, Spectre and American Beauty, brings his singular vision to his World War I epic, 1917.
At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers, Schofield (Captain Fantastic’s George MacKay) and Blake (Game of Thrones’ Dean-Charles Chapman) are given a seemingly impossible mission. In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers—Blake’s own brother among them.
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Marking Mendes’ feature writing debut, “1917” chronicles one day’s action during WWI—as seen through the eyes of a British soldier pair—and stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Richard Madden (“Game of Thrones” and “Bodyguard”), Andrew Scott (“Fleabag,” “Sherlock”), George MacKay (“Captain Fantastic” and “Ophelia”) and Dean-Charles Chapman (“Game of Thrones“). The film will reportedly also feature at least one sequence shot ala “Birdman” style—continuous, free of apparent cuts, and fostering meaningful intimacy with its characters.
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Universal Pictures will release “1917” domestically in limited release on December 25, 2019, and wide on January 10, 2020. Check out the trailer below and stay put. It’s called no man’s land for a damn good reason.
