‘Masterpiece’ BAFTA-winning British war film set to leave BBC iPlayer | Films | Entertainment

A gripping and universally praised war movie is available to stream for free on BBC iPlayer — but not for much longer. The Oscar and BAFTA-winning picture breathlessly follows two young British soldiers as they venture deep into enemy territory, carrying a vital message that could call off a catastrophic battle and spare more than a thousand lives.

The film in question is director Sir Sam Mendes’ sweeping war epic, 1917, which will be on the platform for another 13 days. Cleverly filmed to look like a single continuous shot, the World War 1 masterpiece offers a uniquely immersive experience of a race against time. Although it takes place just over a day, critics and audiences have lavished praised for how 1917 conveys the brutal reality of warfare.

The film opens on April 6 in 1917. A British battalion is scheduled to attack what they believed to be a diminished number of German troops along the Western Front the next morning — until the Allied powers discover they are being drawn into a deadly trap.

Aerial reconnaissance reveals that the German army is preparing an ambush. With field telephones severed and no other means of alerting their ill-fated comrades, two young soldiers, Will Schofield (George MacKay) and Tom Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman of Game of Thrones), are sent on a perilous mission.

Acting on the orders of General Erinmore (Colin Firth), the pair must venture deep into enemy territory to locate the troop of 1,600 men, including Blake’s brother (another Thrones alum, Richard Madden), and call off the attack before it’s too late.

Some other famous faces make cameos in the film, including Andrew Scott and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Was 1917 filmed in one take?

No, but its longest shot is the opening scene that clocks in at eight-and-a-half minutes.

The film’s cinematography is one of its most distinctive features. British cinematographer Roger Deakins used some movie magic to make the two-hour movie seem like it was just one take.

The fluid transitions were hidden amongst explosions, marching soldiers, and objects momentarily blocking the camera’s view.

Is 1917 a true story?

The story is fictional, however, Mendes drew inspiration from his grandfather’s tales of WW1.

As Mendes previously told BBC Radio 1: “There was one particular story he told us about carrying a message across no man’s land alone at dusk. I couldn’t let go of that one image. I thought: What if we develop that into a single journey of more epic proportions?”

Reviews

1917 has an 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The website’s critics consensus, drawn from over 400 reviews, states: “Hard-hitting, immersive, and an impressive technical achievement, 1917 captures the trench warfare of World War I with raw, startling immediacy.”

It claimed Best Film, Best Director and Outstanding British Film at the BAFTAs, alongside Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects.

Rolling Stone hailed it as “one of the best war films of all time”, with The Guardian’s five-star review of the film saying: “Sam Mendes turns western front horror into a single-shot masterpiece.”

The film even won over sceptics of the genre. Film critic Candice McMillan noted: “Sam Mendes’ quiet WWI epic 1917 is a cinematic masterpiece, a near perfect war film that appeals to even those of us who don’t particularly enjoy war movies.”

One audience reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes put it simply: “A masterpiece of cinema.”

On the other hand, some critics have labelled it gimmicky, with its characters and storyline dismissed as one-dimensional.

1917 is available to watch for free on BBC iPlayer for 13 days as of the time of writing.