SerjeantWildgoose wrote:1917 - dire beyond measure.
I can see why it won the Oscar for best cinematography as the complexity of capturing such bewildering movement in the famous 'single shot' style is impressive, however:
the performances of the entire cast are either wooden (MacKay), hammed (Cumberbatch, Firth, Strong, Scott and Madden in particular) or simply bad (Chapman, particularly);
the plot is incredible (As in not remotely credible). Mendes says the storyline lodged with him when he was a child, and this makes sense as it is naively infantile;
chapters are blatantly filched from Cold Mountain (The French girl with a hungry baby in the ruins of Écoust), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (The escape by jumping into the river - a river that is sluggish at the point at which the principal first crosses it and yet has become a fast-raging torrent, complete with Niagara Falls, by the time he jumps into it at the other end of the village) and any teen horror flick in which the central character is chased through a darkened forest/building/maze/ruin by a murderous bogeyman;
the absence of historical continuity/accuracy. The journey of the 2 main characters (Both lance corporals) begins in a peaceful glade where they are sunning themselves, passes through a fairly accurate if desperately telescoped depiction of a trench system up to the front line (A fault that is repeated later in the film when within the space of a few yards we are passed back from the shell-shattered front line to another quiet glade where the Regimental Aid Post has been set up in an immaculate canvas tent village) where they are casually briefed by a major general on a the requirement to run a message up to a forward battalion that is about to put in an attack against the new defensive system to which the dastardly Hun has deliberately withdrawn. We are told that one of the 'runners' brother is with the doomed battalion and hence the need to get the message through to call off the attack. This was unnecessary drama, such messages were run a thousand times a day on the Western Front - but I would venture never off the back of a personal briefing by the major general commanding the Division.
The opening titles tell us that this is April 1917, the month in which the British fought the Battles of Vimy Ridge and Arras, and in which the Germans withdrew to the Hindenburg line - all of this is correctly captured in the film, right down to the chalk that was such a visible geological feature. What is less accurate is the portrayal of the no mans land immediately in front of the British position. The film was clearly inspired by images of Passchendaele, a battle that didn't begin until June 1917, and didn't become the horror of mud for which it is infamous until the Autumn of that year.
Cashing in historical accuracy for political correctness. I acknowledge that today's British Army is not doing as well as it should in terms of recruiting and retaining enough soldiers from the BAME community, but it is simply ludicrous to put a black or an Asian face in an English county regiment during the Great War. Mendes does both and not infrequently or surreptitiously. If he was aiming to send a message then fair enough, but it must be acknowledged that in doing so he has substantially compromised historical integrity.
The BAFTAs giving it just about every award in its cupboard is ludicrous. Its shyte!
Thanks serj, the bit where he tries to shssssssh the German fella in the ruined town was preposterous also, agree the saving private Ryan brother scenario was also unnecessary
Did blacks/sikhs fight in ww1 just not in English county regiments?
Re: Last film watched
Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2020 6:03 am
by SerjeantWildgoose
Indians of every cast and religion fought in the Great War in vast numbers, but rarely, if at all, as part of English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh county regiments. There was, at that time and right through to beyond the Second World War a separate Indian Army establishment. It produced more volunteers in both world wars than any other nation of the Empire - but they fought in their own magnificent regiments. So too, but in far lesser numbers, the men of Africa and the Caribbean. Imperial/Commonwealth immigration to Britain was almost non-existent before Windrush so it is utterly improbable that men of colour would be serving in either the Surreys or the Dorsets, the two regiments portrayed by Mendes.
Re: Last film watched
Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2020 4:22 pm
by Mikey Brown
Deeyah Khan's documentary 'White Right' is on youtube now. There are a few more uplifting moments in here than I expected, but overall it's pretty tragic stuff. Reasonably interesting watch. Can't really call something like this entertaining though.
I'm not sure there's any particularly new insights into the world of white supremacists than we've seen before, but it's at least nice to see that some of these people could be reached if they spent some time with different kinds of people.
Re: Last film watched
Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2020 4:44 pm
by morepork
Is that the new Justin Bieber album cover?
Re: Last film watched
Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 9:33 pm
by paddy no 11
Don't bother with the hernandez documentary lads it's not very good and full of horrible people
Just read a decent article instead
Re: Last film watched
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 10:40 pm
by J Dory
On a recent trip to NZ (including a 17 hour Chicago Auckland direct) I watched way too many movies. A sleep deprived session that was mostly forgotten on input. Two stood out. The weight of elephants. The gem, i need to watch it again. Dark slice of life, awesome. Parasite, well known now I guess, I'm on the bandwagon.
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Re: Last film watched
Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2020 10:19 am
by Mikey Brown
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - fantastic. Really loved this. It's pretty slow and pretentious but it fully got me. Definitely one of those introspective films that will only reward you as much as you're willing to pay attention. The cinematography and the score are both incredible.
Under the Skin - hard to say, really weird and unnerving. I didn't think I particularly liked it at first but find I'm still thinking about it. Maybe one to come back to.
I thought Parasite was really good. It's hard not to be distracted/put-off by all the Oscar talk around it but I really enjoyed it.
Re: Last film watched
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 6:21 pm
by Banquo
Avengers Endgame. Crock of sh*t.
Re: Last film watched
Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 1:53 pm
by Numbers
Jumanji: The Next Level - a fun film.
Re: Last film watched
Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2020 2:02 pm
by Stom
A beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - a very nice, moving film about Mr. Rogers. Was good.
Rocketman - superb, I thought. Struggled with pacing at times, but hit the right notes at the right time.
Not a movie, but a series - Self Made - the story of Madame CJ Walker was overall very good, though it had several questionable moments. Skipped over a lot of time to condense it into 4 episodes and that meant the pacing both worked and didn't at the same time. Overall worth a watch, but the portrayals within were a little exaggerated at all times.
Re: Last film watched
Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2020 2:13 pm
by paddy no 11
Downfall (again)
Amazing film
Re: Last film watched
Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2020 2:33 pm
by Mikey Brown
paddy no 11 wrote:Downfall (again)
Amazing film
Which one?
Re: Last film watched
Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2020 5:05 pm
by paddy no 11
Hitler one, didn't realise there was other films of the same name
3 of the sequels, or 3 of the prequels?
If the one from a few months ago, I also tried it last night - completely lost me, and I barely paid any attention after the first 10 minutes; and left about an hour before the end.
3 of the sequels, or 3 of the prequels?
If the one from a few months ago, I also tried it last night - completely lost me, and I barely paid any attention after the first 10 minutes; and left about an hour before the end.
I at least found the most recent one sort of entertaining in how shit it was, which is a step up on the previous effort.
I had a feeling the old prequel episodes might be quite funny to go back and watch at this point but maybe should heed Donny’s advice.
3 of the sequels, or 3 of the prequels?
If the one from a few months ago, I also tried it last night - completely lost me, and I barely paid any attention after the first 10 minutes; and left about an hour before the end.
3 of the prequels. Had been thinking of getting thru the most recent 3 having really enjoyed Rogue One and Solo but now I'm questioning if I'll bother
3 of the sequels, or 3 of the prequels?
If the one from a few months ago, I also tried it last night - completely lost me, and I barely paid any attention after the first 10 minutes; and left about an hour before the end.
I at least found the most recent one sort of entertaining in how shit it was, which is a step up on the previous effort.
I had a feeling the old prequel episodes might be quite funny to go back and watch at this point but maybe should heed Donny’s advice.
It is almost unbelievably shit. Like fully, genuinely shit. Not shit as in Star wars fans wouldn't like it; shit shit. Dialogue, direction, acting (even from otherwise decent actors): shit. I would go so far as to say probably the worst film I've ever seen.
Re: Last film watched
Posted: Sat May 09, 2020 3:26 pm
by paddy no 11
Watched the bounty and the mutiny on the bounty recently
2 completely different films
The bounty portrays Christian as naive and egotistical and poor captain blyth as hard done by
The second portrays captain blyth as a violent tyrant and fletcher a decent human being who is exonerated by the enquiry
No idea which is more accurate but mutiny on the bounty is a better film
Re: Last film watched
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:31 pm
by Mikey Brown
The Farewell is absolutely fantastic.
Re: Last film watched
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:21 pm
by Donny osmond
Eurovision. Will Ferrell movie on Netflix.
It is exactly what you would expect from that sentence.
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Re: Last film watched
Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2020 2:56 am
by J Dory
If you have netflix, hopefully the stuff on this list is available in your region. I've watched 1-5 and enjoyed them all. Also watched spirited away, flipped and chef with the kids, 3 winners.
J Dory wrote:If you have netflix, hopefully the stuff on this list is available in your region. I've watched 1-5 and enjoyed them all. Also watched spirited away, flipped and chef with the kids, 3 winners.