1917 (2019) on Netflix
Two lance corporals, William Schofield and Tom Blake, are sent across no man's land. They carry a message calling off an attack that would put 1,600 British soldiers at risk.
- Netflix4.3/5
- IMDb8.2/10786,299 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes88%
Trailer
Plot summary
On 6 April 1917, British aerial reconnaissance reports that the German army's withdrawal in northern France is not a retreat: it has moved to the Hindenburg Line, where its artillery waits. The field telephone lines in the British trenches are cut, so General Erinmore gives a message to two lance corporals, William Schofield, a Somme veteran, and Tom Blake. They must reach Colonel Mackenzie of the 2nd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, and call off an attack set for the next morning that would put 1,600 men in danger, among them Blake's brother Joseph, a lieutenant. Going back behind their own lines would cost them time, so the pair cross no man's land toward the abandoned German trenches.
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Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about 1917 (2019)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Tom Holland was reported to be pushing for a lead role in 1917 in September 2018, but ended up not being in the film because he was contractually obliged to do reshoots for Chaos Walking in April 2019.
- 1917 was the first film shot with the Arri Alexa Mini LF digital cinema camera. Arri gave cinematographer Roger Deakins a prototype two months before filming began and two more cameras a week before, after he found the original Alexa LF too large and heavy.
- The story came from Sam Mendes's grandfather Alfred Mendes, a native of Trinidad who was a messenger for the British on the Western Front and told him about it.
- Although 1917 is often described as one continuous shot, the screen cuts to black one hour and six minutes in, when Schofield is knocked unconscious, then fades back in after nightfall. Sam Mendes explained that he wanted the film to move from afternoon to dusk and from night into dawn, in two movements.
- Jos Slovick's rendition of the folk song The Wayfaring Stranger was left off the soundtrack, but after a Change.org petition gathered over 2,500 signatures, Sony Classical Records released it as an EP on 7 February 2020.
- While shooting near Low Force on the River Tees in Teesdale, the production put up signs warning walkers not to be alarmed by the artificial bodies and body parts scattered around the site.
- Conservationists objected to 1917 being filmed on Salisbury Plain, fearing the production could disturb potentially undiscovered remains, and asked for a survey before any set construction started.
