Fantastic Film Reviews Episode 2: Why I think 1917 is the Greatest Technical Masterpiece of our Modern Generation

HERE WE ARE AGAIN FOLKS! Again with another Fantastic Film Review because I know you love them, why wouldn't you I wrote them. This time we are discussing what I believe is one of the greatest cinematic pieces of our modern generation. Am I right? of course I am for my name is Dauking and I am never wrong. Ego aside for a minute I truly do believe that this is a cinematic masterpiece and due to the fact it won Three, yes you heard me right THREE! Oscars. Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing and Best Cinematography in 2020. It was also nominated for 7 other awards but missed the mark on all them unfortunately. However now you can see why I deem it to be a true cinematic masterpiece, it may not have had the best acting, directing or story but it most certainly is one of the best films from a technical standpoint. What does that mean? well be patient my dear friends all will be revealed you know Dauking doesn't like to be rushed. Without further ado lets get straight into it and offer the best explanation on the internet as to why 1917 is the Greatest Technical Masterpiece of our generation.

Cinematography:

I do not use the words 'technical masterpiece' lightly, there are many components that go into making a film, but cinematography is one of the most important ones. If a film does not look good, the audience will be unable immerse themselves in the world that is on the screen. 1917 didn't have this problem from the lighting, to the camera movement, to the sheer detail that went into shooting this film all made me truly believe I was part of World War 1, (which I will now be referring to as WWI because I am too lazy to write the full name). This was heightened further by the whole film being done in one long take, that's right ONE LONG TAKE! There was not a single editing cut throughout the whole film the cameraman followed the characters right through the world, through trenches, towns, caves and various other locations iconic to WWI. At every point in the film you felt part of the situation, almost like you were right there with the characters as they fought for their lives. The lighting was moody and dark, but seemed to change with the light in the sky as the film went one. If it was dark the screen was dark with no other light except sometimes, small torches or a candle. When it was bright daylight outside the screen was vibrant and full of light. When it was overcast the screen was grey, dreary and miserable. Lighting added so much to the effect of the story and always made me feel like I was there with them. Now I was going to talk about sound as well, but I think I will from this point onward give sound and music their own category, due to it having the power to tell a story on its own (also because this is my blog and I can ;) ). Overall the cinematography in this film, was the best I have seen in many years. The usage of lighting and one ongoing take created a more immersive atmosphere, that made me believe my life was on the line just the same as the characters. These techniques were astounding and I really believe that many filmmakers should take a page out of 1917's book and take the same risk. This film has set the standard for cinematography and I know now that every other film I watch, will have to try meet up to it. Which lets be fair probably wont happen, there is a reason it one an Oscar for it. But another Oscar was won due to the sound of this film which is where we will be journeying to next. But in terms of a rating for this category.....

Super Cineamo Rating: 1000/10 (Stop Crying my Blog my rules I can rate it 1000 if I want to ; ) )

Sound and Music:

It is no secret that 1917 won and Oscar for its sound design (I have already mentioned it twice in this post :) ) but why? how? well my honorable com padres, who are no more honorable than me, let me explain. Due to 1917 being a war film having a good soundscape was imperative, for how can someone feel like they are in WWI without hearing it. I unfortunately did not have the pleasure of watching this film in the Cinema where I feel the increased surround sound would have immersed you more. But even so, listening to the soundtrack and sound effects through my TV was amazing. All the bombs, bullets, vehicles and other sound effects all were timed to perfection and extremely realistic. I gave me the vision of what it was actually like in WWI. 1917 made me picture being woken up in the morning after only 2 hours sleep to the, horrendous sound of a massive explosions and the screams of your brothers in arms. The effects were loud, realistic and timed to perfection giving me that sense of myself being part on the scene. Then there was the music. The soundtracks of this film suited it perfectly and were fit into the right scenes. When there was a quiet emotional scene, the music was quiet, relaxing and mystifying. When there was a scene packed with bombs going off and the characters running for their life, the music was fast paced, epic and fear inducing. When there was a moment of brotherhood the music was, chilled, light and fun. I will not ruin the rest of the film for you by giving more examples, I'm not that mean (so be grateful) but just watch it for yourself and you will see the spectacular way in how the music changed with the action on screen. It may even be an interesting experience to close your eyes and just listen to the film, imagining yourself experiencing the sounds in real life. I'm not going to do that because I like watching movement on screen duh, but you can test that experience for me. Overall just like the cinematography, the sound design and musical accompaniment (oh look technical terms how amazing am I) were unbelievable and well worth the Oscar that it received. But even though these technical elements were great a film cannot be a film without story so lets assess that next aye. I am going to do it anyway because it's my blog but at least I tried to include you in the process with a good 'aye'. Before that we will be giving the sound it's own new rating called Sound Spectacle question Mark which will be duh duh da....

Sound Spectacle? Rating 1000/10 (Oh look at me breaking rules again it won an Oscar, what did you expect of course it is worth 1000)

Story and/or accuracy:

Ahhh who loves a good story, I know i do and if I do you do to because that's how it works. Ego aside I do love good stories, in the end of the day you can have as much flashy imagery and acting as you like, but if the story sucks none of it matters. So fortunately for 1917 they were lucky they had good writers, because if they didn't all the spectacular sound and cinematography would have been wasted. The story was obviously set in WWI, with two young soldiers called Blake and William (whose name we don't find out till the end of the film crazy right?). Their mission pass a message of ceasefire to another battalion, who are walking into a death trap in one day. Among that battalion is Blake's brother therefore his motivation for completing it no matter what. After Blake gets killed (spoiler sorry not sorry, you should have watched it already) William takes over the story and uses that as his motivation to finish the mission, as he really had none to begin with. Throughout William's journey he experiences many things, a cave collapsing on him, a one on one fight with a German soldier, a great escape from a German battalion, a french girl with a baby who he builds a connection with (sorry I will stop ruining the movie now) and many other events, that change him forever. The story is simplistic, action packed and emotional. Whilst it has a great story compared to many other films, it probably falls quite short of being perfection. Over the years many films have produced spectacular, groundbreaking. crazy stories, with huge themes like questioning the morality of life and death, showcasing a tormented villain who is trying to do the right thing in the wrong way, or huge emotional love stories that keep us guessing till the end. Whilst 1917 was not disappointing from a story perspective it was simplistic, gritty and a realistic depiction of the different things that occurred in WWI. It had us believing we were with William and Blake in WWI, but lacked the pazazz that could have taken it to another level. With that said 1917 still held great accuracy in relation to the events of WWI and even though other people could have written it better (and you know I am talking about myself ;) ) I still thoroughly enjoyed it and was invested the whole time. However there is another component of the story that I will discuss next which I felt 1917 did a great job on. That is the drama/my personal investment factor which is far more important then the basic story because it's about me, but first the rating for this section...

Story-line Superstar Rating: 5/10 (Simplistic and basic but still not bad)

Astonishing Accuracy Rating: 10/10 (Perfect depiction of WWI fight me)

Drama Factor My Investment:

Ahhh here we are with the more important rating for the story, due to it being my investment of course. Whilst 1917's main story was pretty simplistic and common, the drama from the film was top notch. This was the best scene in the whole movie and I will fight anyone who tells me otherwise.... Nah just kidding, I am right though as I always am. This was the scene that made me instantly say, holy shiznit this is a fantastic film. As a short recap, William (whose name we still do not know) hides in a vent, attached to the side of a building in order to escape from a pursuing German enemy. He stumbles into a room where a French girl and a French baby girl are hiding. Even though he speaks very limited French and she speaks very limited English, they connect on a deep level, triggering a mini romantic love affair that is a great change of pace, compared to the rest of the film. It is a special moment that makes you forget about the danger of the outside world, pulling you into this little world these two have created. It is a beautiful scene that I will remember forever, but enough of the sooty crap now I am Dauking after all and ascend all that emotional stuff. Nah joking again, but it is true that very few film scenes hit me emotionally and this is definitely one of them. There were many little emotional scenes in this film that really had you on the edge of your seat, William losing Blake, William running away from German enemies, William telling Blake's brother that he died and so many others. Yes I have probably ruined about half the film for you there sorry not sorry, as I did say you should have watched it already. Nah just pulling your leg I am sorry about the spoilers, but there is no way I can express to you how invested I was without mentioning all the scenes that got me in this film. Fortunately you reading text on the page, is nowhere near as exciting as watching it for yourself so watch it, now, pause reading and go come back in 2 hours I'll wait. Do do do do, do do do do, do do do do............ You back did you watch it, good you agree with me now right? what am I talking about of course you do, Dauking said it after all. All jokes aside, 1917 was average in overall story, but when broken down into scenes one of the most spectacular films I have ever watched and definitely one of the best war films in existence. But a good film is not complete without actors, an actor can make or break a film wit their performance, which is what I will talk about next but first the rating for the most important story factor, my investment is......

Irresistible Investment Factor Rating: 10/10 (Perfect. Fight me if you disagree, Love You)

Acting:

As I have already said an actor's performance can make or break a film. An actor's performance can either have you screaming 'I love (enter film name here)' from the top of a mountain, or cause you to exit the theater, grab some chopsticks, then thrust them repeatedly into your eyes. "Whoa, whoa, whoa Dauking, calm down mate that is far too dark". Okay okay, maybe that was a little over dramatic, I would apologize if I actually cared but I am Dauking so therefore never have to apologize for anything. Ego aside, an acting performance can truly impact the success of a film. Fortunately for 1917 they had no problem with this, in fact I actually think the actor's smashed it for the most part. Look I can tell you from the perspective of a highly skilled actor like myself, giving this level of performance in one go is extremely difficult. The less amount of takes you have, the more tricky it is to give your best performance. The actor's in 1917 had to give their full performance, throughout one full continuous shot. This is a insanely tough ask, considering the fact that they cannot make any mistakes in the dialogue, movement or emotion of the scene. All actor's in 1917, especially the main lead William played by George MacKay, not only achieved this but almost to perfection. There were many scenes that I felt all actor's could have done better, where Blake and WIlliam could have shown more emotion towards each other, but aside from those scenes, I struggled to find a moment of acting weakness. All the smaller roles performed to their max and many of the scenes George did do, were hard to critique. So whilst the acting was not quite perfect, it was damn near close to it, however now it is time for the true test, the factor that is more important than anything else (because I created it) the F. F. Factor. Was the acting, story and cinemotography enough for it to become a legendary film, let's find out. But I guess first I should give the acting it's rating, do the actor's recieve an Oscarrrr..........

Admirable Acting rating: 8/10 (whilst the acting was phenomenal, still things that I could have done better. But then again nobody is better than me I respect the effort though)

F. F. Factor

Righty hoe lads and lasses, here we are again the moment of truth, the day of judgement and the Osacar goes too...... Well Dauking Obviously, however 1917 was a close second. Yep the F. F. Factor what does this stand for? well go and read my first Fantastic Film Review on Elvis to find out. Long story short this is sort of an overall rating, combining my opinions of all the different aspects of the film. This is also my call to action, if this is high then Dauking says you have to see this film no argument. 1917 had so many spectacular aspects from the technical elements like cinemotography, to sound and music, to the acting performances but you already know this, due to you obviously reading the previous categories. 1917 was a unbelievable film that in Dauking's opinion (which is the only opinion that matters) is must see. Whilst it was in no way perfect and there were definitely things that needed to be better, the rest of the film was in all ways perfection. I absolutely adore this film, I watched it on a whim just because I heard some good things about it, but I do not regret my decision at all. 1917 was technical perfection, with a decent story and near perfect acting performances. Because of this I will say without a doubt that this is one of the greatest films of all time. I thought Elvis was my favorite of all time (visit my previous review to see why), but I now have a clash 1917 was so good that I think it may be on par with Elvis. With all this said I think I have proven my point and explained exactly why it won 3 Oscars. In conclusion, this film was nothing less than a technical masterpiece, thouroughly entertaining and thrilling from start to finish. Because of all this praise which I don't give out lightly, because I am me the only accurate rating I can give for the F. F. Factor is......

F. F. Factor Rating: 1000/10 (Elvis may or may not have got the same rating, go read that review and see.)

Phew there we have it boys and girls, another fantastic film review over and done with. Another masterpiece of a post from me I must say, thank you all for tuning in and reading, I love all of you (althought not as much as I love myself sorry not sorry). I will leave one final perfect image from this film down below, please do watch it I promise you wont regret it and you know Dauking always tells the truth. With that I have been Dauking, you have been amazing and always remember to dance like a Chicken, live life to it's fullest and have a very good night Byhye........

Dauking Out *Salute