RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Bee on Wednesday 22 January 20 14:05 GMT (UK)
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I've not been to the pictures for a long time but went last night.
The film was 1917
For anyone who has ancestors that fought in the First World War it's well worth watching, though I can't say it's the most "enjoyable" film that I've ever seen.
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It's got good ratings and I plan to go and see it but I must admit to being a bit apprehensive about seeing the suffering and the horrors of war that the soldiers experienced :-\
Carol
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Without giving anything away, it's based on a true event in the life of the film's director Sam Mendes' own grandfather.
Bee
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There have been a lot of comments re the long time spent on close up shots.
Not exactly sure what that means , but the CD released last year, for the ending of WWI was very graphic but the shots were very short.
However ,when you read first hand accounts and hear them from survivors of that horror there is not much left to the imagination.
My Dad was not a ghoulish person but as we got older and he came to stay with us in Belgium we took him to the WWI sites and he would tell us things he would not have described to my sister and I as children and did not in hearing of his grandsons ,but he needed to say it.
After the war no one really wanted to hear and it was bottled up for years and years.
At Hill 60 ,on the road from Ypres to Menen there was a small cafe with lots of coin in the slot viewing machines .
We were appalled that the things on view were earning money for the cafe owner, and yet those things happened .
We had to forbid our young sons from viewing.
Many books give detailed accounts and they are truly horrendous , but nothing can really convey it as it exactly was.Even a film, you were
not there, you did not know that injured man,you did not hear his cries nor see the full extent of his injuries and be unable to help him because you had to advance.
However men coped I do not know,
I am interested to see the film .
Viktoria
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I have recently been to see this film. I think this will appeal to anyone who has ancestors who served or anyone with a particular interest in the Great War.
I jumped in startlement (as others did around me) several times during this film. This was due to sudden loud noises and some dramatic scenes. However, although there are scenes of blood/injury, dead bodies/horses, flies, rats etc, thankfully, overall I didn't find this film particularly gory.
I think the film does make you think though about the conditions the soldiers endured and how trapped they were in having to follow orders, come what may. Although, he only has a relatively small part, what a presence on the screen Benedict Cumberbatch has! He is very convincing in his role of a cold, autocratic type committed to his responsibility for ordering men over the top to face death full on.
When I first started out researching my Great War ancestors (I later got interested in this period in general) I used to think in the terms that were used back then .. so and so 'made the Great Sacrifice' or words to that effect. As though they had much say in the matter. However, I now think in terms of that they were 'sacrificed'. There is a difference. I do not know how they coped either with the realisation that were now just a number in the objective of winning the war. An expendable number at that. In the film there is one character who is particularly cynical and vocal about this. I suspect there would have been a great many like this at that time even though it would have been totally unacceptable view to overtly ascribe to.
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I found 1917 to be a film which has a particularly striking and lasting effect on the viewer. It certainly has had on me.
It's not 'close ups' which are being talked about, Viktoria, I think, but the very long shots which follow the main subjects for lengthy periods either showing what they are seeing or observing them for considerable time. We are used to seeing shorter shots, edited together, so this is unusual.
This style is broken on a couple of occasions, one with very dramatic and shocking effect.
I think it would be of interest to anyone, whether they had ancestors in WWI or not.
There is a shot at the very end which would, I think, ring a lot of bells with the family history researchers on Rootschat.
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Well I went to see this film today and found it very absorbing, the cinematography was incredible and pulled you right into the action with dramatic effect. The two main characters were so well cast and were a reminder of how very young and unprepared they were for the horrors of a war that claimed so many lives. The scenes were very realistic and quite emotional in parts, especially in the closing scene. I predict many oscars for this one.
Carol
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I think this film does deserve Oscars.
Last weekend on a letters page of a newspaper someone wrote that they thought it was a shame that it is a 15 rating rather than a PG as they would have liked to have taken their Grandchildren.
I agree with this as I do not think the film to be overly graphic (you do see the slain and someone clutching their stomach injury with hand on top of their bloodstained clothes) - I have seen worse. I think it is a shame that younger teenagers are missing out. I think the only thing that would put me off taking my own Grandchild (if he was old enough) would be some of the bad language. Then again, there isn't too much of it.
I think it would be a good thing for younger children to learn about the Great War through this film (say ages 12+ with parental guidance).
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I couldn't agree more RTL, I think most children of that age could handle it. I would like to bet that there are more graphic killings and mutilations on X Box games.
Carol
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I couldn't agree more RTL, I think most children of that age could handle it. I would like to bet that there are more graphic killings and mutilations on X Box games.
I think the thing about computer games is children don't really associate the death and gore with real life, it is just a game, and blowing someone's head off is 'fun'. I've seen children who have no qualms about graphic games completely break down when faced with real blood, even from quite minor injuries.
I went to see the film yesterday (Saturday) so it is still fresh in my mind. I do think some under 15's would cope with it, but it would need to be with very careful parental guidance.
At the end of the viewing there were adults leaving the cinema in tears. And total and utter silence in the auditorium and on the way out, unlike the chatter you normally get at the end of a film. People on both sides of me were also jumping in shock fairly frequently, so it was quite an immersive experience.
I remember how shocking the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan were the first time I watched it. I didn't think I'd ever watch another film with such impact. 1917 certainly equals Private Ryan, and perhaps surpasses it because it takes time to build up to the most dramatic scenes and in that time we start to get to know the characters.
The casualties in the early scenes of Private Ryan were largely anonymous so there was less connection with them. Which I guess is why children can play those computer games without flinching.
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Seven well earned BAFTA Awards 8) Very well deserved.
Carol
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I have not seen the film but your talk about it reminded me of a letter I have read about Paschendaele.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/documents/passchendaele-letter-len-hart.pdf
My cousin was killed there and I found the letter whilst researching his service and death.
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I have not seen the film but your talk about it reminded me of a letter I have read about Paschendaele.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/documents/passchendaele-letter-len-hart.pdf
My cousin was killed there and I found the letter whilst researching his service and death.
oh dear. Thank you so much for posting, I am reduced to tears of sympathy, anger and despair.
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Thanks Igor, I don’t know what to say ,especially about the last part.
I have heard of that or a similar incident but not in such detail.
And to think that Passchaendaele was a diversionary battle to relieve the French.
I have a book “ They Called it Passchaendaele”some heartbreaking photographs and accounts.
Thanks for posting it.
Viktoria.
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Cannot understand film makers. Aeroplane flying straight, pilot sees enemy soldiers below. Opens fire on said soldiers. Soldiers run straight and directly away but still in path of bullets being fired at them. What happened to "lets run at 90 degrees from the path of the aircraft". Ever so slightly less chance of being hit by afore said bullets.
It's the same as car chases involving pedestrians. Lets run in front of the car that's trying to kill us. :P :P :P
Malky
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I have not seen the film but your talk about it reminded me of a letter I have read about Paschendaele.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/documents/passchendaele-letter-len-hart.pdf
My cousin was killed there and I found the letter whilst researching his service and death.
What a powerful and thought provoking letter :'( :'(
I defy anyone to read that letter without feeling sadness and anger in equal measures.
Thanks for posting.
Carol