Posted on 11/25/2019 6:02:49 AM PST by C19fan
some may struggle to follow the heavy Britsh dialect used in the film, especially in the dialogue-heavy introduction.
So it wasn't me. Don't let it dismay you or cause you to walk out. It's really only that initial bit. If you can understand it, I bet it's really good dialogue.
The one continuous shot aspect has me curious to see it.
An earlier film with a remarkable single-shot battle sequence is Children of Men. It’s set in a dystopian future England and troops are clearing out rebel fighters who are holed up in buildings in a partially demolished city block. It’s an amazing shot with tons of stuff happening. I want to say the director won an award or some kind of industry recognition specifically for that shot.
This could be where Mendes or the script writer got the idea. There was also, of course, a historical event with only one messenger, not two, which the film adapted in a way.
The combination ends up being pretty good. Also, there is not a heavyhanded anti-war message. You see the reality but they don’t bop you over the head with it. They don’t have to. We all know it.
The central gimmick here is that it’s presented as if the entire movie is one giant single take. It isn’t, but it was edited for the illusion. Even artsy-type critics are saying it gets really tiring.
Sergeant York being the exception.
Also it seems that there was a movie made about The Dreyfus Affair, which would be an important WWI movie, but my recollection is vague...
If it’s tiring, it may be because the viewer becomes so intimately connected to the main character. You begin to feel the story from inside the character, who is definitely getting pretty tired.
Don’t worry, there is enough new and dramatic all the way through to keep you from being bored. It’s exciting, as he gets closer and closer to the front, not tiring.
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