‘1917’ is a dazzling wartime tale, but is it fresh enough to win Best Picture?
“1917” has taken the awards circuit by storm with its technologically innovative and visually striking approach to the war film genre. Written and directed by Sam Mendes, the film follows two British soldiers as they embark on the ambitious overnight mission to reach the British army’s 7th Division before they march into massacre. The pair faces the prospect of navigating “no man’s land,” a mud marsh containing booby traps and populated only by corpses, in broad daylight in order to reach the German front line and deliver their message in time. “There’s only one way this ends,” Colonel MacKenzie (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) declares hauntingly. “Last man standing.”