Iterations

A couple weeks ago, I got a text from my friend Sean who had just gotten out of the cinema seeing 1917, the new World War I epic from director Sam Mendes. The text simply read “so good.” I remember seeing the trailer for the film months ago and thinking that it looked incredible. But most of recent the buzz about the film seemed to center around the idea that it was all shot in one continuous take. In fact, the first plot keyword you’ll see in the IMDB listing for the film is “one take.” You’ll also read it or a variation of it in virtually every review of the film. The problem is it’s not true. 1917 was filmed to appear as one continuous shot, which it is a remarkable achievement on a film of this scale, but that doesn’t make it any more true. When I got the “so good” text from Sean, I remember asking him whether the one shot thing worked or if it came off as more of a gimmick. “I don’t know,” he responded. “I have mixed feelings I think.” Now that we’ve both seen it and had a chance to think about it, I tho