The story is based around two young soldiers charged with delivering a message across the front line, a message that will save 1600 soldiers including one of their brothers. There’s no doubt that it is an ambitious project, with Mendes working with the cinematography god Roger Deakins to create the effect of the film being shot in real time and in one shot.
Mendes is no stranger to a challenge. His role as a director on the epic Skyfall in 2012 is one of the reasons this film is so anticipated. There are high expectations of a fresh take being brought to the long standing genre of war films.
This film is expected to have epic sequences but also to show the extremes of human loss, with themes from the film being based from real life memoirs. A story to be handled carefully, Mendes is an experienced director however this film is his first feature length writing credit a new challenge that could make or break this film, as the intimate nature of choosing to follow the journey of two characters, the writing is crucial to the audience’s relationship with them.
Although he has touched on war before, in his 2005 Jarhead, set during the Gulf War, this time he turns back the clock to the First World War, mixing his old expertise with new territory, leading me to believe this could be an exciting delve into a new story in a setting we all know. This universally anticipated film is released 10th January 2020, and will hopefully be a valuable addition to our screens.