Must-watchWorld War I · Film · 2019
1917
Two young British soldiers have one day to cross enemy territory and stop an attack that walks straight into a German trap, in a film staged as one continuous, breathless shot.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 2 places.
Stop 1: British trenches south of Arras
Schofield and Blake are handed General Erinmore's order and climb out across no man's land into the abandoned German trenches.
Stop 2: Écoust-Saint-Mein
Key location
Past a destroyed canal bridge, Schofield crosses the burning ruins of the town at night, dodging a sniper and German patrols.
What really happened
The mission is fictional, inspired by a story Sam Mendes heard from his grandfather Alfred, a messenger on the Western Front. Its backdrop is real: between February and April 1917 the German army carried out Operation Alberich, falling back up to 40 km to the heavily fortified Hindenburg Line and leaving behind wrecked villages, felled orchards and booby traps.
The film is set on 6 April 1917, the day the United States declared war and three days before the British opened the Battle of Arras. In reality the British Fifth Army already held Écoust-Saint-Mein by early April and was closing up to the Hindenburg Line from there; the film places it behind German lines to build its ruined, flare-lit town.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- 1917
- Directed by
- Sam Mendes
- Countries
- United Kingdom, United States
- Languages
- English, German, French
- Released
- 2019
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Western Europe
- Themes
- Combat
