Oscar-Nominated '1917' Is an Intimate Portrait of WWI

The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony is just over a week away and I’ve been methodically making my way through all the Best Picture contenders as is my annual custom.  I’ve watched six out of the nine nominees and have found most of them to be worth the time I spent at the multiplex or on my couch.

In case you’re wondering if a favorite has emerged from the pack, my answer to that is… of course! Being the rabid fan of U.K. television and film that I am, it will come as no surprise that 1917, the lone British film in the category, would be my pick for Best Picture. The truth is I had been eagerly anticipating this movie since I saw the first trailer back in August of 2019. I was always going to see it even if it didn’t have Oscar buzz around it.

No surprise, 1917 is pretty darn buzzy. This tense World War I drama has already earned a pair of Golden Globes (Best Director and Best Motion Picture Drama), as well as nine BAFTA and ten Oscar nominations.

If you’ve yet to see it, allow me to give you some spoiler-free scoop. First a short synopsis:

“At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers are given a seemingly impossible mission. In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers. Incidentally, the brother of one of the soldiers is among them.”

Award-winning director Sam Mendes,  of American Beauty and Skyfall, fame used the story of his grandfather as the inspiration for this fictional epic. Alfred Mendes was a WWI soldier who earned a medal for delivering vital messages between the companies of his battalion.