1917

There is a mild pandemic in town, so our two young boys' schools have been temporarily closed.  As a result, the wife and I are taking turns stepping out of this monkey cage of an apartment as these boys are figuratively and literally swinging from the rafters..  I took a turn and headed to the nearly empty IMAX in 2D for a showing of 1917.  I decided to get close to the action and sit 6 rows from the screen, but that was a bit too near since most of the shots contained a lot of close action, which blurred so close to the screen.  I soon adapted to the situation, and kept my seat, even though there were a plethora to choose from.  I do recommend sitting toward the back of center for this film if seen in IIMAX.

I think the single-shot aspect of this film was done quite well, which I thought might make or break the action of the film.  I suspected while watching the movie that if I hadn't known going into the cinema that it was a single shot, I might not have noticed.  Either way, this unique timeline for a feature film seems to endear the viewer to the protagonist closely since we all go through the story together.  This notion of heightened empathy was solidified for me as the credits rolled, the audience was reluctant to pack up and go.

One aspect that I am curious about and intend to look into is what kind of rigs were used to get the long shots.  There were no dolly tracks, of course, but even in shots where there must have been a vehicle needed to catch the shot, there were no tire tracks seen on screen.  I wonder if it is a creative design or CG erased.

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