@@raygedd9693 Not quite, the participation of the rich and upper classes for most of history was greatly disproportionately high. Until very recently, war was a rich man's game. I say this because I think it changes the picture when we remember that Now is not how things always have been.
@@GeeBarone that's an interesting point. I'd be curious about how the rough numbers change through the centuries (obviously it will be based on culture, and type of service, too). J Draper had an interesting video on the democratization of War Memorials - that WWI was really the first time anyone bothered to remember the everyday soldiers who died in war and not just the commanders. Those kinds of things would tend to color how we remember who was involved in conflicts because our archetype over time has changed.
@@elizabethsaltmarsh8306 I'm not into the sources for this either, but for most of history, good weaponry and equipment wasn't made in bulk by a nation state for a standing reserve of housed and dined professional soldiers, and only a specific class of people could actually afford getting decent equipment, let alone being away from their homestead a long while. Also mass propaganda, nationalist loyalty, and job policing was less possible for nations, so getting whole labor classes enthused about the state and its wars, and enforcing conscription, wasn't as doable. I know there's at least lots of science stuff about roman soldiery that goes into this, and around changes in modern industrialized warfare. The kind of infrastructure and national scale culture needed for modern professional and standing armies wasn't possible until there were industrialist countries in Napoleonic times. And yeah, like you mention, only around the end of the 19th century class conflicts and after world war 1 do the people in those modern armies actually get acknowledged.
@@michelottens6083 hi I'm medieval and shit, and I have some solutions for your objections. Good weaponry and equipment in bulk: lol for what? The Lords have horses and have used the profits from the output of their grateful serfs to buy a few shiny pointy things. Standing reserve: that would be those tending your estate, and your rich buddy's cannon fodder as well. Housed and dined: they get a shack, just like every other serf, and dine just fine on the misshapen rejects of MY crop and livestock that they raise. Professional soldiers: who needs professionals? They are just the thundering hoard of imbeciles I need to smother John Snow so I can walk gingerly over and strike the killing blow and secure a legacy that many more serfs will zealously volunteer to die for. Afford decent equipment: I can afford excellent equipment, in fact. They, on the other hand, will bring their pitchforks, if they have to. And if my supplies run dry I'll claim lordship over even their bounty. Away from the homestead: their heirs or wives will maintain, or they will fix when we get back. Or, having lost all of them, I'll simply trot to the center of town and offer some urchins an opportunity of a steady fire, a single-location straw bed, and reliable food they can raise for themselves and their family. And I'll have fresh serfs for my legacy. Mass propaganda: for what? None but us Lords are even remotely literate, and even most of my peers are one-work "scholars." Who needs mass propaganda when you have a shiny chair to threaten their "immortal souls" with? Nationalist loyalty: there are no nations yet. We are basically branding agents, uniting semi-stable families and clans under the banner of some semblance of certainty and upwards mobility, at least for their heirs. They are loyal to the blade and the visage, and only a bigger shinier blade or a scarier visage will even budge their almost animalistic faith. Help one once in a way impossible to repay, and they'll devote their lives to trying. Also, Robert's tearful lamentation that "men fight for [him] because if they don't, [he'll] throw them off [his] land and starve their children" rings familiar here. Job policing: lolwut? They're happy to do anything for the sweet reward of not having to experience the scarcity mindset. I hardly even have to crack the whip anymore! Labor classes: this isn't Marx 101 mate, these peasants aren't even aware that there are other people in the world just as skilled as they and that their collective contribution pretty much upholds this fragile fraction of what eventually underpins society and its norms. Heavens to Betsy if anybody knew!! Enthusiastic about war: these boys have no idea about the grotesque machinery my richer counterparts are devising to woodchipper their friends in short order! They think we're gonna go "peck a feight" and slap each other with planks and points and cry and drink and go home happy to raise crops again. Maybe this time they'll appreciate what they have... IDK shit about history but I think you're thinking with too high an emotional quotient and too broad a perspective. Dan Carlin has a long ass series on the Celtic genocide that covers a more pedestrian perspective. Or maybe it was another one, but it was definitely hardcore history.
Three details I love: 1.) As Tom dies, you can hear the soundtrack continue to drone on. Once he dies in the middle of Schofield’s sentence, the music immediately cuts, and we’re left with the sudden shock that he died just like that. 2.) The Sikh soldier has a darker Lee-Enfield rifle with a stock disk instead of the regular version because that was the one issued by the British Indian Army. 3.) Those “small roles” played by big actors are there for a reason. The main characters and side soldiers are all relatively unknown in their careers. But what do the recognizable actors play? The commanders. The generals. The lieutenants. The people in charge. As the audience, we see them and say “Holy crap, this actor is huge, I need to focus on what they’re saying.” In the mind of the characters, they think “I need to listen to my commanding officer.” It’s this amazing and extremely subtle way of showing the presence of the high ranking officers in comparison to the main characters.
On point no.3; It also lends the audience a sense of distant familiarity with the commanders and officers that the lower ranked soldiers would have felt. It was an excellent casting choice.
Something that never gets mentioned in this video is that the year is 1917. There is still another year left in the war. A year where Schofield could have died fighting
Very likely did too, 1918 was an incredibly bloody year with immense casualties once both sides abandoned trench warfare. A lot of the most famous people who died in the war, including Wilfred Owen the poet, died in 1918 due to the massive offensives that happened all across the western front.
"Casting well-known actors as the officers who have small roles throughout the film was a brilliant idea, it makes them seem "important", while all the "regular" soldiers like our two main characters are relatively unknown actors. "
'There's something to be said for the media you find at the right time... when you stumble upon something right when you need it.' *Me with this channel*
I had the same experience! I found this account right after my friend died and finding Russian doll through this channel helped me so much, I can’t put it into words
As an Indian, i am proud that you actually included the whole Sikhism part. Most people that i have talked to say that it just does not make sense for Indian or Sikh soldiers to have fought in WW1. But The British ruled India from 1858 to 1947, and so many Indians were forced to join the military and serve for the British forces. So yea, the Sikh soldiers showing up makes perfect sense. Also a little known fact is that Sikhs soldiers were considered to be very ferocious and kind hearted. Anyway, Thank you for including that. Sending Love from Thailand.
I'm pretty sure the complaint isn't that Sikh/Indian soldiers fought in WW1, but more of. It didn't make sense to put them in a convoy filled with British Soldiers. I don't agree with this because I enjoy the creative freedom they used to include other faces on the western front. But it's semi valid. The western front was seperated by who controlled the majority of the front (i.e. the French would control a certain half, the Commonwealth/the UK one half, and the Belgians one half). And most of the time it would be seperated by area, so the ANZACs had a front to themselves with little/no British, Canadian or Indian presence. So, why would Indians be present in a British Convoy?
As someone obssesed with Military History I find people saying that Stupid, I have tremendous respect for Indian, Sikh and Commonwealth soldiers in general fighting so far from home, fighting a war that at the end of the day was meaningless to them as it wouldn't really affect their homes at least during WW1, during WW2 there was a much more credible threat to all states in the British commonwealth, even India or as it was called at the time the British Raj was under threat from the Japanese pushing through Burma deeper in. But I will say just my own personal rant because I was annoyed at getting called a sexist, ableist and a racist for pointing out how it didn't make sense for women to be a playeble option in Battlefield 5, I know it is completely unrelated but it annoyed me because during that time period of the Second World war it would have been impossible for a woman to go into the field at least for being in the armed forces, they might be in the support companies safely behind the lines as nurses and such, but in the only places women saw frontline combat was mainly in the Soviet Red Army and they were mainly seen as non important or as propaganda pieces, but it doesn't mean they didn't fight fiercely, you need only look up the Night Witches or the many snipers who were women in the Eastern Front, even the woman who bought the paid for a Tank in the Red Army and asked she be allowed to serve in said tank, and then how the men who used to look down on her respected her and saw like a mother. I also mentioned how our own modern prosthetics are nowhere near good enough to have someone go into combat with them, and how in WW2 the basic prosthetics they had would be even worse, and how anyone with such an injury would either get shipped back home or would in the case they kept them in the Armed Forces would be in the back if they could still read and write and they still had their writing hand.
I mean they didn't have a very completely understanding of PTSD back then so I'm not even sure Tolkien knew (The man said he disliked allegory I think) but Frodo's inability to adjust to civilian life after his journey really reads that way now.
@@Ladyknightthebrave I think even without modern medical knowledge, Tolkien may've intended the implication anyway. People knew PTSD exists even back then, they just generally called it being "shell-shocked" when referring to soldiers. And since "shell-shocked" is a term originating from WW1, Tolkien was probably aware of the concept.
and as to "disliking allegory", he followed it up with (from what I can look up): "I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author." So he wasn't so much hostile to finding meaning beyond the surface, but he seemed to have had a more "death of the author" approach to it.
@@oddtail_tiger The thing is that he disliked Allegory because it generally was more about pushing an idea into people rather than letting them explore a complex topic through the lens of the written medium, it was more about making the connections the author wanted to make, rather than making nuanced portrayals of things the author saw. Like how we all acknowledge that Animal Farm is an allegory to Communism, in that case the author is the one forcing that perspective meaning that we will make the impressions the author desires us to make, I think that Orwell makes a better job with 1982, as it has no real explicit target but more about the evils of a authoritarian regime and how they opress people by making them think that what the state tells them is right and anything else is wrong, I think that the revolution the animals throw is far too communistic in undertone to really imply anything other than communism is merely a tool for some to seize power, I think that it could have been a causionary tale about revolutions and how they can fall prey to greedy people who will take over the revolution merely to seize power for themselves. 1982 is far better because it is based on Orwell's experiences with Authoritarian Regime's during his lifetime, he fought in the Spanish Civil War in the Republican side, and saw the rise of fascism and the authoritarianism of Stalin and the like, he saw the tools of propaganda they used and took them to their logical extremes in the novel, he was not so much talking about fascism or communism but about authoritarianism in general, he showed people the tools of those regimes, and in the process making the readers more capable of finding and avoiding the charismatic autocrats and dictators that promise you heaven with a butchers knife behind their backs.
@@Ladyknightthebrave I have a feeling that they might have had a rather solid understanding of PTSD than is given credit. While treatment for PTSD might have been poor or non existent, the causes and symptoms were well known. I am sure you have read All Quiet on the Western Front, but Baumer reads like a medical text on the symptoms: Detachment from and inability to integrate with civilian life, episodes of panic stemming from audio or visual cues, hopelessness, giving up on former pleasures or hobbies.
I have had this with more than one of their videos! I just love their video essays so much, it doesn’t matter to me all that much what the subject is 🤷♀️ these videos have introduced me to new content as well! ❤️
It's definitely worth watching. A lot of people have the idea that war movies are meant to be gung ho patriotism shows, and some are for sure, but 1917 is part of a long tradition of war movies showing humanity at its most vulnerable, compassionate, and inspirational.
I absolutely love how open people are starting to be about reading fic in general. As a Fandom Old it's always been one of those things that everyone does but no one talks about, and we're all better off if it just becomes a normal part of fandom routine.
It's long been my metric of "how much did I like this piece of media". If I kind of forget about it, meh. If I scroll through the subreddit, yeah I liked it! If I'm looking on AO3 ... it's a new classic for me
@@sleepingdogpro I was never really into fanfic all that much myself, but I do love that it's meant a whole generation of creators grew up on reading/writing it themselves
"The movie is about PREVENTING a battle. A 'war film' about saving lives." That's a beautiful observation! One that completely flew over my head on my first viewing. The cinematography must have absolutely hypnotized me. Lmao Tysm for this analysis!!
Thank you for specifically talking about the inclusion of the few Sikh characters we see in the film, and talking about that part of history that gets so very overlooked. And also thank you for the clown emoji on the clown's face
Yes, thank you. I was appalled that actor (name left out on purpose) complained about it, as ANYONE who's studied modern British wars knows Sikh troops had a big presence.
@@Konoronn true, but it was just the one Sikh soldier & in the extras, they mention their story was he'd gotten separated from his unit, which did happen & we assume he'll be returned to a Sikh unit ASAP.
On the subject of war movies. I often think our constant focus of World War 2 and its easy good guys vs bad guys narrative has damaged people's overall view of war. World War 2 was an exception not the rule. War is rarely good guys vs bad guys and more just people fighting each other for often justifiable but arbitrary reasons with fault happening on both sides. World War 1 is the perfect example of this. All these countries went to war not because Germany or Serbia were evil. But because 1 important person got assassinated and then interconnected political alliances forced all these other countries to fight each other.
@@Dan-yy6tt I don't know man, it's kinda obvious when one side commited genocide and killed 6 million people (and that's just the Germans, Japan was way worse on their atrocity level). Did the Allies (America, United Kingdom, USSR, and many many more) commit atrocities and warcrimes as well? Yes they did. Thousands of Poles died in the Soviet Occupation of Poland, British and American bombing efforts killed hundreds/thousands of civillians, and many more. I'm not going to deny the crimes that the Allied Powers did, because it happened. And I'm not going to weigh which side was "worse" because there was no worse side. But the Allies didn't cause the war. Maybe in some alternate reality the USSR started WW2 or any other country. Sure that's probable, but that isn't our reality. In our reality WW2 started in Europe because of Hitler and his gang of psychopaths, leading to all the deaths and atrocities there. In Asia it was caused by the crazy Militarism and the fact that the Military was de facto leader of the state. Without these people the conditions, aftermath, and effects of the war would have been diminished/non-existant. Compared to WW1, a war that was literally useless, and only caused 4 years of fighting for nothing but changing the world balance and the world's situation that would lead to WW2 and the Cold War.
@@saladpotet7872 Yeah but even that in mind , labeling the Allies as good is not true , how could a union of countries that raped millions and massacre millions in their colonies have the moral highground or even be better than the Nazis? The Nazis did the same things the British and French did just much faster. However this isn't a justification of the Nazis' , they killed around 27,000,000 in the USSR alone and their actions completely redefinied the world for the worse. However the Allies aren't good , they are just a lesser evil and even thats debatable if you compare them with other Axis powers ( excluding Nazi Germany ). Its just , its so hypocritical to say the Allies were good when they commited the same atrocities as the Nazis a few decades eariler. WW2 was a shade of brown , just like any other war , there are no heroes , only villians.
@zetta _ Bombing of cities with stuff like firebombs is pretty messed up, m8. And don't forget that Anti-Semitism was the Zeitgeist. Just look at some quotes of Henry Ford about the Jews or the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. It just turned out that Germany in a crisis (as many nations do in crisis, btw) turned to extremists that acted on the Zeitgeist.
Technicaly the assassination of Franz Ferdinand was just an excuse, the tensions between the countries were brewing years before, and all of these countries wanted a war
Dear lady I'm Mexican and Spanish is my mother tongue, so I'll try to express my ideas the best I can. Since your essay about Jojo rabbit I've been following your content, and even though I don't consume many of the media that you analize on your videos, I enjoy them incredibly. I love your dedication to each one of the topics, the fact that you explain the whole show, movie or series and the context that surrounds them, cast, director, even soundtracks! I'm so happy that your channel exists because I can see the world through your eyes, understand it by your words and the best part, discover new media and analize the few that I already know. Keep the awesome work you do, be proud of it and share it so everyone can explore these amazing topics.
47:00 On the observation that Schofield and Blake were 'blank' characters. Growing up in the UK, our school system spends a lot of time focusing on the World Wars and on the lives of those who were lost during them. At around the age of 16, many young people are given the chance to take a trip to the French/Belgium border to learn about the war on the front lines *in* the places where those battles were fought, which includes days at the cemeteries and gravesites of genuinely countless bodies, including a large portion of whom were never identified. There are walls covered in names of people who died but whose bodies were never recovered and rows upon rows of bodies without names. The sight of it has stuck with me still, just over a decade later. I think what these characters represent, whether this was by choice or subconsciously, is that beyond a certain number of high-ranking individuals (or those who lived long enough to be dubbed 'The Last Tommies') so many thousands of people were reduced to a name and a list of battles. It becomes hard at a certain magnitude to comprehend the hundreds of thousands of individuals who were killed, the millions of personalities and behaviours and memories and loves and fears that were lost on the battlefields. I don't think these characters are blank because they're badly written, I think they're left blank because they represent every single soldier whose story was never told.
I wholeheartedly agree with this and I think it’s true that they aren’t completely blank. There were many details in the movie that at least gave hints to their pasts and what their lives were like, which I think really contributed to their characters. The tiny details hear and there combined with what you said, really just portrays the characters in such a subtle yet intricate way that I think fits perfectly within the movie. It’s almost like they are letting the viewers have almost all the pieces, but not quite the whole puzzle and it’s definitely one of my favorite parts about this movie. Just the way all the subtle details are connected to form the plot. It’s a beautiful way of telling a story.
It's also part of the way the story is built. Most of Schofield's journey is overwhelmingly lonely, with just the stress of the war going on around him and the clear objective ahead, so that leaves little room for characterization. We have to keep in mind that the entirety of the movie takes place in a single day, during a high stakes situation and that the character we follow is in a race against the clock, so he has very little time for human interaction which is the main source of characterization in most stories. We get pieces of him, like how he feels crushing terror yet pushes on, or how he's got a very sharp tactical mind in the way he comfronts the enemy (also done in a very realistic way, as he's never a super-commando mowing down enemies, and mostly just kind of stalls against one German soldier at a time, or just runs away and hides since he doesn't have the upper hand). We also see him as kind hearted in the way he helped the woman and her baby, or how he tries to resort to non-violence as much as possible within a war. And most of all, Schofield is portrayed as loyal, and to a point, it seems like the most important part of his mission is to find Blake's brother some times, as if he promise to go tell him that his friend died sometimes even spurs him on more than the mission to save thousands of lives. He's just that: empathetic, resourceful, human and kind. No need to know more and no way for the movie to tells us more anyway Oh, also, Schofield has lungs for days. That dude's endurance is just out of this world. Somebody recruit him for the Justice League or something!
@@YouMakeMyMotorRun Yeah I like the way you put it. There’s just a lot of subtle or not so subtle details and scenes that connect both characteristics and pasts to give a better picture of the characters, but they don’t actually just shove it at you. You have to be paying attention and appreciating all the small things. It’s one of my favorite things about watching this movie.
@@pineapplepotato8955 it's what gives it charm in my opinion... It's action packed, tense and thrilling (in no small part due to the one shot thing), but it also does away with a lot of the typical stylizations of war movies, like over the top gunfights, spectacular explosions or super stoic, heroic, squared jaw characters...
@@YouMakeMyMotorRun Absolutely! You put it into words much better than I can, but that’s basically why I love the movie so much in like two sentences lol.
My life is just explaining to people that calling something "like a video game" is not the insult they think it is and they need to expand their ideas of art. I love this movie and I loved this video.
Some rando: "X is like a video game" Me, an intellectual: th-cam.com/video/Xs6qBDuY1ww/w-d-xo.html (which is topical, because a sequence in Battlefield 1 [set in WWI] is used as the first major example)
The scene where Schofield finally meets Blakes brother kills me. Every. Single. Time. Just the sheer hurt and desperation shown by Richard Madden, it is almost as if he is about to collapse onto his knees and cry like Schofield did when exiting the river. But he can't. He's in front of all the men he has just led into battle and, in the chaos and death has to stay strong and compartmentalise everything, even something as shocking as hearing the death of his own brother...and can only go as far as to shake Schofields hand... I just want to give Richard Madden a big sad hug in that scene and the fact they only shake hands just hurts me so much lol
“so, i made some spreadsheets to track every world war one or two film that has been made, specifically in english speaking countries” this sounds like something my dad would say and i absolutely love it
1917 was the last movie I saw in theater before the pandemic started and I have recommended it endlessly to everyone I know. It's sad and lonely yet beautiful and has a hint of hope around every corner. One of my absolute favorites ever ❤️
I saw it in February 2020 and felt really floored after. It maybe sounds cheesy, but it really made me appreciate the time I was born in where I, a German girl, can watch a film about WW1 in a cinema in London, bawl and eat icecream afterwards with my best friend who is Chinese. I know a lot sucks right now but sometimes I get the distinct hopeful feeling that things are slowly getting better...
This movie was my Valentines day Date with my gf and we loved it so much that we took a 2 hour detour home just to talk about the movie cause it was my 2nd time seeing it but I flinched so much the 1st time with the realistic gun shots in the theater so it was like I saw it for a 1st time again.
Same, I got emotional just thinking about how passionate she is about all the things she makes videos about that she does all this research and dedication to make these videos
Hill House breaks me. That last poem that she reads is engraved on my soul. "When all there is letf of me is love Give me away" Fuck. Im tearing. Her voice makes it so deep and emotional.
Fun Fact: Speoy's service rifle is actually his home countries respective variant, the small gold embellishment and the darker wood color is accurate to this time. This film has so many cool little historical details like that.
I want to point out one thing about the name of the Sikh character being called by a city isn't insulting. This was not an uncommon thing that can be seen in other piece of media or talking to veterans. Lots of times soldiers get named by their place of origin as a nickname either because of racism, endearment, or to separate people with the same name. My grandfather fought in WWI with Flemish Regiment and he said that everyone called him Westje because he was from West Vlaanderen. It's a thing that happens quite often
@@edible0pig well... Every country has a "John Doe" equivalent But yes, the British version is probably "John Smith" Since "John Doe" is a more university known thing I didn't think that hard about it...
@@RickBern37 When a soldier joined the army he got a paybook both as ID and to get paid. It included a specimen sheet to show him how to fill in his own details, the fictional soldiers name being Thomas (Tommy) Atkins. The name stuck with Tommy Atkins being adopted as the name of the average soldier, thats probably the best example of an equivalent to John Doe.
The reason that _1917_ hit me so hard is because it gives me the same mood and feel of _All Quiet on the Western Front._ The bleak drudgery of WW1, the acts of heroism that are trampled by the sheer scope of a war nobody wanted to fight, the ruination of childhood for an entire generation, the shell holes and trenches and dying by a millimeter. Schofield's photos at the end felt like the scene in _AQotWF_ when Paul gets furloughed, and the scene as Blake died made me think of the opening scene of _AQotWF._ The rendition of Wayfaring Stranger in _1917_ brought me back to the first time I read _AQotWF_ when Paul says, "We are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial---I believe we are lost."
yap also getting the same mood from both movies, absolute disgust for the garbage they declare as ww1 movie. wouldnt watch it ever again, except for a hefty amount of money offered.
This is my obligatory "hey queen. girl, you have done it again, constantly raising the bar for us all. and doing it flawlessly." comment i always leave, but i just wanted to say my mom and i were watching it for the first time and we both screamed when it was revealed that baby tommen baratheon's brother (my mom's words not mine) was played by the White Wolf himself, Richard freaking Madden. it made our night
In a similar way, I come back to this essay every few months, and I listen, and I cry. "He doesn't get a happy ending, but he does get a gentle one." As someone who had to fight for his life for years, the significance of that observation always breaks my heart and makes me weep.
I don't think I could possibly say anything that hasn't already been said in a dozen other videos about Fury Road. But I do love it so know that I guess
@@markhayward9764 Yeah, there is a certain joy in just hearing why someone loves a movie I love that doesn't even necessarily seek new information, just a new being to share their perspective.
@@Ladyknightthebrave you could literally say anything about fury road (or anything) even if i had heard it 300 times before and i would combo slow-fast chomp and savor it like a neverending meal of fine wine and chicken nuggets... anyways,
Animation keeps getting better with every video. Which is impressive to me, because the writing and editing are already gold-standard; I'm surprised to keep finding more things to enjoy about this channel.
I only watched this movie once, but it stuck with me ever since. I think that the most prominent part was the ending when Schofield sits under the tree: I felt so exhausted at that point, just like him, and seeing him take every step to get there just accentuated that feeling. This whole movie was bloody amazing. The other scene that I love is definitely the one in the river where the petals fall in the water.
When I saw this movie in an almost empty cinema while the guy is singing towards the end the mobile phone belonging to an old man sitting behind me started ringing really loudly, and he was too mortified to do anything so just kinda pretended it wasn't his, completely frozen in place while the caller tried him 3 or 4 times. It will stay with me forever.
Omg. I had a similar experience where this lady was trying (and failing) to open a bag of candy? chips? who even knows. It was obvious she was trying to be quiet but the rest of the theater was dead silent and she literally did this for a full minute.
I must be one of the lucky people on earth who hasn't had any bad theater experiences. But one time I'm pretty sure I was the loud person. I went on lsd and couldn't not react out loud to like every scene. I was enjoying the movie but I just couldn't stop being dramatic. It embarrasses me deeply to this day.
@@gavensedgwick6516 My father told me as a kid, we were watching an animated kids movie and I deadass thought the guys were gonna die now fr so I cried. People around us were kinda uncomfortable and hoped something like I would leave until I calmned down, but my father _wanted_ me to see the guys weren't gonna die a terrible death so we kept sitting there until it happened and not leave with me and me thinking the movie ended on a tragic note. And yeah they weren't killed. All good But I admit I could have also lived not remembering my reaction
"Nothing ever ends poetically. It ends and we turn it into poetry. All that blood was never once beautiful. It was just red." The use of this quote in the end sums up this movie so beautifully! Great job!
I absolutely adore this film. One of the only movies I've bought in 4k. The camerawork brought it so to life. I've been avidly studying the first World War for about 5 years, and this movie captured why the subject is so captivating for me. It's emotionally exhausting to read these accounts of boys and young men being conscripted or tricked by national zeal on every side. Animals and countryside alike being consumed in the flames of an industrialized war, that saw tens of thousands die in a single battle, on a single day. And the Colonel was absolutely right. This movie took place a year and a half before the war would end. The 1600 (take a few) men Schofield saved were not really saved, instead, many of their deaths were merely delayed. He sits at a tree, just like the start of the film, and the war goes on, despite it all, and despite how much nobody wants to fight it. The setting of WW1 is so criminally underutilized, as it was, in my opinion, the largest culture shock in human history. Before WW1, war was viewed as an adventure, a way to make friends, and see the world. Your duty to your nation, and something to be proud of. But then, millions of men died fighting over the same few hundred of meters of mud and blood. Millions drowned in the mud, or bleeding, trapped in in the barbed wire, or buried in a collapsed trench, or from a random shell that nothing could change or predict. After 4 years of this, millions of men realized the truth of war: a handful of rich and powerful would throw the lives of the common men (and women) on the alter of greed and pride. Italy entered the war a year after the start, because the Prime Minister and President were likely bribed to go against the King's wishes. By the end of the war, Italy had some of the worst military death tolls, and one of the highest civilian death tolls due to disease and starvation. Most telling of society, is that all those things I said about their view of war, are exactly how people spoke of war at the beginning of the Iraq War. I can't help but blame the prominence of the type of WW2 "Fuck Yeah!" films. A war that by sheer luck, let us feel no guilt about antagonists dying horrifically. We could just forget they were forced to fight, and watch the explosions and blood, and feel happy that evil lost, even if some eggs had to crack to make that omelet. It conveniently ignores the millions who died in India from Britain seizing food for the home islands. It ignores Japanese-Americans having everything taken from them, and being forced into camps. Lynchings of ethnic Germans in America, and the displacement of German civilians from Ukraine, Poland, etc. The Red Army committing such wide scale r--e, that it was only surpassed by Nanking and Gengis Khan. With the Great War, there is no escaping that reality. You can't glorify it by distracting with amazing missions, and massive tank battles, or amphibious landings. All you can do is look the reality in the eye, and accept it. And I think that's why Hollywood doesn't make these films. At this point, I'm still half asleep from a nap, so who knows how much I'm rambling, so I'll stop now. But thank you for this video. Expertly crafted, and phenomenally written. Also, the score for 1917 was robbed. Yes, Joker's score was wonderful, but good lord, this film was one of my favorite scores in years.
Hey! Just want to say that I really enjoyed your ramble :) I do want to mention the Crimean War as an example of a similar culture shock, though - there were some "glory" narratives to come out of it, but those were mainly on a single day early on. For the majority of the war, for most of the soldiers, it was very much a battle of attrition, particularly in terms of the seige of Sevastopol - which was the Allies' main focus for the majority of the duration. One particular story from it stands out to me - there was a Russian town on the coast that, when the allied ships arrived and demanded surrender, offered to settle the matter via a game of chess instead. The offer was turned down, and the town surrendered - but the fact that they had held the somewhat chivalric notion that such a deal could be struck is, to me, a good example of the transition that the Crimean War represented from the Napoleonic wars to WWI. The world was not fully changed from one mindset to the other, but it was well on the way.
Honestly as an European twenty-something all the movies and documentaries about WWI hit home harder than most. The absolute madness of it all, boys and men of my age wasted and thrown away for nothing. They shall not grown old and 1917 most of all just strikes at something at my core that make tear and feel for the generation lost. We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.
Aaa I see she's playing the long game with this one - write and produce a video essay so more people will see the film and get into the fandom and therefore write more fics for her to consume. Smart.
My favorite part of the whole movie (although I suppose it's been talked to death already) is that scene in the forest with the soldiers listening to the singer. "Schofield stops on the edge of the clearing. Unsettled by the world before him. Unsure if these men are living or dead." It's the first and only time the camera ever leaves either of the two protagonists, and it's well worth it. From the rear as Schofield sits down, you see helmets, backpacks, rifles, all the rugged kit of a combat ready soldier. But as the singer continues and the camera makes the full journey through the crowd and turns around, none of look like soldiers. Some of them don't even look old enough to have graduated high school already, let alone serve on the frontlines of one of the most brutal conflicts in recent history. All of them are too young, but that's how young many of the soldiers of WWI actually were. Many underaged being allowed or even encouraged to lie about their age without any real background checks. Then they stand up, and you're taken out of that small respite from the whole rollercoaster that the movie has been so far. IMO it makes the final scene of Shofield sitting down and finally being able to truly rest that much more impactful, it's a good stopping point before the movie's grand final set piece and says so much about both what has happened in the movie and what had happened in real life.
This and Portrait of a Lady on Fire were the last two movies I saw in theaters before the lockdown. This just makes me miss going to the movies even more.
Thomas Newman not winning an Oscar is nothing compared to Alan Silvestri (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Avengers, Predator, Polar Express, etc...) also not winning and only being nominated twice; one each for best score & best song.
Thank you for mentioning the Sikh history of the world war. It is often over looked. My great grandfather fought in the first world war. Our history is often misrepresented in media. I also can't understand why there hasn't been an entire movie from the perspective of a Sikh soldier. Your pronunciation isn't completely on point but I'm incredibly touched you put this much respect and research in our culture. I hope this video reaches more people.
I love Sepoy Jondalar's part in this. He seems the most intuitive character in the whole movie, probably even more than Mark Strong's character despite having hardly any lines. He just has such a gravity about him, you know he knows that kid's gone through some shit. I'm so glad you took a dive into the role he played in the movie, as well ask the Sikhs contribution to the war. Also, they even got his damn rifle right! The darker stock and golden stock disc are indicative of an Indian production SMLE, which he and most, if not all Sikh soldiers would have definitely carried. Constantly impressed by this film. Great work, LKTB.
@@HeyRowanEllis See I am so bitter about that adaptation but I do remember liking him in that 2003 Peter Pan adaptation and I really remembered him from Defiance XD
This made me realize the entire surreal scene in the ruined city/church to climbing out of the river (after being shot and fading to black) plays like Schofield’s death and escape from Hell
The moment that got me the most was the end credits. I went into it not knowing who directed it, so to see that it was loosely based on accounts by a real soldier hit hard, but then hit me harder when it transitions to the credits only to see the director share the same surname as the soldier who “told them the stories”. When I find out a movie is based on a true story it does hit me on an emotional level but there’s still some disconnect as it’s often more the director’s vision that ends up on screen. So to find out that the movie was a deeply personal project dedicated to someone the director held so close just added that little extra weight that pushed me over the edge.
Whenever I need a good cry, your videos never fail. Thank you for making such lovely, heartfelt, and deeply meaningful content about stories and films that I’ve never seen on my own, but that through your essays, I get to deeply connect with.
I went into this movie completely blind and I was blown away. It's amazing how a movie so meticulous in its construction also manages to feel so personal and human. It's the tensest I've felt in a theater in recent memory.
Often the subjects of your video essays are not films or shows that resonate with me in particular but your video essays most often do. There is this emotional component in examining media that you tap into and bring to light in such a beautiful way.
I did not expect this movie to become a favorite of mine when I first saw it, but it did. I saw it about 3 or 4 times in theaters. I'm so glad you covered it, because its more then a gimmick. I hope more people watch it.
As someone who didn’t particularly enjoy this movie but understood why it was so acclaimed. This video gave me a new appreciation for it. Looks like I’ll give it a re watch. :)
Thank you for covering this movie! I'm a huge history buff and world war I is one of my favorite eras in history. It always gets ignored, everyone is really interested in world war II but most couldn't care less about WW1. Very interesting thank you
@@GarmrsBarking I totally agree! There's a really great documentary series on TH-cam about world war I think it's something like 13 hours and I watched it in parts and it was just so fascinating. I'm especially fascinated with trench warfare and how that psychologically affected people.
@@GarmrsBarking I think both are really interesting in their own ways. I enjoy reading about WW2 more than I do WW1, but that doesn't make WW1 less interesting.
As an amateur ww2 historian it was great to listen to your discussion of the tragically under valued participation of Indian and in particular Sikh soldiers Keep up the great work
I think the brilliance of the twist half-way through the film is that it mirrors the cold, merciless, horrible nature of the war itself. Motivated protagonists don't fit it, mercy is both needed and unwelcome at the same time. The ones who died are the ones others think should have lived. Just when you feel like you can be comfortable with the film, it makes a strong turn that ensures you never feel comfortable again.
every single one of your video essays has me crying by the end... the gentle vibes... the comfort of your voice... the way you recognize and articulate the beautiful emotional storytelling of everything you look at
Unfortunately I came late to the theatre when I saw this movie so the duo was already walking towards the area where they would be receiving their mission But even without knowing how the last shot echoed the opening shot, there was something just so mesmerizingly bittersweet about how peaceful that last shot was
You literally had me in tears by then end. “(blood) It was just red”, that very accurately sums up how soldiers see war. It is not beautiful, or ugly, it is just inhumane. We often would say “politics gets you into a war, orders get you into battle, but, to fight, it is for the soldier next to you”; in 1917, it is for Blake. Scofield goes through a living hell not for his God, country, King or something poetic like that, but he does it all for his promise to his fallen friend. “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” James, Former Canadian soldier
I watched this a few months ago for the first time. I was absolutely blown away by the cinematography and the simple story that developed into a powerhouse of a film. It reminds me of a side quest that then becomes the driving force behind such an important part of the story. Saving 1600 men seems like a quest worth taking. Loved this essay!
It’s so rare to see such a mature and insightful perspective from a you tube critic on anything!! Thx for such a brilliant understanding of my favorite film of last year
This is my favourite movie and i'm so glad that you made a video essay on it. You put into words some of the things I couldn't and now i appreciate it even more. Thank you so much.
Oh god... I'm not the biggest fan of 1 hour analysis and essays on films but goddamn your storytelling and way of telling and explaining how you see the film entangled with your well thought words and research and knowledge about the background, I love it so much, thank you so much T^T it's so well done, keep going!
When I saw 1917 in theaters the night scene blew me away, It felt like Will had taken a portal to hell and the lighting was fantastic. I still think about how i've never seen another movie even come close to looking that good
thank you for such a wonderful essay about a wonderful movie! i love how broadly you talk about the entire film instead of just focusing on the technical aspects like i feel a lot of other people have done. once in a while i remember that line from the screenplay that says "nothing is heavier than the dead body of someone you loved" and i get emotional about the story of these two boys all over again
I normally don't care much for spoilers but I got half way through this essay and knew I had to stop and go watch this film myself. Your passion bleeds through the script and I am grateful.
Beautiful essay! I was so GLAD you included a brief history of the south Asian troops service! Thank you! I am le eyerolls when the "forced diversity" crowd open their mouths. Like, their ignorance of real history is so painful, yet so grimly predictable. Coming from a military family and hearing the oft repeated pride in the Indian and Sikh troops makes it so ODD when other people say it never happened. Thank you for reminding the white western audience that they were there. They served and died and they deserve more inclusion and recognition, not less.
I think now, when I see whitewashed war films, I will say forced whitewashing. How a WORLD WAR can not be diverse, I don’t know. I am kind of horrified people don’t know about India’s giant contributions in WWI and WWII. Most people don’t know The Caribbean was also in both wars, and some people don’t even know Canada was in both too. So movies have a lot to correct.
That was the first time that I heard someone saying the Indian troops was forced diversity, I have seen way more about how 1917 didn’t have women in the war and that was a problem(yes people in the industry actually said that) I see that the lack of historical knowledge is very one sided to those who push forced diversity. People like me who despise forced diversity noticed the Indian troops and thought it was cool to see them as well as other media like Valiant Hearts included them in.
@@beckyginger3432 it's true: you really can't. It's been over a decade and it still makes me feel waves of overwhelming sadness just thinking about it.
I went to see this film for the "gimmick" and Roger Deakins, and never expected to be as blown away as I was. THIS is how to use technical mastery in service of telling a story.
I always seem to cry when watching your videos. Something about the way you can recount the stories and history hits me harder than most movies and series can
Thank you so much for speaking about a movie that has been in my mind since I first watched it. The acting on display is out of this world. I can't explain how many times I cried watching this. You definitely did it justice! Also, Team Deakins forever, the man is a god.
If you want a different kind of WWII movie, I can recommend "Invasion Day" - though you have to be prepared for an hour and a half of Danish. It's very low budget, but it's made with so much love, it manages to be both gorgeous and ugly. There's no glorification, no villains. Just a platoon of young men, trying to survive invasion day
I think the night window scene will stick in my head forever. It was just so surreal and tense, not to mention beautiful. I saw a tweet which compared 1917 and particularly the almost fantastical feel of that scene to Lord of the Rings. I think someone suggested a film which splices in a 1917 style First World War story about Tolkien with Lord of the Rings - which would just be perfect. Incredible video as always!
Oh man. I’m about two minutes into this and I can already tell that I’m gonna want to comment 100 times because I cleaved to a movie in a similar way. I saw it in theaters and *cried*. I was, mercifully, in a theater with about 4 people (because I go to the theaters at like, 10AM) and, during the scene where he runs, you know the scene, I hit my fist on the armrest and, embarrassingly, out loud, I said “come on baby, come on baby!” Thankfully im sure nobody could hear me but my blood pressure was absolutely through the roof. I didn’t expect to feel heartbroken by this movie but I truly did. I know a lot of people think it’s a can of EZ cheese but it moved me. I love it. And now I’m gonna subscribe and watch the rest of your video
First off, I really love all your video essays, and seeing you post a new one makes me go !!!!!! every time. Thank you so much for all the amazing and thoughtful videos you've made! I think that the tone shift after Blake's death also kind of illustrates how, like, casual, ordinary, everyday thing death's become? Like, Will is clearly somber, in shock even, and upset about his friend's death in the truck (and the whole rest of the movie, really, which is understandable) while the other soldiers joke around and all, because in war the whole army can't just stop and mourn every fallen soldier. It shows how cheap human life is in war, but also how all those numbers of casualties? How each of them, on all sides, was a person who left behind friends and family, their own Wills, so to say, who remembered and mourned them even though the world and even their own countries forgot about them and really never cared for them individually, anyways. You know? But then, also, there are those brief moments of compassion and kindness in the movie, like the other soldiers in the truck helping to push the truck, and the French woman and the baby in the town, and Will not going straight for the kill with the German soldier, and the soldiers in the Devons 2nd checking up on Will after Wayfaring Stranger, and that one major just telling him he did a good job? Even Blake trying to save the German pilot, even though it got him killed in the end, because there are also those stories about soldiers showing mercy in war and being shown mercy in return, and like. Everytime someone mentions the famous Christmas Truce in 1914, I get kind of sad, because that was the only time it happened, right? WWI was full of horrors, but there in the very beginning there was still that show of humanity, but then it never happened again, and it makes me feel like humanity kind of fundementally lost something after that. Even though it was just a one off event. But then, there are these other stories, maybe not as well known, but things that happened nonetheless, like the story of Charles Brown and Franz Stigler (during WWII but still), that make me think that maybe that something wasn't lost all the way. Although the news still make my faith in humanity shake, rather often. On war movies in general, one less clear cut film I'd recommend is The Unknown Soldier, the 2017 adaptation of a book by the same name by Väinö Linna, although the original Finnish name is Tuntematon sotilas. It's about WWII, but a lesser known conflict within it? It's set in the Continuation War, a war fought between Finland (beside Germany, I know not a good look is it) and the Soviet Union in 1941-1944. It was seen as a continuation of the Winter War, the most famous of the wars Finland fought in WWII. The book the movie is based on is based on the author's own experiences in the war, and while they're a war book and war movies respectively, they're firmly anti-war. The movie, or the version I saw, I think the international release was shorter than the Finnish one so I don't know how much they cut, is not black and white, in that the Finnish soldiers we follow aren't bad, but they're not fully good, either, but they're just people. Albeit some are shittier than others, but that is also just how people are. And what little we see of the Soviets, they're also not some inhumane monsters, like the enemy side in some war movies is often depicted. It's also got no triumphant endings: not to spoil history, but Finland lost the Continuation War. Finland lost the Winter War, too. There's no glorious victory, and the only solace is that not everyone died, and that Finland remained independent. It shows the camaraderie between the soldiers in a nice way, and realistic, if the accounts of war veterans meeting up to read the book and reminisce behind closed doors is any indication, but then again the writer was a veteran himself, so no wonder. The Continuation War was a whole complicated mess on all accounts, but the movie is very good, in my opinion, worth a watch if you want to see war depicted from a non-English speaking country's perspective. And if you're really interested there's also a 5-part miniseries the movie was edited from, like an extended cut, that you... can maybe find somewhere. ANYWAY back to this movie and the amazing video, that poem! That poem!!! I feel like it captures especially the futility and pointlessness of WWI really well. WWII at least had the "narrative" of trying to stop a fascist empire taking over the world, but WWI just kind of happened. There wasn't really anything gained. I just did and assignment on a lecture about the experiences of medical personnel in WWI, and in it the lecturer said that during the war, it was all presented as very glorious and heroic, and necessary, all the suffering and the heroic sacrifices of the soldiers, but after the war there was a disillusionment, and everyone saw how futile, how useless, how pointless it all had been. It made me think of that exact poem, and it really. It fits so well. I once read this book on the relationships between Finnish civilians and Soviet prisoners-of-war during the Continuation War. in the Unknown Soldier, you see the subject touched upon very, very briefly, but the short of it is that in the Continuation War, the Finns took some 67 000 Soviets as prisoners-of-war. Of those 67 000, some 41 000 survived until the end of the war, while the others perished, mostly in the winter of 1941-1942, when the food situation in Finland was not good due to a bad year when it came to crops, and the POWs, as the enemy, were very low in the priorities when it came to securing enough food to everyone, in addition to which they were worked way too hard, and since they were prisoners they couldn't add to their diet by foraging or via the black market, like the civilians. Those who survived were put to work due to the massive lack of labour force with many working age men at the front. At these work places, especially if they were sent to work on Finnish farms, they formed relationships, platonic, romantic, in some cases if they stayed at the farm long enough, even familial ones, with the Finnish civilians. There are a lot of stories, mostly in families, but also in the book I read, of how the POWs made friends with the locals, fell in love, started families... In some cases, the POWs had children of their own back at home, so when they went to work on some farm, where there were also children, whose own fathers were away at the front, they became kind of like bonus fathers to those kids. Even though they were on different sides. That... That really stuck with me, somehow. How despite the war, despite all the horrors and the worst of humanity on display, there were these stories, of finding humanity, or, dare I say, love, be it platonic, romantic or familial, in these unexpected places? I think that's what really fascinates me. It's what I was reminded of during this movie, too, especially the part where Will was being so good with the orphaned baby, especially when it was revealed he had kids of his own. That made me think of the example above specifically, even though the French and the English were allies and on the same side there. Also, one last thing. For us Finns, war has been a big part of out national identity. The Unknown Soldier, specifically, but also the Winter War, the Continuation War less so, but still. Even, or maybe especially, the Finnish Civil War, fought in early 1918 after only gaining independence in the very late 1917, the bloodiest civil war in Europe until the Spanish Civil War. In any case, it's been a big thing. Almost a source of pride, really, how we, a tiny tiny country with a population of less than 5 million at the time could hold its own against a country with a population of over 200 million and vastly superior resources. How in WWII, of the countries that took part in the war, only 3 capitals remained unoccupied: London, Moscow, and Helsinki. While that is quite the achievement, and good for the people of Finland, it all was also achieved via massive losses, to both sides, but mainly to the Soviets. In the Winter War, about 26 000 Finns died to the USSR's 250 000, though that's an estimate. That was also considered a point of pride, it was to me, it still is to some people. After I read that book though, after I glimpsed at the humanity behind the word "enemy", I've been completely unable to think about those numbers just as numbers, not to even mention thinking of them as something to be proud of. It's silly that it took a book to make me stop thinking of war as, on some level, somehow glorious, or cool, or whatever. Now all I can think is that that? That is so many brothers and fathers and sons and husbands and fiancés and cousins and friends who just left to war someday and then never came back. You know? And I think, with its portrayal of the horror of war, maybe this movie might make some people maybe, in some way realize a similar thing. That each of those numbers was someone with their own hopes and dreams and their own photos in their breast pocket and their own cherry trees and, just. That they were all just people. That they had their own lives that were cut short, in many cases before they ever really even began. That it really was just red. Anyway, sorry for this massive essay of a comment. Your video really just made me feel things and think about things. Thank you so much for your amazing work. Also it's kinda funny how these people like Mr. Clown in the video seem to think that women, LGBTQ+ people and people of color were invented like, what the latter half of the 20th century? Geez. The clown emoji really suits him.
There is in fact an ONSCREEN CORRECTION that says 3rd person shooter. I meant 3rd person, I said 1st, but the correction is there ONSCREEN.
This was an excellent analysis of my favorite film, thank you
Thank you for this.
That was really awesome. I have a question, what is that really beautiful music, at the end, during the credits of your video?
I list all the tracks I use in the credits 👍
@@Ladyknightthebrave It's hilarious that this is the second time in the thread that you've had to be like, "It's IN the VIDEO guys."
My favorite thing is that you call them "boys" because that's who fights in wars, boys and very young men.
Specifically, poor young men.
@@raygedd9693 Not quite, the participation of the rich and upper classes for most of history was greatly disproportionately high. Until very recently, war was a rich man's game.
I say this because I think it changes the picture when we remember that Now is not how things always have been.
@@GeeBarone that's an interesting point. I'd be curious about how the rough numbers change through the centuries (obviously it will be based on culture, and type of service, too).
J Draper had an interesting video on the democratization of War Memorials - that WWI was really the first time anyone bothered to remember the everyday soldiers who died in war and not just the commanders. Those kinds of things would tend to color how we remember who was involved in conflicts because our archetype over time has changed.
@@elizabethsaltmarsh8306 I'm not into the sources for this either, but for most of history, good weaponry and equipment wasn't made in bulk by a nation state for a standing reserve of housed and dined professional soldiers, and only a specific class of people could actually afford getting decent equipment, let alone being away from their homestead a long while. Also mass propaganda, nationalist loyalty, and job policing was less possible for nations, so getting whole labor classes enthused about the state and its wars, and enforcing conscription, wasn't as doable.
I know there's at least lots of science stuff about roman soldiery that goes into this, and around changes in modern industrialized warfare. The kind of infrastructure and national scale culture needed for modern professional and standing armies wasn't possible until there were industrialist countries in Napoleonic times. And yeah, like you mention, only around the end of the 19th century class conflicts and after world war 1 do the people in those modern armies actually get acknowledged.
@@michelottens6083 hi I'm medieval and shit, and I have some solutions for your objections.
Good weaponry and equipment in bulk: lol for what? The Lords have horses and have used the profits from the output of their grateful serfs to buy a few shiny pointy things.
Standing reserve: that would be those tending your estate, and your rich buddy's cannon fodder as well.
Housed and dined: they get a shack, just like every other serf, and dine just fine on the misshapen rejects of MY crop and livestock that they raise.
Professional soldiers: who needs professionals? They are just the thundering hoard of imbeciles I need to smother John Snow so I can walk gingerly over and strike the killing blow and secure a legacy that many more serfs will zealously volunteer to die for.
Afford decent equipment: I can afford excellent equipment, in fact. They, on the other hand, will bring their pitchforks, if they have to. And if my supplies run dry I'll claim lordship over even their bounty.
Away from the homestead: their heirs or wives will maintain, or they will fix when we get back. Or, having lost all of them, I'll simply trot to the center of town and offer some urchins an opportunity of a steady fire, a single-location straw bed, and reliable food they can raise for themselves and their family. And I'll have fresh serfs for my legacy.
Mass propaganda: for what? None but us Lords are even remotely literate, and even most of my peers are one-work "scholars." Who needs mass propaganda when you have a shiny chair to threaten their "immortal souls" with?
Nationalist loyalty: there are no nations yet. We are basically branding agents, uniting semi-stable families and clans under the banner of some semblance of certainty and upwards mobility, at least for their heirs. They are loyal to the blade and the visage, and only a bigger shinier blade or a scarier visage will even budge their almost animalistic faith. Help one once in a way impossible to repay, and they'll devote their lives to trying. Also, Robert's tearful lamentation that "men fight for [him] because if they don't, [he'll] throw them off [his] land and starve their children" rings familiar here.
Job policing: lolwut? They're happy to do anything for the sweet reward of not having to experience the scarcity mindset. I hardly even have to crack the whip anymore!
Labor classes: this isn't Marx 101 mate, these peasants aren't even aware that there are other people in the world just as skilled as they and that their collective contribution pretty much upholds this fragile fraction of what eventually underpins society and its norms. Heavens to Betsy if anybody knew!!
Enthusiastic about war: these boys have no idea about the grotesque machinery my richer counterparts are devising to woodchipper their friends in short order! They think we're gonna go "peck a feight" and slap each other with planks and points and cry and drink and go home happy to raise crops again.
Maybe this time they'll appreciate what they have...
IDK shit about history but I think you're thinking with too high an emotional quotient and too broad a perspective. Dan Carlin has a long ass series on the Celtic genocide that covers a more pedestrian perspective. Or maybe it was another one, but it was definitely hardcore history.
Three details I love:
1.) As Tom dies, you can hear the soundtrack continue to drone on. Once he dies in the middle of Schofield’s sentence, the music immediately cuts, and we’re left with the sudden shock that he died just like that.
2.) The Sikh soldier has a darker Lee-Enfield rifle with a stock disk instead of the regular version because that was the one issued by the British Indian Army.
3.) Those “small roles” played by big actors are there for a reason. The main characters and side soldiers are all relatively unknown in their careers. But what do the recognizable actors play? The commanders. The generals. The lieutenants. The people in charge. As the audience, we see them and say “Holy crap, this actor is huge, I need to focus on what they’re saying.” In the mind of the characters, they think “I need to listen to my commanding officer.” It’s this amazing and extremely subtle way of showing the presence of the high ranking officers in comparison to the main characters.
On point no.3; It also lends the audience a sense of distant familiarity with the commanders and officers that the lower ranked soldiers would have felt. It was an excellent casting choice.
On point 3) I never thought about that, but it makes sense!
Something that never gets mentioned in this video is that the year is 1917. There is still another year left in the war. A year where Schofield could have died fighting
Well thank you for making me think about that for the next week.
for the sake of my sanity im gonna pretend this doesnt exist
Same I could have gone on without :””)
Very likely did too, 1918 was an incredibly bloody year with immense casualties once both sides abandoned trench warfare. A lot of the most famous people who died in the war, including Wilfred Owen the poet, died in 1918 due to the massive offensives that happened all across the western front.
Another year and a half to be exact :(
"Casting well-known actors as the officers who have small roles throughout the film was a brilliant idea, it makes them seem "important", while all the "regular" soldiers like our two main characters are relatively unknown actors.
"
How true.They all shine brightly in this one.
That makes perfect sense
'There's something to be said for the media you find at the right time... when you stumble upon something right when you need it.'
*Me with this channel*
Totally agree!!
Yup the haunting of hill house wrecked me 🥲💓
Literally binged all of the content when I found it
same
I had the same experience! I found this account right after my friend died and finding Russian doll through this channel helped me so much, I can’t put it into words
The whole "And then ill find your brother, just like you, a little older" line always breaks my heart
I always wanted someone to cover this movie that doesn’t always look at its ‘one-shot’ gimmick.
Me too! When I was watching the movie I barely noticed the one-shot takes at first.
As an Indian, i am proud that you actually included the whole Sikhism part. Most people that i have talked to say that it just does not make sense for Indian or Sikh soldiers to have fought in WW1. But The British ruled India from 1858 to 1947, and so many Indians were forced to join the military and serve for the British forces. So yea, the Sikh soldiers showing up makes perfect sense. Also a little known fact is that Sikhs soldiers were considered to be very ferocious and kind hearted. Anyway, Thank you for including that. Sending Love from Thailand.
@@misterscienceguy I full heartedly agree!
Didn’t the majority volunteer though? Please correct me if I’m wrong.
I'm pretty sure the complaint isn't that Sikh/Indian soldiers fought in WW1, but more of. It didn't make sense to put them in a convoy filled with British Soldiers. I don't agree with this because I enjoy the creative freedom they used to include other faces on the western front.
But it's semi valid. The western front was seperated by who controlled the majority of the front (i.e. the French would control a certain half, the Commonwealth/the UK one half, and the Belgians one half). And most of the time it would be seperated by area, so the ANZACs had a front to themselves with little/no British, Canadian or Indian presence. So, why would Indians be present in a British Convoy?
It's honestly embarrassing for anyone who thought it was forced due to how much sense it made historicaly
As someone obssesed with Military History I find people saying that Stupid, I have tremendous respect for Indian, Sikh and Commonwealth soldiers in general fighting so far from home, fighting a war that at the end of the day was meaningless to them as it wouldn't really affect their homes at least during WW1, during WW2 there was a much more credible threat to all states in the British commonwealth, even India or as it was called at the time the British Raj was under threat from the Japanese pushing through Burma deeper in.
But I will say just my own personal rant because I was annoyed at getting called a sexist, ableist and a racist for pointing out how it didn't make sense for women to be a playeble option in Battlefield 5, I know it is completely unrelated but it annoyed me because during that time period of the Second World war it would have been impossible for a woman to go into the field at least for being in the armed forces, they might be in the support companies safely behind the lines as nurses and such, but in the only places women saw frontline combat was mainly in the Soviet Red Army and they were mainly seen as non important or as propaganda pieces, but it doesn't mean they didn't fight fiercely, you need only look up the Night Witches or the many snipers who were women in the Eastern Front, even the woman who bought the paid for a Tank in the Red Army and asked she be allowed to serve in said tank, and then how the men who used to look down on her respected her and saw like a mother.
I also mentioned how our own modern prosthetics are nowhere near good enough to have someone go into combat with them, and how in WW2 the basic prosthetics they had would be even worse, and how anyone with such an injury would either get shipped back home or would in the case they kept them in the Armed Forces would be in the back if they could still read and write and they still had their writing hand.
once more: roger deakins gang!!
Bless you dear.
I hope you've found the "Team Deakins" podcast hosted by him and his partner James Deakins - just a wonderful listen for film lovers.
the daddy of cinematography
He also helped with lighting in the How To Train Your Dragon movies!
I forgot about that! Man Roger Deakins is rad as hell
I never even noticed that the wound that Frodo has is a metaphor for PTSD
I mean they didn't have a very completely understanding of PTSD back then so I'm not even sure Tolkien knew (The man said he disliked allegory I think) but Frodo's inability to adjust to civilian life after his journey really reads that way now.
@@Ladyknightthebrave I think even without modern medical knowledge, Tolkien may've intended the implication anyway.
People knew PTSD exists even back then, they just generally called it being "shell-shocked" when referring to soldiers. And since "shell-shocked" is a term originating from WW1, Tolkien was probably aware of the concept.
and as to "disliking allegory", he followed it up with (from what I can look up):
"I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author."
So he wasn't so much hostile to finding meaning beyond the surface, but he seemed to have had a more "death of the author" approach to it.
@@oddtail_tiger The thing is that he disliked Allegory because it generally was more about pushing an idea into people rather than letting them explore a complex topic through the lens of the written medium, it was more about making the connections the author wanted to make, rather than making nuanced portrayals of things the author saw.
Like how we all acknowledge that Animal Farm is an allegory to Communism, in that case the author is the one forcing that perspective meaning that we will make the impressions the author desires us to make, I think that Orwell makes a better job with 1982, as it has no real explicit target but more about the evils of a authoritarian regime and how they opress people by making them think that what the state tells them is right and anything else is wrong, I think that the revolution the animals throw is far too communistic in undertone to really imply anything other than communism is merely a tool for some to seize power, I think that it could have been a causionary tale about revolutions and how they can fall prey to greedy people who will take over the revolution merely to seize power for themselves.
1982 is far better because it is based on Orwell's experiences with Authoritarian Regime's during his lifetime, he fought in the Spanish Civil War in the Republican side, and saw the rise of fascism and the authoritarianism of Stalin and the like, he saw the tools of propaganda they used and took them to their logical extremes in the novel, he was not so much talking about fascism or communism but about authoritarianism in general, he showed people the tools of those regimes, and in the process making the readers more capable of finding and avoiding the charismatic autocrats and dictators that promise you heaven with a butchers knife behind their backs.
@@Ladyknightthebrave I have a feeling that they might have had a rather solid understanding of PTSD than is given credit. While treatment for PTSD might have been poor or non existent, the causes and symptoms were well known. I am sure you have read All Quiet on the Western Front, but Baumer reads like a medical text on the symptoms: Detachment from and inability to integrate with civilian life, episodes of panic stemming from audio or visual cues, hopelessness, giving up on former pleasures or hobbies.
haven’t seen 1917 but this is my comfort video essayist so we move ✈️✈️
I have had this with more than one of their videos! I just love their video essays so much, it doesn’t matter to me all that much what the subject is 🤷♀️ these videos have introduced me to new content as well! ❤️
banger !!!!!
It's definitely worth watching. A lot of people have the idea that war movies are meant to be gung ho patriotism shows, and some are for sure, but 1917 is part of a long tradition of war movies showing humanity at its most vulnerable, compassionate, and inspirational.
Please watch it I'm begging you
Same when it ended I was a lil lil sad that my mom didn’t like it as much as me when we finished watching it:”)
your videos could be about literally anything and I'd find them comforting - just good vibes all around!
Awww thank you hon!!
Like, I *always* get tearful when she wraps up
@Broey Deschanel Your video essays are great too! I particularly love your Shakespeare and Coppola videos.
it just feels like the comfort of home xD
Broey go back to work
I'm glad to know I'm not the only person who immediately looks up the AO3 fandom upon exiting the movie theatre.
We out here 👍
I absolutely love how open people are starting to be about reading fic in general. As a Fandom Old it's always been one of those things that everyone does but no one talks about, and we're all better off if it just becomes a normal part of fandom routine.
It's long been my metric of "how much did I like this piece of media". If I kind of forget about it, meh. If I scroll through the subreddit, yeah I liked it! If I'm looking on AO3 ... it's a new classic for me
@@sleepingdogpro I was never really into fanfic all that much myself, but I do love that it's meant a whole generation of creators grew up on reading/writing it themselves
AO3?
"The movie is about PREVENTING a battle. A 'war film' about saving lives."
That's a beautiful observation! One that completely flew over my head on my first viewing. The cinematography must have absolutely hypnotized me. Lmao
Tysm for this analysis!!
Thank you for specifically talking about the inclusion of the few Sikh characters we see in the film, and talking about that part of history that gets so very overlooked.
And also thank you for the clown emoji on the clown's face
Yes, thank you. I was appalled that actor (name left out on purpose) complained about it, as ANYONE who's studied modern British wars knows Sikh troops had a big presence.
@@etherealtb6021 I'm quite sad that Count Binface didn't beat him in the London mayoral election honestly. Since everything he says is trash
His voice, damn his manly voice is too powerfull.
@@etherealtb6021 Except not alongside British troops.
@@Konoronn true, but it was just the one Sikh soldier & in the extras, they mention their story was he'd gotten separated from his unit, which did happen & we assume he'll be returned to a Sikh unit ASAP.
On the subject of war movies. I often think our constant focus of World War 2 and its easy good guys vs bad guys narrative has damaged people's overall view of war. World War 2 was an exception not the rule. War is rarely good guys vs bad guys and more just people fighting each other for often justifiable but arbitrary reasons with fault happening on both sides.
World War 1 is the perfect example of this. All these countries went to war not because Germany or Serbia were evil. But because 1 important person got assassinated and then interconnected political alliances forced all these other countries to fight each other.
Why do you accept the narrative that there were bad guys in world war 2? Why would we not be lied to about that?
@@Dan-yy6tt I don't know man, it's kinda obvious when one side commited genocide and killed 6 million people (and that's just the Germans, Japan was way worse on their atrocity level).
Did the Allies (America, United Kingdom, USSR, and many many more) commit atrocities and warcrimes as well? Yes they did. Thousands of Poles died in the Soviet Occupation of Poland, British and American bombing efforts killed hundreds/thousands of civillians, and many more. I'm not going to deny the crimes that the Allied Powers did, because it happened. And I'm not going to weigh which side was "worse" because there was no worse side.
But the Allies didn't cause the war. Maybe in some alternate reality the USSR started WW2 or any other country. Sure that's probable, but that isn't our reality. In our reality WW2 started in Europe because of Hitler and his gang of psychopaths, leading to all the deaths and atrocities there. In Asia it was caused by the crazy Militarism and the fact that the Military was de facto leader of the state. Without these people the conditions, aftermath, and effects of the war would have been diminished/non-existant.
Compared to WW1, a war that was literally useless, and only caused 4 years of fighting for nothing but changing the world balance and the world's situation that would lead to WW2 and the Cold War.
@@saladpotet7872 Yeah but even that in mind , labeling the Allies as good is not true , how could a union of countries that raped millions and massacre millions in their colonies have the moral highground or even be better than the Nazis?
The Nazis did the same things the British and French did just much faster.
However this isn't a justification of the Nazis' , they killed around 27,000,000 in the USSR alone and their actions completely redefinied the world for the worse.
However the Allies aren't good , they are just a lesser evil and even thats debatable if you compare them with other Axis powers ( excluding Nazi Germany ).
Its just , its so hypocritical to say the Allies were good when they commited the same atrocities as the Nazis a few decades eariler.
WW2 was a shade of brown , just like any other war , there are no heroes , only villians.
@zetta _ Bombing of cities with stuff like firebombs is pretty messed up, m8. And don't forget that Anti-Semitism was the Zeitgeist. Just look at some quotes of Henry Ford about the Jews or the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. It just turned out that Germany in a crisis (as many nations do in crisis, btw) turned to extremists that acted on the Zeitgeist.
Technicaly the assassination of Franz Ferdinand was just an excuse, the tensions between the countries were brewing years before, and all of these countries wanted a war
Dear lady
I'm Mexican and Spanish is my mother tongue, so I'll try to express my ideas the best I can.
Since your essay about Jojo rabbit I've been following your content, and even though I don't consume many of the media that you analize on your videos, I enjoy them incredibly.
I love your dedication to each one of the topics, the fact that you explain the whole show, movie or series and the context that surrounds them, cast, director, even soundtracks!
I'm so happy that your channel exists because I can see the world through your eyes, understand it by your words and the best part, discover new media and analize the few that I already know.
Keep the awesome work you do, be proud of it and share it so everyone can explore these amazing topics.
You expressed these ideas in a more beautiful way than this here native English speaker is able to!
Ah yes, a fine example of “I have bad English” followed with better spelling I see in other comments
Your English is getting quite good!
Better than my Spanish lol
@@chris.hartliss yo hablo español 😀
Acabas de expresar perfectamente lo que yo siento por este canal
47:00
On the observation that Schofield and Blake were 'blank' characters.
Growing up in the UK, our school system spends a lot of time focusing on the World Wars and on the lives of those who were lost during them.
At around the age of 16, many young people are given the chance to take a trip to the French/Belgium border to learn about the war on the front lines *in* the places where those battles were fought, which includes days at the cemeteries and gravesites of genuinely countless bodies, including a large portion of whom were never identified. There are walls covered in names of people who died but whose bodies were never recovered and rows upon rows of bodies without names. The sight of it has stuck with me still, just over a decade later.
I think what these characters represent, whether this was by choice or subconsciously, is that beyond a certain number of high-ranking individuals (or those who lived long enough to be dubbed 'The Last Tommies') so many thousands of people were reduced to a name and a list of battles. It becomes hard at a certain magnitude to comprehend the hundreds of thousands of individuals who were killed, the millions of personalities and behaviours and memories and loves and fears that were lost on the battlefields.
I don't think these characters are blank because they're badly written, I think they're left blank because they represent every single soldier whose story was never told.
I wholeheartedly agree with this and I think it’s true that they aren’t completely blank. There were many details in the movie that at least gave hints to their pasts and what their lives were like, which I think really contributed to their characters. The tiny details hear and there combined with what you said, really just portrays the characters in such a subtle yet intricate way that I think fits perfectly within the movie. It’s almost like they are letting the viewers have almost all the pieces, but not quite the whole puzzle and it’s definitely one of my favorite parts about this movie. Just the way all the subtle details are connected to form the plot. It’s a beautiful way of telling a story.
It's also part of the way the story is built. Most of Schofield's journey is overwhelmingly lonely, with just the stress of the war going on around him and the clear objective ahead, so that leaves little room for characterization. We have to keep in mind that the entirety of the movie takes place in a single day, during a high stakes situation and that the character we follow is in a race against the clock, so he has very little time for human interaction which is the main source of characterization in most stories.
We get pieces of him, like how he feels crushing terror yet pushes on, or how he's got a very sharp tactical mind in the way he comfronts the enemy (also done in a very realistic way, as he's never a super-commando mowing down enemies, and mostly just kind of stalls against one German soldier at a time, or just runs away and hides since he doesn't have the upper hand). We also see him as kind hearted in the way he helped the woman and her baby, or how he tries to resort to non-violence as much as possible within a war. And most of all, Schofield is portrayed as loyal, and to a point, it seems like the most important part of his mission is to find Blake's brother some times, as if he promise to go tell him that his friend died sometimes even spurs him on more than the mission to save thousands of lives. He's just that: empathetic, resourceful, human and kind. No need to know more and no way for the movie to tells us more anyway
Oh, also, Schofield has lungs for days. That dude's endurance is just out of this world. Somebody recruit him for the Justice League or something!
@@YouMakeMyMotorRun Yeah I like the way you put it. There’s just a lot of subtle or not so subtle details and scenes that connect both characteristics and pasts to give a better picture of the characters, but they don’t actually just shove it at you. You have to be paying attention and appreciating all the small things. It’s one of my favorite things about watching this movie.
@@pineapplepotato8955 it's what gives it charm in my opinion... It's action packed, tense and thrilling (in no small part due to the one shot thing), but it also does away with a lot of the typical stylizations of war movies, like over the top gunfights, spectacular explosions or super stoic, heroic, squared jaw characters...
@@YouMakeMyMotorRun Absolutely! You put it into words much better than I can, but that’s basically why I love the movie so much in like two sentences lol.
My life is just explaining to people that calling something "like a video game" is not the insult they think it is and they need to expand their ideas of art. I love this movie and I loved this video.
Some rando: "X is like a video game"
Me, an intellectual: th-cam.com/video/Xs6qBDuY1ww/w-d-xo.html (which is topical, because a sequence in Battlefield 1 [set in WWI] is used as the first major example)
I agree. Video games are amazing at making you empathize!
Hard core Henry is the only movie that's actually like a video game and it's better for it
AHH I KNIW
The scene where Schofield finally meets Blakes brother kills me. Every. Single. Time.
Just the sheer hurt and desperation shown by Richard Madden, it is almost as if he is about to collapse onto his knees and cry like Schofield did when exiting the river. But he can't. He's in front of all the men he has just led into battle and, in the chaos and death has to stay strong and compartmentalise everything, even something as shocking as hearing the death of his own brother...and can only go as far as to shake Schofields hand...
I just want to give Richard Madden a big sad hug in that scene and the fact they only shake hands just hurts me so much lol
I know! I wanted to go there and hug him myself
I was half expecting him to slug Schofield for surviving when his brother didn't.
LK: "and the rest, well... the rest is just blood and poetry."
Me: "Wait... the rest is NOT confetti???"
kjsgd i said out loud "the rest is just confetti" and then went -wait what?- i'm just so used to hearing that phrase in her voice ha
Glad I'm not the only one caught off guard by that
“so, i made some spreadsheets to track every world war one or two film that has been made, specifically in english speaking countries” this sounds like something my dad would say and i absolutely love it
1917 was the last movie I saw in theater before the pandemic started and I have recommended it endlessly to everyone I know. It's sad and lonely yet beautiful and has a hint of hope around every corner. One of my absolute favorites ever ❤️
Same! It had impact in the theatre that can't be replaced.
I saw it in February 2020 and felt really floored after. It maybe sounds cheesy, but it really made me appreciate the time I was born in where I, a German girl, can watch a film about WW1 in a cinema in London, bawl and eat icecream afterwards with my best friend who is Chinese. I know a lot sucks right now but sometimes I get the distinct hopeful feeling that things are slowly getting better...
This movie was my Valentines day Date with my gf and we loved it so much that we took a 2 hour detour home just to talk about the movie cause it was my 2nd time seeing it but I flinched so much the 1st time with the realistic gun shots in the theater so it was like I saw it for a 1st time again.
same! I went and saw it with my dad
It was so immersive and impactful in the theatre that I don’t think I could watch it anywhere else again.
I really appreciate the Sikh tangent, as they're a group whose history and culture is massively overlooked not only in the us, but globally.
it is great, but it was a pretty massive tangent that really had nothing to do with 1917, it was an essay within an essay
@iMakz erm, Sikhs did fight in Europe. In both World Wars.
Can I say that I cry with every video that Lady Knight does? The thing that she is talking not always hit me, but she explains it hits so hard :v
Same, I got emotional just thinking about how passionate she is about all the things she makes videos about that she does all this research and dedication to make these videos
I distinctly remember crying with the Sense8 and the Jojo Rabbit ones. 💔
Hill House breaks me.
That last poem that she reads is engraved on my soul.
"When all there is letf of me is love
Give me away"
Fuck. Im tearing.
Her voice makes it so deep and emotional.
Me too 🥲
Me too
Me: *sees a pink and blue thumbnail* “clear my schedule!! This takes precedent!!”
Fun Fact: Speoy's service rifle is actually his home countries respective variant, the small gold embellishment and the darker wood color is accurate to this time. This film has so many cool little historical details like that.
"And after everything that Will goes through, he doesn't get a happy ending, but he gets a gentle one."
What a beautiful way to describe the end.
"World War 2, 2Fast, 2Furious! Bigger, better, and this time with Facism!" is a perfect line
I want to point out one thing about the name of the Sikh character being called by a city isn't insulting. This was not an uncommon thing that can be seen in other piece of media or talking to veterans. Lots of times soldiers get named by their place of origin as a nickname either because of racism, endearment, or to separate people with the same name. My grandfather fought in WWI with Flemish Regiment and he said that everyone called him Westje because he was from West Vlaanderen. It's a thing that happens quite often
I thought Jandalar was a word play on "John Doe" so the role would literally be "unknown soldier"...
John Doe is an american thing, as far as I know. Not a british one.
@@edible0pig well... Every country has a "John Doe" equivalent
But yes, the British version is probably "John Smith"
Since "John Doe" is a more university known thing I didn't think that hard about it...
@@RickBern37 Dude relax, nobody is judging you.
@@RickBern37 When a soldier joined the army he got a paybook both as ID and to get paid. It included a specimen sheet to show him how to fill in his own details, the fictional soldiers name being Thomas (Tommy) Atkins.
The name stuck with Tommy Atkins being adopted as the name of the average soldier, thats probably the best example of an equivalent to John Doe.
1917 was actually filmed near my home so it was quite amusing being blocked off from the usual area we walk our dog paha
I'm not a minute into this video but I have to tell you that you have good taste in Pacific Rim ships 😂
I would absolute love a pacrim video essay from this channel 😭❤
@@avicritz7082 please don't threaten me with a good time.
@@avicritz7082 I would pay so much money for a LKTB Pacific Rim video 🙌
@@DFTBA221B same
The reason that _1917_ hit me so hard is because it gives me the same mood and feel of _All Quiet on the Western Front._ The bleak drudgery of WW1, the acts of heroism that are trampled by the sheer scope of a war nobody wanted to fight, the ruination of childhood for an entire generation, the shell holes and trenches and dying by a millimeter. Schofield's photos at the end felt like the scene in _AQotWF_ when Paul gets furloughed, and the scene as Blake died made me think of the opening scene of _AQotWF._ The rendition of Wayfaring Stranger in _1917_ brought me back to the first time I read _AQotWF_ when Paul says, "We are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial---I believe we are lost."
yes I made the same connection I am glad I was not the only one
yap also getting the same mood from both movies, absolute disgust for the garbage they declare as ww1 movie. wouldnt watch it ever again, except for a hefty amount of money offered.
This is my obligatory "hey queen. girl, you have done it again, constantly raising the bar for us all. and doing it flawlessly." comment i always leave, but i just wanted to say my mom and i were watching it for the first time and we both screamed when it was revealed that baby tommen baratheon's brother (my mom's words not mine) was played by the White Wolf himself, Richard freaking Madden. it made our night
In a similar way, I come back to this essay every few months, and I listen, and I cry.
"He doesn't get a happy ending, but he does get a gentle one." As someone who had to fight for his life for years, the significance of that observation always breaks my heart and makes me weep.
She's back and with 1917!!!!!!!!!!!
edit: Fury Road video confirmed?
Go Blue Jackets!
I don't think I could possibly say anything that hasn't already been said in a dozen other videos about Fury Road. But I do love it so know that I guess
@@Ladyknightthebrave We haven't heard what you think. That is certainly why I watch your videos... Just saying.
@@markhayward9764 Yeah, there is a certain joy in just hearing why someone loves a movie I love that doesn't even necessarily seek new information, just a new being to share their perspective.
@@Ladyknightthebrave you could literally say anything about fury road (or anything) even if i had heard it 300 times before and i would combo slow-fast chomp and savor it like a neverending meal of fine wine and chicken nuggets... anyways,
I like the parallel of all the officers being played by pretty famous people and the two infantry being played by relative unknowns
Animation keeps getting better with every video. Which is impressive to me, because the writing and editing are already gold-standard; I'm surprised to keep finding more things to enjoy about this channel.
I only watched this movie once, but it stuck with me ever since. I think that the most prominent part was the ending when Schofield sits under the tree: I felt so exhausted at that point, just like him, and seeing him take every step to get there just accentuated that feeling. This whole movie was bloody amazing. The other scene that I love is definitely the one in the river where the petals fall in the water.
When I saw this movie in an almost empty cinema while the guy is singing towards the end the mobile phone belonging to an old man sitting behind me started ringing really loudly, and he was too mortified to do anything so just kinda pretended it wasn't his, completely frozen in place while the caller tried him 3 or 4 times. It will stay with me forever.
Omg. I had a similar experience where this lady was trying (and failing) to open a bag of candy? chips? who even knows. It was obvious she was trying to be quiet but the rest of the theater was dead silent and she literally did this for a full minute.
I must be one of the lucky people on earth who hasn't had any bad theater experiences. But one time I'm pretty sure I was the loud person. I went on lsd and couldn't not react out loud to like every scene. I was enjoying the movie but I just couldn't stop being dramatic. It embarrasses me deeply to this day.
I've reached an age where I'll stand up and say sth in such a situation. Cinema is holy for me :)
@@gavensedgwick6516 My father told me as a kid, we were watching an animated kids movie and I deadass thought the guys were gonna die now fr so I cried. People around us were kinda uncomfortable and hoped something like I would leave until I calmned down, but my father _wanted_ me to see the guys weren't gonna die a terrible death so we kept sitting there until it happened and not leave with me and me thinking the movie ended on a tragic note. And yeah they weren't killed. All good
But I admit I could have also lived not remembering my reaction
"Nothing ever ends poetically. It ends and we turn it into poetry. All that blood was never once beautiful. It was just red." The use of this quote in the end sums up this movie so beautifully! Great job!
I absolutely adore this film. One of the only movies I've bought in 4k. The camerawork brought it so to life.
I've been avidly studying the first World War for about 5 years, and this movie captured why the subject is so captivating for me.
It's emotionally exhausting to read these accounts of boys and young men being conscripted or tricked by national zeal on every side. Animals and countryside alike being consumed in the flames of an industrialized war, that saw tens of thousands die in a single battle, on a single day.
And the Colonel was absolutely right. This movie took place a year and a half before the war would end. The 1600 (take a few) men Schofield saved were not really saved, instead, many of their deaths were merely delayed. He sits at a tree, just like the start of the film, and the war goes on, despite it all, and despite how much nobody wants to fight it.
The setting of WW1 is so criminally underutilized, as it was, in my opinion, the largest culture shock in human history. Before WW1, war was viewed as an adventure, a way to make friends, and see the world. Your duty to your nation, and something to be proud of. But then, millions of men died fighting over the same few hundred of meters of mud and blood. Millions drowned in the mud, or bleeding, trapped in in the barbed wire, or buried in a collapsed trench, or from a random shell that nothing could change or predict.
After 4 years of this, millions of men realized the truth of war: a handful of rich and powerful would throw the lives of the common men (and women) on the alter of greed and pride. Italy entered the war a year after the start, because the Prime Minister and President were likely bribed to go against the King's wishes. By the end of the war, Italy had some of the worst military death tolls, and one of the highest civilian death tolls due to disease and starvation.
Most telling of society, is that all those things I said about their view of war, are exactly how people spoke of war at the beginning of the Iraq War. I can't help but blame the prominence of the type of WW2 "Fuck Yeah!" films. A war that by sheer luck, let us feel no guilt about antagonists dying horrifically. We could just forget they were forced to fight, and watch the explosions and blood, and feel happy that evil lost, even if some eggs had to crack to make that omelet.
It conveniently ignores the millions who died in India from Britain seizing food for the home islands. It ignores Japanese-Americans having everything taken from them, and being forced into camps. Lynchings of ethnic Germans in America, and the displacement of German civilians from Ukraine, Poland, etc. The Red Army committing such wide scale r--e, that it was only surpassed by Nanking and Gengis Khan.
With the Great War, there is no escaping that reality. You can't glorify it by distracting with amazing missions, and massive tank battles, or amphibious landings. All you can do is look the reality in the eye, and accept it. And I think that's why Hollywood doesn't make these films.
At this point, I'm still half asleep from a nap, so who knows how much I'm rambling, so I'll stop now. But thank you for this video. Expertly crafted, and phenomenally written.
Also, the score for 1917 was robbed. Yes, Joker's score was wonderful, but good lord, this film was one of my favorite scores in years.
for a half asleep ramble this was amazing 🙏🏻 very interesting
Hey! Just want to say that I really enjoyed your ramble :) I do want to mention the Crimean War as an example of a similar culture shock, though - there were some "glory" narratives to come out of it, but those were mainly on a single day early on. For the majority of the war, for most of the soldiers, it was very much a battle of attrition, particularly in terms of the seige of Sevastopol - which was the Allies' main focus for the majority of the duration.
One particular story from it stands out to me - there was a Russian town on the coast that, when the allied ships arrived and demanded surrender, offered to settle the matter via a game of chess instead. The offer was turned down, and the town surrendered - but the fact that they had held the somewhat chivalric notion that such a deal could be struck is, to me, a good example of the transition that the Crimean War represented from the Napoleonic wars to WWI. The world was not fully changed from one mindset to the other, but it was well on the way.
Completely agree. The score and the cinematography was stellar
This war being in one location makes it hard to separate the stories
Honestly as an European twenty-something all the movies and documentaries about WWI hit home harder than most. The absolute madness of it all, boys and men of my age wasted and thrown away for nothing. They shall not grown old and 1917 most of all just strikes at something at my core that make tear and feel for the generation lost. We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Aaa I see she's playing the long game with this one - write and produce a video essay so more people will see the film and get into the fandom and therefore write more fics for her to consume. Smart.
☠️
Every time I see the thumbnail for a new one of your video essays, I feel like I've been punched in the best way.
My favorite part of the whole movie (although I suppose it's been talked to death already) is that scene in the forest with the soldiers listening to the singer.
"Schofield stops on the edge of the clearing. Unsettled by the
world before him. Unsure if these men are living or dead."
It's the first and only time the camera ever leaves either of the two protagonists, and it's well worth it. From the rear as Schofield sits down, you see helmets, backpacks, rifles, all the rugged kit of a combat ready soldier. But as the singer continues and the camera makes the full journey through the crowd and turns around, none of look like soldiers. Some of them don't even look old enough to have graduated high school already, let alone serve on the frontlines of one of the most brutal conflicts in recent history. All of them are too young, but that's how young many of the soldiers of WWI actually were. Many underaged being allowed or even encouraged to lie about their age without any real background checks.
Then they stand up, and you're taken out of that small respite from the whole rollercoaster that the movie has been so far. IMO it makes the final scene of Shofield sitting down and finally being able to truly rest that much more impactful, it's a good stopping point before the movie's grand final set piece and says so much about both what has happened in the movie and what had happened in real life.
The cherry petals scene is my favorite. I cry every time, it's just so beautiful...
What an INCREDIBLE video essay. 🔥
This and Portrait of a Lady on Fire were the last two movies I saw in theaters before the lockdown. This just makes me miss going to the movies even more.
Thomas Newman not winning an Oscar is nothing compared to Alan Silvestri (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Avengers, Predator, Polar Express, etc...) also not winning and only being nominated twice; one each for best score & best song.
Thank you for mentioning the Sikh history of the world war. It is often over looked. My great grandfather fought in the first world war.
Our history is often misrepresented in media. I also can't understand why there hasn't been an entire movie from the perspective of a Sikh soldier.
Your pronunciation isn't completely on point but I'm incredibly touched you put this much respect and research in our culture. I hope this video reaches more people.
I love Sepoy Jondalar's part in this. He seems the most intuitive character in the whole movie, probably even more than Mark Strong's character despite having hardly any lines. He just has such a gravity about him, you know he knows that kid's gone through some shit. I'm so glad you took a dive into the role he played in the movie, as well ask the Sikhs contribution to the war.
Also, they even got his damn rifle right! The darker stock and golden stock disc are indicative of an Indian production SMLE, which he and most, if not all Sikh soldiers would have definitely carried.
Constantly impressed by this film. Great work, LKTB.
i am very excited to enjoy this video essay probably more than i did the film 😅
Aww thanks Rowan, that's lovely to hear!
your sam mendes hipster moment is me with george mackay i've stanned that boy since the thief lord ✌️
@@HeyRowanEllis See I am so bitter about that adaptation but I do remember liking him in that 2003 Peter Pan adaptation and I really remembered him from Defiance XD
This made me realize the entire surreal scene in the ruined city/church to climbing out of the river (after being shot and fading to black) plays like Schofield’s death and escape from Hell
“And the rest...well the rest is just blood, poetry, and confetti.”
The moment that got me the most was the end credits. I went into it not knowing who directed it, so to see that it was loosely based on accounts by a real soldier hit hard, but then hit me harder when it transitions to the credits only to see the director share the same surname as the soldier who “told them the stories”.
When I find out a movie is based on a true story it does hit me on an emotional level but there’s still some disconnect as it’s often more the director’s vision that ends up on screen. So to find out that the movie was a deeply personal project dedicated to someone the director held so close just added that little extra weight that pushed me over the edge.
Whenever I need a good cry, your videos never fail. Thank you for making such lovely, heartfelt, and deeply meaningful content about stories and films that I’ve never seen on my own, but that through your essays, I get to deeply connect with.
I went into this movie completely blind and I was blown away. It's amazing how a movie so meticulous in its construction also manages to feel so personal and human. It's the tensest I've felt in a theater in recent memory.
Often the subjects of your video essays are not films or shows that resonate with me in particular but your video essays most often do. There is this emotional component in examining media that you tap into and bring to light in such a beautiful way.
I did not expect this movie to become a favorite of mine when I first saw it, but it did. I saw it about 3 or 4 times in theaters. I'm so glad you covered it, because its more then a gimmick. I hope more people watch it.
The squeal of joy I just let out at the notification is insane
As someone who didn’t particularly enjoy this movie but understood why it was so acclaimed. This video gave me a new appreciation for it. Looks like I’ll give it a re watch. :)
me: 1917? *memories of watching this in the theater start to make eyes water*
me: in a Ladyknight video? *tear ducts fully open*
Little tip: don’t watch this whilst you’re trying to put makeup on because you will cry it off
Thank you for covering this movie! I'm a huge history buff and world war I is one of my favorite eras in history. It always gets ignored, everyone is really interested in world war II but most couldn't care less about WW1. Very interesting thank you
Ww1 is more interesting than ww2.._ by a long shot.._
@@GarmrsBarking I totally agree! There's a really great documentary series on TH-cam about world war I think it's something like 13 hours and I watched it in parts and it was just so fascinating. I'm especially fascinated with trench warfare and how that psychologically affected people.
@@GarmrsBarking I think both are really interesting in their own ways. I enjoy reading about WW2 more than I do WW1, but that doesn't make WW1 less interesting.
As an amateur ww2 historian it was great to listen to your discussion of the tragically under valued participation of Indian and in particular Sikh soldiers
Keep up the great work
You are literally, LITERALLY, my favorite video essayist on youtube. Your videos bring me to tears every time and just are so easy to understand
I think the brilliance of the twist half-way through the film is that it mirrors the cold, merciless, horrible nature of the war itself. Motivated protagonists don't fit it, mercy is both needed and unwelcome at the same time. The ones who died are the ones others think should have lived. Just when you feel like you can be comfortable with the film, it makes a strong turn that ensures you never feel comfortable again.
every single one of your video essays has me crying by the end... the gentle vibes... the comfort of your voice... the way you recognize and articulate the beautiful emotional storytelling of everything you look at
"It was either a video game or it was art."
Me: same...thing?
Unfortunately I came late to the theatre when I saw this movie so the duo was already walking towards the area where they would be receiving their mission
But even without knowing how the last shot echoed the opening shot, there was something just so mesmerizingly bittersweet about how peaceful that last shot was
You literally had me in tears by then end. “(blood) It was just red”, that very accurately sums up how soldiers see war. It is not beautiful, or ugly, it is just inhumane. We often would say “politics gets you into a war, orders get you into battle, but, to fight, it is for the soldier next to you”; in 1917, it is for Blake. Scofield goes through a living hell not for his God, country, King or something poetic like that, but he does it all for his promise to his fallen friend.
“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”
James,
Former Canadian soldier
Another comfort essay video to add to the list, lets goooo! 💕
I watched this a few months ago for the first time. I was absolutely blown away by the cinematography and the simple story that developed into a powerhouse of a film. It reminds me of a side quest that then becomes the driving force behind such an important part of the story. Saving 1600 men seems like a quest worth taking.
Loved this essay!
It’s so rare to see such a mature and insightful perspective from a you tube critic on anything!! Thx for such a brilliant understanding of my favorite film of last year
This is my favourite movie and i'm so glad that you made a video essay on it. You put into words some of the things I couldn't and now i appreciate it even more. Thank you so much.
Oh god... I'm not the biggest fan of 1 hour analysis and essays on films but goddamn your storytelling and way of telling and explaining how you see the film entangled with your well thought words and research and knowledge about the background, I love it so much, thank you so much T^T it's so well done, keep going!
When I saw 1917 in theaters the night scene blew me away, It felt like Will had taken a portal to hell and the lighting was fantastic. I still think about how i've never seen another movie even come close to looking that good
I can only watch one of your videos in like a week, it takes me that long to get over the amount I cried at the last one.
thank you for such a wonderful essay about a wonderful movie! i love how broadly you talk about the entire film instead of just focusing on the technical aspects like i feel a lot of other people have done.
once in a while i remember that line from the screenplay that says "nothing is heavier than the dead body of someone you loved" and i get emotional about the story of these two boys all over again
I’m overwhelmed by emotion every time I watch 1917 and I felt that same emotion watching this video essay. Superb work!
I normally don't care much for spoilers but I got half way through this essay and knew I had to stop and go watch this film myself. Your passion bleeds through the script and I am grateful.
Pleasant surprise to see my favourite TH-camr uploading so soon after the last video. Wasn’t expecting a new video for at least another month.
Beautiful essay! I was so GLAD you included a brief history of the south Asian troops service! Thank you! I am le eyerolls when the "forced diversity" crowd open their mouths. Like, their ignorance of real history is so painful, yet so grimly predictable. Coming from a military family and hearing the oft repeated pride in the Indian and Sikh troops makes it so ODD when other people say it never happened. Thank you for reminding the white western audience that they were there. They served and died and they deserve more inclusion and recognition, not less.
I think now, when I see whitewashed war films, I will say forced whitewashing. How a WORLD WAR can not be diverse, I don’t know.
I am kind of horrified people don’t know about India’s giant contributions in WWI and WWII. Most people don’t know The Caribbean was also in both wars, and some people don’t even know Canada was in both too. So movies have a lot to correct.
That was the first time that I heard someone saying the Indian troops was forced diversity, I have seen way more about how 1917 didn’t have women in the war and that was a problem(yes people in the industry actually said that) I see that the lack of historical knowledge is very one sided to those who push forced diversity.
People like me who despise forced diversity noticed the Indian troops and thought it was cool to see them as well as other media like Valiant Hearts included them in.
@@GK-mr9ko there is no such thing as “forced diversity.”
@@pedrogomezid Wrong
Thank you so much for shouting out Thomas Newman: The Leonardo DiCaprio of film score composers
War movies that are actually anti-war movies are the best wer movies
*Has still never fully recovered from Grave of the Fireflies*
You can never recover from that film
@@beckyginger3432 it's true: you really can't. It's been over a decade and it still makes me feel waves of overwhelming sadness just thinking about it.
I went to see this film for the "gimmick" and Roger Deakins, and never expected to be as blown away as I was. THIS is how to use technical mastery in service of telling a story.
I always seem to cry when watching your videos. Something about the way you can recount the stories and history hits me harder than most movies and series can
Am I the only one who recently found her channel and just watched all of her videos in one go? Love this channel so much💕✨
I cried so many times at this movie and I didn't even realize it said "Come back to us" on the back of the picture. Oh my God I'm sobbing again
Thank you so much for speaking about a movie that has been in my mind since I first watched it. The acting on display is out of this world. I can't explain how many times I cried watching this. You definitely did it justice!
Also, Team Deakins forever, the man is a god.
If you want a different kind of WWII movie, I can recommend "Invasion Day" - though you have to be prepared for an hour and a half of Danish.
It's very low budget, but it's made with so much love, it manages to be both gorgeous and ugly. There's no glorification, no villains. Just a platoon of young men, trying to survive invasion day
I wish the Sikh character had had more lines. He has such a lovely voice.
damn, you made me cry yet again. I love your essays, they are truly fascinating. I cannot begin to explain the way your videos make me feel.
I cried when I watched 1917 and teared up during your video. Thank you for another great essay!
I think the night window scene will stick in my head forever. It was just so surreal and tense, not to mention beautiful. I saw a tweet which compared 1917 and particularly the almost fantastical feel of that scene to Lord of the Rings. I think someone suggested a film which splices in a 1917 style First World War story about Tolkien with Lord of the Rings - which would just be perfect. Incredible video as always!
Oh man. I’m about two minutes into this and I can already tell that I’m gonna want to comment 100 times because I cleaved to a movie in a similar way. I saw it in theaters and *cried*. I was, mercifully, in a theater with about 4 people (because I go to the theaters at like, 10AM) and, during the scene where he runs, you know the scene, I hit my fist on the armrest and, embarrassingly, out loud, I said “come on baby, come on baby!” Thankfully im sure nobody could hear me but my blood pressure was absolutely through the roof. I didn’t expect to feel heartbroken by this movie but I truly did. I know a lot of people think it’s a can of EZ cheese but it moved me. I love it.
And now I’m gonna subscribe and watch the rest of your video
That is absolutely incredible. I was definitely thinking 'come on baby!' in my heart during that scene
First off, I really love all your video essays, and seeing you post a new one makes me go !!!!!! every time. Thank you so much for all the amazing and thoughtful videos you've made!
I think that the tone shift after Blake's death also kind of illustrates how, like, casual, ordinary, everyday thing death's become? Like, Will is clearly somber, in shock even, and upset about his friend's death in the truck (and the whole rest of the movie, really, which is understandable) while the other soldiers joke around and all, because in war the whole army can't just stop and mourn every fallen soldier. It shows how cheap human life is in war, but also how all those numbers of casualties? How each of them, on all sides, was a person who left behind friends and family, their own Wills, so to say, who remembered and mourned them even though the world and even their own countries forgot about them and really never cared for them individually, anyways. You know?
But then, also, there are those brief moments of compassion and kindness in the movie, like the other soldiers in the truck helping to push the truck, and the French woman and the baby in the town, and Will not going straight for the kill with the German soldier, and the soldiers in the Devons 2nd checking up on Will after Wayfaring Stranger, and that one major just telling him he did a good job? Even Blake trying to save the German pilot, even though it got him killed in the end, because there are also those stories about soldiers showing mercy in war and being shown mercy in return, and like. Everytime someone mentions the famous Christmas Truce in 1914, I get kind of sad, because that was the only time it happened, right? WWI was full of horrors, but there in the very beginning there was still that show of humanity, but then it never happened again, and it makes me feel like humanity kind of fundementally lost something after that. Even though it was just a one off event. But then, there are these other stories, maybe not as well known, but things that happened nonetheless, like the story of Charles Brown and Franz Stigler (during WWII but still), that make me think that maybe that something wasn't lost all the way. Although the news still make my faith in humanity shake, rather often.
On war movies in general, one less clear cut film I'd recommend is The Unknown Soldier, the 2017 adaptation of a book by the same name by Väinö Linna, although the original Finnish name is Tuntematon sotilas. It's about WWII, but a lesser known conflict within it? It's set in the Continuation War, a war fought between Finland (beside Germany, I know not a good look is it) and the Soviet Union in 1941-1944. It was seen as a continuation of the Winter War, the most famous of the wars Finland fought in WWII. The book the movie is based on is based on the author's own experiences in the war, and while they're a war book and war movies respectively, they're firmly anti-war.
The movie, or the version I saw, I think the international release was shorter than the Finnish one so I don't know how much they cut, is not black and white, in that the Finnish soldiers we follow aren't bad, but they're not fully good, either, but they're just people. Albeit some are shittier than others, but that is also just how people are. And what little we see of the Soviets, they're also not some inhumane monsters, like the enemy side in some war movies is often depicted. It's also got no triumphant endings: not to spoil history, but Finland lost the Continuation War. Finland lost the Winter War, too. There's no glorious victory, and the only solace is that not everyone died, and that Finland remained independent. It shows the camaraderie between the soldiers in a nice way, and realistic, if the accounts of war veterans meeting up to read the book and reminisce behind closed doors is any indication, but then again the writer was a veteran himself, so no wonder. The Continuation War was a whole complicated mess on all accounts, but the movie is very good, in my opinion, worth a watch if you want to see war depicted from a non-English speaking country's perspective. And if you're really interested there's also a 5-part miniseries the movie was edited from, like an extended cut, that you... can maybe find somewhere.
ANYWAY back to this movie and the amazing video, that poem! That poem!!! I feel like it captures especially the futility and pointlessness of WWI really well. WWII at least had the "narrative" of trying to stop a fascist empire taking over the world, but WWI just kind of happened. There wasn't really anything gained. I just did and assignment on a lecture about the experiences of medical personnel in WWI, and in it the lecturer said that during the war, it was all presented as very glorious and heroic, and necessary, all the suffering and the heroic sacrifices of the soldiers, but after the war there was a disillusionment, and everyone saw how futile, how useless, how pointless it all had been. It made me think of that exact poem, and it really. It fits so well.
I once read this book on the relationships between Finnish civilians and Soviet prisoners-of-war during the Continuation War. in the Unknown Soldier, you see the subject touched upon very, very briefly, but the short of it is that in the Continuation War, the Finns took some 67 000 Soviets as prisoners-of-war. Of those 67 000, some 41 000 survived until the end of the war, while the others perished, mostly in the winter of 1941-1942, when the food situation in Finland was not good due to a bad year when it came to crops, and the POWs, as the enemy, were very low in the priorities when it came to securing enough food to everyone, in addition to which they were worked way too hard, and since they were prisoners they couldn't add to their diet by foraging or via the black market, like the civilians. Those who survived were put to work due to the massive lack of labour force with many working age men at the front. At these work places, especially if they were sent to work on Finnish farms, they formed relationships, platonic, romantic, in some cases if they stayed at the farm long enough, even familial ones, with the Finnish civilians.
There are a lot of stories, mostly in families, but also in the book I read, of how the POWs made friends with the locals, fell in love, started families... In some cases, the POWs had children of their own back at home, so when they went to work on some farm, where there were also children, whose own fathers were away at the front, they became kind of like bonus fathers to those kids. Even though they were on different sides. That... That really stuck with me, somehow. How despite the war, despite all the horrors and the worst of humanity on display, there were these stories, of finding humanity, or, dare I say, love, be it platonic, romantic or familial, in these unexpected places? I think that's what really fascinates me. It's what I was reminded of during this movie, too, especially the part where Will was being so good with the orphaned baby, especially when it was revealed he had kids of his own. That made me think of the example above specifically, even though the French and the English were allies and on the same side there.
Also, one last thing. For us Finns, war has been a big part of out national identity. The Unknown Soldier, specifically, but also the Winter War, the Continuation War less so, but still. Even, or maybe especially, the Finnish Civil War, fought in early 1918 after only gaining independence in the very late 1917, the bloodiest civil war in Europe until the Spanish Civil War. In any case, it's been a big thing. Almost a source of pride, really, how we, a tiny tiny country with a population of less than 5 million at the time could hold its own against a country with a population of over 200 million and vastly superior resources. How in WWII, of the countries that took part in the war, only 3 capitals remained unoccupied: London, Moscow, and Helsinki. While that is quite the achievement, and good for the people of Finland, it all was also achieved via massive losses, to both sides, but mainly to the Soviets. In the Winter War, about 26 000 Finns died to the USSR's 250 000, though that's an estimate. That was also considered a point of pride, it was to me, it still is to some people.
After I read that book though, after I glimpsed at the humanity behind the word "enemy", I've been completely unable to think about those numbers just as numbers, not to even mention thinking of them as something to be proud of. It's silly that it took a book to make me stop thinking of war as, on some level, somehow glorious, or cool, or whatever. Now all I can think is that that? That is so many brothers and fathers and sons and husbands and fiancés and cousins and friends who just left to war someday and then never came back. You know? And I think, with its portrayal of the horror of war, maybe this movie might make some people maybe, in some way realize a similar thing. That each of those numbers was someone with their own hopes and dreams and their own photos in their breast pocket and their own cherry trees and, just. That they were all just people. That they had their own lives that were cut short, in many cases before they ever really even began. That it really was just red.
Anyway, sorry for this massive essay of a comment. Your video really just made me feel things and think about things. Thank you so much for your amazing work.
Also it's kinda funny how these people like Mr. Clown in the video seem to think that women, LGBTQ+ people and people of color were invented like, what the latter half of the 20th century? Geez. The clown emoji really suits him.