Not all great theatre directors make great directors.
It's true Sergei Eisenstein, Ingmar Bergman, Michael Haneke and Orson Welles graduated brilliantly from the theatre to film.
However some theatre directors tend to churn out dialogue driven work when making a movie.
Take Nicholas Hytner, for example, with 'The Madness of King George', 'History Boys' or 'The Lady In The Van' - all enjoyable but hardly the sort of films that push the boundaries visually.
Sam Mendes, however, has shown in the films he has made that he has a feel for the medium of cinema.
His debut 'American Beauty', with Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening, scooped five Academy Awards in 1999, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography.
Not only was it a mischievous end of the millennium tale about a suburban American mid-life crises but it was visually vibrant.
That visual flair was also evident in his 2002 gangster flick 'Road to Perdition' with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, his 2008 marital breakdown story 'Revolutionary Road' with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet and also his 007 movies, 'Skyfall' and 'Spectre' in 2012 and 2015 with Daniel Craig.
Mendes has wisely collaborated with great cinematographers like Conrad L Hall and Ellen Kuras.
But he has forged a particularly fruitful partnership with Roger Deakins - initially on the 2005 US Army tale 'Jarhead' and then on 'Revolutionary Road', 'Skyfall' and 'Spectre'.
Deakins' cinematography is unquestionably the star of the show in Mendes' First World War epic '1917' - a film inspired by the stories told by the director's grandfather, Alfred Mendes who served in the First Rifles in Flanders.
But Mendes' film owes a lot too to the war epics of Stanley Kubrick, Peter Weir, Steven Spielberg and Francis Coppola.
Set on April 6, 1917, the movie is about a gruelling trek undertaken by two corporals Dean Charles Chapman's Tom Blake and George MacKay's Will Schofield to prevent another regiment from falling into a trap.
Mendes and Deakins' innovation in '1917' is giving the impression the movie is shot in one continuous take.
But like Matyas Erdely's stunning work on Laszlo Nemes' 2015 Holocaust tale 'Son of Saul', the audience is also brought right into the heart of the action - roaming around the trenches and battlefields and nervously peering into No Man's Land and around corners.
At the start of Mendes' taut war movie, Schofield and Blake are at ease, grabbing some rest when Daniel Mays' Sergeant Sanders stirs them from their slumber.
Then we're off, joining the two corporals as they trudge through the warren of trenches to meet Colin Firth's General Erinmore to receive their orders.
Erinmore tells them the Second Devonshire Regiment and other troops have made headway in what was once German territory and are about to launch another push, believing they have their enemy on the run.
However it is a trap with 1600 German troops waiting to slaughter them.
Schofield and Blake must pick their way through No Man's Land and somehow get to Benedict Cumberbatch's Colonel Mackenzie by dawn before the assault is launched.
The added incentive for Blake is that his brother, Richard Madden's Joseph Blake is a Lieutenant in the Second Devons and he sets off on the mission with great determination, with Schofield reluctantly following behind.
Before leaving the trenches, they encounter Andrew Scott's cynical and weary Lieutenant Leslie who sprinkles them with whiskey in a final benediction and asks them to fire a flare should they miraculously make it to the German trenches on the other side.
Mendes and Deakins take the audience on a nervous trek through the mud, the rats and the fly covered corpses of horses and men trapped on barbed wire.
Then we are in the warren of the abandoned German trenches, where Schofield and Blake encounter a particularly fat rat.
This is followed by a jittery trek through the cherry blossoms and lush green pastures of the French countryside scarred by the ruins of battle, the slaughter of cattle and the hum of British and German fighter planes in pursuit of each other above their heads.
But can Schofield and Blake navigate the terrain successfully and reach the Second Devons by dawn?
Written by Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, '1917' is a nerve shredding tale that immerses its audience in the experience of what it must have been like to be a World War I infantryman.
With its long takes and roaming camera, it is a stressful but gripping watch because danger is always lurking around the corner.
However the way Mendes and Deakins tell the story forces audiences to absorb as much as they possibly can of what is going on onscreen.
It is so visceral, you find yourself acting like a third soldier on the mission, nervously glancing at the ruins of old buildings for possible snipers or tripwires.
The film hinges on the performances of MacKay and Chapman who from the off are tremendously engaging.
Both are particularly effective in conveying the terror of undertaking such a perilous journey and the panic as they inevitably encounter the enemy.
The physicality of stge roles means it is a gruelling ask of both actors but they rise to the challenge.
Mackay, in particular, impresses in the more senior role and should feel aggrieved at not making the Oscars shortlist for Best Actor.
But they are also boosted by an excellent cast.
Firth, Cumberbatch, Madden and Mark Frost, who turns up as a compassionate Captain leading a convoy of troops through enemy lines do a sterling job as officers leading their troops amid the mayhem and the madness.
Mays, Scott and Adrian Scarborough also impress, as Mendes and Wilson-Cairns depict the class system at work in the military.
Watch out too for Chris Walley of 'The Young Offenders' in a fleeting appearance as a Devonshire Regiment soldier
But as good as they and Thomas Newman's swirling musical score undoubtedly are, it is Deakins, Lee Smith's subtle editing and Mendes' jaw dropping choreography that most impresses.
As night falls, Deakins uses light and shadow in a burning town to stunningly magnify the hellishness of the First World War and the mission Schofield and Blake have undertaken.
Mendes and Wilson-Cairns' characters are silhouetted against this terrible beauty.
Viewers will immediately recall Stanley Kubrick's First World War tale 'Paths of Glory' and Vietnam War epic 'Full Metal Jacket' while watching some sequences.
Some will also be reminded of Steven Spielberg's 'War Horse' and 'Saving Private Ryan' - especially given the vested interest for Blake in undertaking their dangerous mission.
And the frantic dash of the final sequences will evoke memories of Peter Weir's affecting Australian First World War story 'Gallipoli'.
However as the film unfolds, it increasingly resembles Francis Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now' whose hero also embarks on a hellish mission.
The odyssey takes on a surreal, nightmarish quality just like Willard's in 'Apocalypse Now, and yet there is beauty among the mayhem.
'1917' is a demanding work but audiences will walk away hugely impressed.
Just when you think filmmakers have pretty much exhausted depictions of the horrors of warfare, it further raises the bar.
The movie deepens its audience's appreciation of the sacrifice made by those who had to endure the harshest of conditions in the Great War.
But it also confirms Sam Mendes as a great theatre director turned great film director.
Its ambition and technical bravura demonstrates how he truly understands the language and possibilities of cinema and is able to fully exploit them.
But its greatest achievement is not that it rams home that war is horrific but underlines that it is an outrage.
('1917' opened in UK and Irish cinemas on January 10, 2020)
It's true Sergei Eisenstein, Ingmar Bergman, Michael Haneke and Orson Welles graduated brilliantly from the theatre to film.
However some theatre directors tend to churn out dialogue driven work when making a movie.
Take Nicholas Hytner, for example, with 'The Madness of King George', 'History Boys' or 'The Lady In The Van' - all enjoyable but hardly the sort of films that push the boundaries visually.
Sam Mendes, however, has shown in the films he has made that he has a feel for the medium of cinema.
His debut 'American Beauty', with Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening, scooped five Academy Awards in 1999, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography.
Not only was it a mischievous end of the millennium tale about a suburban American mid-life crises but it was visually vibrant.
That visual flair was also evident in his 2002 gangster flick 'Road to Perdition' with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, his 2008 marital breakdown story 'Revolutionary Road' with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet and also his 007 movies, 'Skyfall' and 'Spectre' in 2012 and 2015 with Daniel Craig.
Mendes has wisely collaborated with great cinematographers like Conrad L Hall and Ellen Kuras.
But he has forged a particularly fruitful partnership with Roger Deakins - initially on the 2005 US Army tale 'Jarhead' and then on 'Revolutionary Road', 'Skyfall' and 'Spectre'.
Deakins' cinematography is unquestionably the star of the show in Mendes' First World War epic '1917' - a film inspired by the stories told by the director's grandfather, Alfred Mendes who served in the First Rifles in Flanders.
But Mendes' film owes a lot too to the war epics of Stanley Kubrick, Peter Weir, Steven Spielberg and Francis Coppola.
Set on April 6, 1917, the movie is about a gruelling trek undertaken by two corporals Dean Charles Chapman's Tom Blake and George MacKay's Will Schofield to prevent another regiment from falling into a trap.
Mendes and Deakins' innovation in '1917' is giving the impression the movie is shot in one continuous take.
But like Matyas Erdely's stunning work on Laszlo Nemes' 2015 Holocaust tale 'Son of Saul', the audience is also brought right into the heart of the action - roaming around the trenches and battlefields and nervously peering into No Man's Land and around corners.
At the start of Mendes' taut war movie, Schofield and Blake are at ease, grabbing some rest when Daniel Mays' Sergeant Sanders stirs them from their slumber.
Then we're off, joining the two corporals as they trudge through the warren of trenches to meet Colin Firth's General Erinmore to receive their orders.
Erinmore tells them the Second Devonshire Regiment and other troops have made headway in what was once German territory and are about to launch another push, believing they have their enemy on the run.
However it is a trap with 1600 German troops waiting to slaughter them.
Schofield and Blake must pick their way through No Man's Land and somehow get to Benedict Cumberbatch's Colonel Mackenzie by dawn before the assault is launched.
The added incentive for Blake is that his brother, Richard Madden's Joseph Blake is a Lieutenant in the Second Devons and he sets off on the mission with great determination, with Schofield reluctantly following behind.
Before leaving the trenches, they encounter Andrew Scott's cynical and weary Lieutenant Leslie who sprinkles them with whiskey in a final benediction and asks them to fire a flare should they miraculously make it to the German trenches on the other side.
Mendes and Deakins take the audience on a nervous trek through the mud, the rats and the fly covered corpses of horses and men trapped on barbed wire.
Then we are in the warren of the abandoned German trenches, where Schofield and Blake encounter a particularly fat rat.
This is followed by a jittery trek through the cherry blossoms and lush green pastures of the French countryside scarred by the ruins of battle, the slaughter of cattle and the hum of British and German fighter planes in pursuit of each other above their heads.
But can Schofield and Blake navigate the terrain successfully and reach the Second Devons by dawn?
Written by Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, '1917' is a nerve shredding tale that immerses its audience in the experience of what it must have been like to be a World War I infantryman.
With its long takes and roaming camera, it is a stressful but gripping watch because danger is always lurking around the corner.
However the way Mendes and Deakins tell the story forces audiences to absorb as much as they possibly can of what is going on onscreen.
It is so visceral, you find yourself acting like a third soldier on the mission, nervously glancing at the ruins of old buildings for possible snipers or tripwires.
The film hinges on the performances of MacKay and Chapman who from the off are tremendously engaging.
Both are particularly effective in conveying the terror of undertaking such a perilous journey and the panic as they inevitably encounter the enemy.
The physicality of stge roles means it is a gruelling ask of both actors but they rise to the challenge.
Mackay, in particular, impresses in the more senior role and should feel aggrieved at not making the Oscars shortlist for Best Actor.
But they are also boosted by an excellent cast.
Firth, Cumberbatch, Madden and Mark Frost, who turns up as a compassionate Captain leading a convoy of troops through enemy lines do a sterling job as officers leading their troops amid the mayhem and the madness.
Mays, Scott and Adrian Scarborough also impress, as Mendes and Wilson-Cairns depict the class system at work in the military.
Watch out too for Chris Walley of 'The Young Offenders' in a fleeting appearance as a Devonshire Regiment soldier
But as good as they and Thomas Newman's swirling musical score undoubtedly are, it is Deakins, Lee Smith's subtle editing and Mendes' jaw dropping choreography that most impresses.
As night falls, Deakins uses light and shadow in a burning town to stunningly magnify the hellishness of the First World War and the mission Schofield and Blake have undertaken.
Mendes and Wilson-Cairns' characters are silhouetted against this terrible beauty.
Viewers will immediately recall Stanley Kubrick's First World War tale 'Paths of Glory' and Vietnam War epic 'Full Metal Jacket' while watching some sequences.
Some will also be reminded of Steven Spielberg's 'War Horse' and 'Saving Private Ryan' - especially given the vested interest for Blake in undertaking their dangerous mission.
And the frantic dash of the final sequences will evoke memories of Peter Weir's affecting Australian First World War story 'Gallipoli'.
However as the film unfolds, it increasingly resembles Francis Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now' whose hero also embarks on a hellish mission.
The odyssey takes on a surreal, nightmarish quality just like Willard's in 'Apocalypse Now, and yet there is beauty among the mayhem.
'1917' is a demanding work but audiences will walk away hugely impressed.
Just when you think filmmakers have pretty much exhausted depictions of the horrors of warfare, it further raises the bar.
The movie deepens its audience's appreciation of the sacrifice made by those who had to endure the harshest of conditions in the Great War.
But it also confirms Sam Mendes as a great theatre director turned great film director.
Its ambition and technical bravura demonstrates how he truly understands the language and possibilities of cinema and is able to fully exploit them.
But its greatest achievement is not that it rams home that war is horrific but underlines that it is an outrage.
('1917' opened in UK and Irish cinemas on January 10, 2020)
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