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1917 Is Bookies' Favourite To Win Oscar For Best Picture

1917 Is Bookies' Favourite To Win Oscar For Best Picture

The film has been nominated for 10 academy awards in total

Amelia Ward

Amelia Ward

Sam Mendes' stunning war film 1917 is the bookies' favourite to win the Oscar for Best Picture at the upcoming Academy Awards.

1917 is odds on to win the award - at 4/6 - followed by Parasite and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (6/1) and Joker (14/1).

The epic WWI movie is also up against the likes of Ford v Ferrari (250/1) and The Irishman (50/1), but it looks like 1917 is a clear winner, if the odds are anything to go by - despite not being nominated for any acting awards.

Alongside Best Picture, it's also in the running for additional awards including Best Cinematography and Best Directing, as well as various gongs for production, sound and screenplay.

Universal Pictures

The harrowing movie won Best Motion Picture at the Golden Globes back at the start of the month, which could be a good indication - last year Bohemian Rhapsody won the same award at both ceremonies.

Critics have raved about the film, which came out in the US in December, followed by the UK at the start of this month.

Many have said it's up there with the likes of Saving Private Ryan. The film is set in the north of France and tells the story of two young British soldiers, named Schofield (played by George MacKay) and Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman).

The pair are asked undertake 'a seemingly impossible mission to deliver a message which will warn of an ambush during one of the skirmishes soon after the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line during Operation Alberich'.

Universal Pictures

To illustrate the horror and scale of the First World War, as well as to add suspense and urgency to the two young men's journey, the director decided to tackle it as if it were one long scene.

Sure, there are a couple of digital cuts, but you'd never even know they were there.

Speaking to Total Film about the decision, Mendes said: "There were days when you were like, 'Why did I do this to myself?'"

He admitted that some scenes took 'hundreds of takes - literally' to get down. Mendes spoke of the frustration that can boil over when a lengthy scene has to be re-shot.

To make sure it was extra realistic, they didn't use any CGI for the bombs, explosions or soldiers and Mendes even hired an ex-paratrooper for the British Army to act as a military adviser.

Paul Biddiss

Paul Biddiss worked 'on the shoulder' of Sam Mendes throughout filming. He gave genuine army training to all the extras and actors, teaching them how to hold and use weapons and ensuring that there was 100 percent accuracy at all times.

The crew started filming on 1 April 2019, finishing in June - meaning it took just three months to film one of the biggest and most technically challenging war films ever made.

The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony will be held in Los Angeles on 10 February 2020.

Featured Image Credit: Universal Pictures

Topics: TV and Film, Oscars