1917, the World War One epic that has picked up 10 Oscar nominations (including for Best Picture and Best Director for Sam Mendes), is currently going great guns in cinema. If it has put you in the mood for more war on screen, then fire up Netflix, where there are plenty of military flicks to pick from.
Jarhead
1917 is not Sam Mendes’s first foray onto the battlefield. Jarhead, released in 2005, was an adaptation of a memoir written by US marine Anthony Swofford about his experience of serving in the first Iraq war – the resulting film is a different kind of war movie in which the longueurs of conflict are brought to the fore. Mendes directs with his customary assurance and the performances are first rate, particularly from Jake Gyllenhaal as Swofford and Jamie Foxx as one of the sergeants who trains him. Thanks to the great cinematographer Roger Deakins, who is up for one of 1917’s Oscar nominations, Jarhead also looks magnificent.
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