1917

Beautiful. That was my overwhelming – and surprised – reaction to Sam Mendes’s outstanding film 1917, which Elaine and I went to the see this evening at the Waterloo IMAX.

I was blown away, whereas Elaine spent perhaps two thirds of the showing with her hands over her eyes – and all of it with ear-plugs stuffed into her ears.

One reason I wanted to see the film was that I am named after Lieutenant-Colonel John Elkington, whose story was told by John Hutton in August 1914: Surrender at St Quentin. I talked to Hutton back in 2008 while he was researching his book.