How 1917 Hid the Protagonist

Written by Emily Pearce

Spoiler warning: the whole film is being discussed in this post and spoilers are present

1917 Premise: On April 6th, 1917, two soldiers are given the mission to deliver orders that will stop a regiment from walking into the enemy’s trap. They have to race the clock to arrive in time and save 1600 lives, including one of the soldier’s brother.

1917 was one of my favorite films of 2019, and in my opinion, it deserves every award nomination—and every win—that it received. 1917 has been critically praised for its stunning cinematography, set design, and acting. Studying the story reveals several advanced storytelling techniques for writers. One particular technique is hiding who is your main character (or protagonist) for the story. In The Story Cone Method, we refer to this as a Hidden Role.

What is Hiding Your Protagonist?

Hiding your protagonist happens when your audience assumes that your protagonist is Character A. But by the end of the story, they realize that the protagonist is really Character B. So how do you change your protagonist? The trick is, the protagonist never changes. The real protagonist was simply hidden. This technique is different from transferring the protagonist role to a new character, though there can be some overlap.

1917 is a great example of this bait-and-switch technique. The audience came to the movie expecting the story of a soldier going off to save his brother only to see that soldier die long before his goal is achieved. This writing technique provides a huge plot twist and keeps the audience engaged; it is what made Game of Thrones, Westworld (season 1), Psycho, and other stories so successful.

Word of Caution: Hiding your protagonist is an advanced writing technique. When done wrong, the story will fail.

Setting Audience Expectations in the Opening Scene

The movie begins with a shot of Blake and Schofield sleeping. Blake comes into the frame first, lying on the ground. The camera moves back, and Schofield is added to the frame, shown sleeping as he sits propped up against a tree. At this point in the frame, Blake is in the background and Schofield in the foreground.

This shot guides the audience to think that the first actor in the film is going to be the protagonist. But the shot also subconsciously prepares the audience to accept Schofield as more of a prominent character because he has more prominence on the screen right from the beginning scene. The filmmakers are fooling the audience through this misdirection.

The Inciting Incident

Blake is told to go meet with the general and bring one person with him. The inciting incident (orders from the general) pulls Blake directly into the story. Blake then chooses Schofield as his companion, thus acting as Schofield’s inciting incident. This is a dynamic that you see with sidekick characters all the time—the hero gets a call to action and then brings the sidekick along for the journey.

Blake’s prominence throughout the inciting incident makes the viewer see him as the protagonist. When they meet with the general, Blake is given his mission and the inciting incident is finalized. Blake is emotional, his actions bigger within the scene, and he immediately accepts the assignment with the goal to complete his orders as quickly as possible. His brother’s life is at stake, and he understandably doesn’t want to waste any time.

The Proactive Character

As the two start out on their journey, Blake seems like the proactive one while Schofield takes the role of the cautionary sidekick, telling Blake when to wait, when to hold off and be careful, and when to go. But this is sleight of hand that becomes clearer when the movie is reviewed. Schofield is actually the proactive one—he gives orders that Blake obeys, Blake listens to Schofield’s advice and does what he says (except in the beginning when Schofield suggests they wait and think before they leave). While they both seem to work as a team (and Blake does have instances where he acts of his own choice), it’s Schofield who makes the decisions that move the story forward. Because Schofield is the primary proactive character, the camera often follows him rather than Blake (such as when the camera follows Schofield inside the farmhouse while Blake inspects the outside).

The Fake-out

As the movie progresses, the two soldiers are making their way through a German bunker. A bomb goes off, and Schofield is buried under rubble. At that point, the audience thinks that Schofield, the sidekick, is dead and Blake as the protagonist has to finish this impossible mission alone. The stakes are raised.

But Schofield is alive. Blake digs him out and pulls him outside to safety. Schofield is injured; he has dust and debris in his eyes so he can’t see—Blake has to see for both of them. At this point, there’s still a chance that Blake will have to continue on alone. But then Schofield, always the one to know what to do, is able to wash out his eyes and continue.

This scene prepares the audience to accept that one soldier might have to finish this mission alone. The audience assumes that it will be Blake who reaches his brother. So when Blake is the one who dies, it’s even more shocking.

Weight Within the Story

Another sleight of hand the story uses is how loud Blake is on the screen compared to Schofield. It feels like he has more weight within the story, and the audience is able to develop a strong emotional connection to Blake. He talks about his family and his hopes and dreams for the future. He shows us the unique knowledge he has of cherry trees. He even (repeatedly) complains how hungry he is or conveys his search for food.

In contrast, Schofield almost always refuses to talk about his life and his history, though there are hints about his life—he pauses to look at a picture of a German soldier’s wife and child, he pauses when he sees a child’s toy on the ground of the abandoned farmhouse, and he behaves as though he does have children when he’s with Lauri and the baby. Each of these small hints gives Schofield the depth of character needed in a protagonist, and that depth gives more weight to his role within the story. It also endears the audience to Schofield, though it’s in a subtler way than with Blake.

Clear Transference of Goals

Blake’s death on-screen is a complete surprise. Not only did we see Schofield already survive the explosion, but both soldiers have a near-death experience when they are almost hit by a plane that was shot down.

Right after the plane crashes, the two soldiers do a very human thing—they pull the enemy soldier from the burning plane. The soldier asks for water, and Blake insists that Schofield get him water. The camera follows Schofield until he hears Blake scream. Schofield turns and sees that Blake has been stabbed by the enemy soldier. Schofield immediately kills Blake’s attacker. He tries desperately to help Blake move so they can get help, but each attempt is only more agonizing for Blake. Eventually, he realizes that Blake has lost too much blood. Blake’s mind resets from the trauma, and when he asks if he is dying, Schofield tells him the truth. It’s a heartbreaking moment.

In a verbal transference of the goal, Blake tells Schofield that he will recognize his brother because they look just the same. Blake then makes sure that Schofield knows the plan and will follow through with their mission, and Schofield repeats every step that he will make, insisting that he will find a way to get to Blake’s brother. Schofield does his best to comfort his friend until Blake dies.

After Blake’s death, there is clear physical transference of Blake’s goal to Schofield when Schofield retrieves the orders from Blake’s pocket. This removes all doubt to the audience that Schofield is the protagonist of the movie.

The way the goal is transferred gives emphasis that the goal is twofold: Schofield is not just delivering the message to the regiment to stop them from walking into a trap; he is also trying to save Blake’s brother.

The Ending

During the climax, the movie fools you again. Schofield successfully delivers the letter and the attack is stopped. Lives are saved. He then seeks out Blake’s brother, because the story doesn’t feel complete until he learns if he saved Blake’s brother.

Schofield is able to find Blake’s brother, convey the heartbreaking news that Blake was killed, and give him Blake’s personal belongings. Blake’s brother thanks Schofield for being there for Blake, and it finally feels to the audience as though Schofield’s mission is complete.

Schofield walks off on his own to lie against a tree. He pulls out photographs of his wife and children. The words “Come back to us” are written on the back of the photograph of his wife. That’s when the audience realizes that delivering the message and finding Blake’s brother was never Schofield’s goal. His goal was always to get back to his family alive, and that has yet to be accomplished. In a postmodern twist, the audience finds out that his story is not yet finished. And Schofield is right back where he started, sitting against a tree to rest between battles.

For some, this makes the climax feel anticlimactic. But it is purposefully done. This ending is a combination of Gladiator and Inception where you feel uneasy because you’re not quite sure what the outcome will be for your protagonist, and it once again clarifies who this story has really been about the whole time: Lance Corporal Schofield.

What You Can Learn from This

Application For Authors, Screenwriters, And Playwrights (Dramatists)

Remember, this is an advanced writing technique. Sam Mendes (director) has decades of experience with story, and his resume includes dozens of strong works that won Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and BAFTAs before he wrote 1917 with Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Mendes is an expert of the craft and understood the rules before he broke them. As a storyteller, master the necessary core functions of the protagonist role before you try to hide that position from your audience.

[Rule 1] Guide the Audience

The audience comes to the story with certain preconceived expectations based on the genre, tropes, marketing, and more. As a writer, use genre tropes and story clichés to misdirect your audience into thinking one character is going to be the protagonist, all while portraying your actual protagonist as the one who makes decisions to move the plot forward and who fights the antagonist. Remember: Your protagonist is only revealed once the story is complete, but you have to guide the audience to be prepared for your reveal every step of the way, or they will feel betrayed at the plot twist.

[Rule 2] Your Protagonist Must Be Your Main Character from the Start

Your real protagonist should be there from the start of the story—they can’t suddenly emerge at the midpoint or later. Remember, the protagonist is just hidden; there is no actual change. Make the character prominent within the mind of the audience. Give them screen time, or page space, so that when they are revealed as the protagonist, it surprises the audience but doesn’t confuse them.

[Rule 3] Transfer the Goal for Easy Audience Transition

If the goal and protagonist position are given to a red-herring character, there must be a clear transference of goals from one character to the other. This can be done using words, but it’s often easier if you have an item that symbolizes the goal. In 1917, the letter containing the orders acts as this goal.

At Writer Therapy, our Story Analysts review stories to help authors, screenwriters, and playwrights. If you have a specific story you’d like us to look at, feel free to contact us.