They Shall Not Grow Old

**Blupiper** · 12th March 19, 03:33 PM

My son and I went to see this documentary. It was done by Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings fame) and made use of MOD film and interviews done with veterans in the sixties and seventies. It features a number of kilted Highland soldiers and one bizarre shot of a dozen bagpipers playing while doing a fifty yard sprint. That was odd.

The film is a fascinating, magnificent piece of work. There isn't a script, per se, but the old film is played and the interviews talk of various aspects of the Great War and military life. The interviews explain, the film illustrates. Work was done to make this film run and appear as a modern film is the most amazing aspect of the film. The original, hand-cranked film was reprocessed with a higher frame-per-second rate, the speed was filtered and evened out, it was colorized and brought into a more modern aspect. Sound was added as appropriate (lip readers were brought in to try to suss out what was being said by those on the film) And then it was all brought together.

One often forgets these were teenagers marching off to have an adventure (one soldier actually turned around to the camera and said "hi, Mom.") The official age to enlist was 19 and in some of the interviews the veterans said they had actually enlisted at age 14 and a half (!). The battle scenes were harrowing and listening to the interviews hammered home the futility and randomness of the War. How they were treated after the War was criminal--considering how they were convinced to join up.

I can't recommend this highly enough. It's a beautifully done piece of art, a technical marvel and a heartbreaking true story. See it if you have the chance.

JMB

**Highland Logan** · 12th March 19, 03:49 PM

This is on my list to watch. And although I have not seen the film, it is very easy to find that recruitment age was 18. Was this an error, or did the film list this?

Frank

**Me cousin Jack** · 12th March 19, 04:12 PM

Thanks for the tip.

**rmcglew3** · 12th March 19, 06:37 PM

This is an excellent movie... don't let the term documentary get in the way... it is both a documentary and a moving film. You can even see it in 3D in theaters.
I highly recommend sticking around for the 30-minute description of the making of the film... you learn a lot about what Jackson's team had to do to get this in the quality people expect.

**Highland Logan** · 12th March 19, 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by rmcglew3

This is an excellent movie... don't let the term documentary get in the way... it is both a documentary and a moving film. You can even see it in 3D in theaters.
I highly recommend sticking around for the 30-minute description of the making of the film... you learn a lot about what Jackson's team had to do to get this in the quality people expect.

I seen clips of the making of on YouTube. It was quite a project. I'm looking forward to it.

Frank

**Richrail** · 12th March 19, 09:40 PM

My wife and I saw this earlier this year, it is so very poignant. It really hit home since we had just visited Scotland last spring. To hear the stories and to see all the little villages and towns with the war memorials was very emotional.

**Mael Coluim** · 13th March 19, 02:30 AM

Highly recommended. No one in the audience in my showing left at the end remaining to hear Jackson's comments about its creation.

**Tomo** · 13th March 19, 11:30 AM

I happened to be Edinburgh for Remembrance Day last year (we actually went for Rugby). I find the remembrance chapel at the top of the castle extremely poignant - even more so on this occasion with ceremony taking place. It's one of the best examples of this type of thing I have seen and covers every branch of the services. It's well worth a visit and taking some time out in quite contemplation.

I was also involved in the war wills project in the UK a few years back. There is some info about it here: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-23861821 and it's possible to order copies via the government website at: https://www.gov.uk/probate-search

I will have to keep my eye out for the film.

**rebelrouser** · 13th March 19, 12:01 PM

i saw it a couple months ago and we are going tonight to see it again. it is really good

**Blupiper** · 13th March 19, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by Highland Logan

This is on my list to watch. And although I have not seen the film, it is very easy to find that recruitment age was 18. Was this an error, or did the film list this?

Frank

Frank:

I was only quoting what was stated as the minimum enlistment age by those in the interviews in the film. The vets mentioned a couple of times the age of 19 and how easily (and often) that minimum was circumvented.

JMB