Movie: They Shall Not Grow Old

[CameronCat]

You may have heard of this Peter Jackson documentary -- it's WW I on film, completely composed of archive film from a variety of UK and "empire" sources. I saw it today; it's pretty amazing. The "story" follows what happened (or might have) to a British lad who enlisted and was sent to the Western Front. In turns it's touching, graphic, insightful and horrifying. There are several scenes showing kilted soldiers going about the normal business of soldiering in trenches, etc. The colorized footage is accompanied by narration taken from letters and dispatches sent by soldiers (and read by military members), plus a stunning sound track specially made to accompany the work.

The actual war footage and story lasts maybe 90 minutes. Those who stay through the end credits ("filmed on location in France, 1914-1918...") are rewarded with an additional 20 minutes or so of Mr. Jackson discussing the work and how they achieved what they did. (Consider selecting and editing from over 100 hrs of source film plus over 600 hours of narration.) His production values (attention to detail and "sweating the small stuff") are phenomenal. It shows in the final cut.

Right now the film is in very limited release by Fathom Events (fathomevents.com); I only learned of it showing locally through a film-nut friend. You may have to hunt to find it. It is owned by Warner Bros. so let's hope the distribution gets some legs and more people can see it. A lot of people need to see it. Note: this isn't one for the kids or the squeamish. War is hell.

[California Highlander]

I saw a couple of preview trailers of the movie and it's really so amazing what he and his team have done. Much more than just colorized. They have adjusted the frame rates and really make it "contemporary" while keeping the original footage. Amazing really. I hope it gets a larger release! In the US it's just two days. :-(

[figheadair]

It's a superb film that truly brings home the gruesome nature of war, and that war in particular. But there are many lighter moments and it's a facinating piece of social commentary. I was particularly struck by the poor quality of many of the soldiers' teeth which were so bad that they would preclude military service today. The reality was so very different from the Hollywood depictions.

[Jock Scot]

Thank you for bringing the film to my attention, I will endeavour to hunt it out.

[figheadair]

Thank you for bringing the film to my attention, I will endeavour to hunt it out.

Jock, it was BBC iPlayer for a while around Remembrance but is no longer available. Presumably it's in their archive somewhere.

[Jock Scot]

Jock, it was BBC iPlayer for a while around Remembrance but is no longer available. Presumably it's in their archive somewhere.

Aha! Thank you Peter. I will gather up the hounds and move them over to draw that particular covert.

[neloon]

An excellent film. Clarifies some of the things my father told me of his time in the trenches.

Alan