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.