They Shall Not Grow Old : THE Documentary of The Great War
The print Zub Alert served a community ‘zine for us, Adrienne and Steve, to share our enthusiasms for our pop culture discoveries in the old media world. We will continue in that spirit to share our thoughts and experiences for things we think are worth your time and attention. When we see something we like, we’ll say something, even when there is not a clear relation to music. This essay is an example of that broader embrace.
They Shall Not Grow Old: THE Documentary of the Great War
It’s not often that I go see a movie in the theater, or can honestly tell you it was a privilege to see a movie, or see a film that made me silently (and openly) weep on multiple occasions. I am, of course, discussing They Shall Not Grow Old, the breathtaking World War I documentary directed by Peter Jackson, the New Zealander responsible for The Lord Of The Rings movies.
I’m not sure if the correct word for what Jackson has done with this film is directed or perhaps assembled. Under the auspices of the British Imperial War Museum, he was tasked to make a film using the hundreds of hours of celluloid shot of British troops during the war. The idea was to have a movie for the Armistice Day centennial (100 years from the 11th hour of the 11th Day of the 11th month, 1918).
Jackson spent four years compiling this movie, and it shows. This is not a Ken Burns style documentary. There are no narrators or historians, and the strategy and tactics of the war are not discussed. The only voices heard are from hundreds of hours of interviews the BBC conducted with British World War I vets.
So the story is really about the individual British soldier and his experiences during the war. The outbreak of war, chaps signing up, and basic training in The British Army are all shown in black and white. It was astounding to hear how many underage soldiers signed up, just teenagers.
When the soldiers disembark in France, there is a WOW moment to top all cinematic wow moments.The footage turns full color and pristine, a la Wizard Of Oz. All of a sudden it practically looks like a modern war movie, such as Dunkirk. They then move to the front and the trenches and everyday life is discussed in detail, from horrible food to even worse latrines, trench foot, lice, rats, and the ever-raining artillery and gas attacks.
Finally the soldiers, with the help of new-fangled Tanks (soldiers thought they were water tanks!) prepare to go over the top of the trenches and attack. This is a truly horrifying part of the film, with the carnage reaching maximum levels. Jackson does not flinch in showing the dead, blown-up, or rotting bodies.
There are a few segments where the soldiers talk about their German counterparts, quickly realizing they were much the same. Hungry, cold, frightened, underage and not wanting to be there. The captured German soldiers appear happy to be out of the trenches and help their British enemies.
Without much explaining, the war is over and the troops all think what now? Many of them have known nothing but war. The ending of the movie deals with the vets coming home to a depressed Britain, with no jobs and no prospects. The vets realize no one can understand truly what they went through. They all seem to realize the futility of the whole war.
Over a million British men died fighting World War I.
They Shall not Grow Old ends with a short how-this-was-made documentary narrated by Peter Jackson. He obviously used the tricks from the Lord Of The Rings movies to clean up the footage. Got it running a the right speed, colorized, and used voice overs to give the soldiers in the clips voices, many of which are “We’re in the pictures!”
There has been some dispute among critics that Jackson may have gone too far in his film restoration. I will link to a couple of articles:
There is a lot of critical blah-blah, but both authors agree that this is the greatest documentary ever made on World War I. I say if it brings new eyes on this fast-fading conflict, the “War to End All Wars,” then Jackson has a smash success on his hands. You MUST see this movie.
--Steve McGowan
From For The Fallen by Laurence Binyon
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
2 comments
This reminded me of my own family's WWI veteran, my great-grandfather. Grampa Klein was from a small town in Iowa, Pella, where most folks came from Holland. Even today the paper's headlines are printed in Dutch as well as English. He was drafted and lost an eye in some WWI battle in Europe, all while in his teens. He never complained about that or even discussed it, but did talk about his regret at not seeing "Holland" while abroad. His division was scheduled to go, but that changed. I always thought the Army owed him at least that for his troubles. He had the clearest, bluest eyes. I was amazed they matched his own so well with the glass one. I am not sure if that speaks of the vastness of the supplies of replacement human parts in the aftermath of the war or to the high level of craftsmanship used to fashion it if it were bespoke. With the WWII generation rapidly leaving us, soon there will be folks who never met a veteran of this great human cataclysms. Still, it speaks to the nearness of this historical events, survivors of these unspeakable being present in our families and homes. A friend in my parents' generation recalls seeing a Civil War veteran being pointed out to him at a country store some time in the 40s. I guess these are the sorts of brushes with history I'd be more than grateful to see become obsolete.
This reminded me of my own family's WWI veteran, my great-grandfather. Grampa Klein was from a small town in Iowa, Pella, where most folks came from Holland. Even today the paper's headlines are printed in Dutch as well as English. He was drafted and lost an eye in some WWI battle in Europe, all while in his teens. He never complained about that or even discussed it, but did talk about his regret at not seeing "Holland" while abroad. His division was scheduled to go, but that changed. I always thought the Army owed him at least that for his troubles. He had the clearest, bluest eyes. I was amazed they matched his own so well with the glass one. I am not sure if that speaks of the vastness of the supplies of replacement human parts in the aftermath of the war or to the high level of craftsmanship used to fashion it if it were bespoke. With the WWII generation rapidly leaving us, soon there will be folks who never met a veteran of this great human cataclysms. Still, it speaks to the nearness of this historical events, survivors of these unspeakable being present in our families and homes. A friend in my parents' generation recalls seeing a Civil War veteran being pointed out to him at a country store some time in the 40s. I guess these are the sorts of brushes with history I'd be more than grateful to see become obsolete.
One of Jackson's points in the mini-doc after the doc is that everyone probably had a family member who participated in WWI. There you go!
One of Jackson's points in the mini-doc after the doc is that everyone probably had a family member who participated in WWI. There you go!
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