They Shall Not Grow Old ★★★★
LUCKILY Peter Jackson doesn’t do things by halves.
Several years ago Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, was asked by the BBC and Imperial War Museum to produce a documentary to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the First World War’s end.
The result is likely beyond their greatest expectations with They Shall Not Grow Old being premiered on 11 November 2018 at special cinema screenings around the World.
New Zealander Jackson has family members who fought in the War and approached the documentary as not just a personal project but a public duty to help ensure the lessons of the past continue to reverberate through the consciousness of current and future generations.
He decided to use new technology to bring old, scratchy black and white imagery to vibrant life for modern audiences while at the same time not losing the essence of the sentiments and realities of the time a century ago.
Jackson’s crew painstakingly examined hundreds of hours of footage, uncovering never-before-seen images along the way, to build a narrative flow.
It tells the story of the War from the soldier’s intimate perspective and in their own words, from sign-up, through training, life in the trenches, the horrors of combat and finally the surrender and their difficult return to civilian life.
Digital restoration enhanced the footage and the editing process sought to capture the progression and rhythm of the soldiers’ lives and daily routine.
A team of lip readers was also employed to identify the spoken words where possible from the films and actors provided the dialogue.
Finally, authentic colourisation was added to the majority of the documentary.
What could have been seen as a cynical way of making money, is instead a supremely good judgement on Jackson’s part to add humanity and power to important images and themes that are in constant danger of being lost through the march of time and technology.
The film begins with the familiar square framing of old but newly crisp restored footage from England before the start of hostilities.
The commentary is provided by veterans who talk about the mystery, adventure and patriotic appeal of joining the army as a way of halting for a short while the mundane nature of their daily lives.
There is initial humour in the enlistment process and physical training, but the introduction of weaponry and sustained marches also starts to build apprehension.
When the men arrive in France and are about to the enter the front-line tranches that will become their homes, in some cases for years, and graves for many, the frame width increases with the introduction of the newly colourised footage which continues throughout the majority of the documentary until the survivors finally leave for home four years later.
Use of the colour footage does not diminish in any way the depictions of war and the impact of its horrors on the individual and the collective psyche of entire nations.
Some of the most telling moments are captured by the veterans in their commentary on the attitudes when they returned home to be counted by people who knew nothing of their experiences and, in many cases, did not want to know, preferring to put all consideration of the war and man’s inhumane side behind them.
Luckily Jackson’s brilliant documentary will help ensure that doesn’t happen and we continue to learn from people we can see and hear from the past who sacrificed everything.