They Shall Not Grow Old

[kubandalum]

Originally scheduled for showings in the U.S. only on Dec. 17 & 27, the film “They Shall Not Grow Old” is now scheduled to open on Feb. 1. I saw it on the 27th.

I assume that everyone has seen newsreel clips from the silent film era. They’re not only black-and-white and silent, the film is grainy and scratched, and because of the speed at which they were filmed, they make people appear to move in a jerky, sped-up fashion. Until now that has been a barrier to seeing people in those films as we see people today, or as they saw things themselves. Now we can see some of what they saw.

The British Imperial Museum asked Peter Jackson (“Lord of the Rings”) to make a documentary about World War I. The gave him access to their 100 hours of film shot during the war, and 600 hours of oral-history recordings made during the 1960s and ‘70s. He chose to focus the film on how the British soldiers saw the war, since their experience was typical of how soldiers from all countries saw the war. 100% of the narration of the film is from soldiers who lived through it. He restored the film, corrected the speed,colorized it in meticulous, historical detail, added historically accurate sound, and made it in 3D. (For budget reasons, the parts of the film before they reached the battlefield were not colorized.)

It is profound.

Here’s a clip about how he made the film.

[kubandalum]

More, even better clip:

[Deleted User 62]

Took my dad to the WW1 museum in KC last week.
Pretty freaking good museum.

[DrPepper]

Really really like that museum. I learned so much there that was more than facts and figures. More about the attitudes and the changes in world history and the balance of powers.

[Deleted User 62]

I learned a lot.
I had no idea that the trench warfare dragged on for nearly 4 years with minimal movement in either direction.
Crazy

[jhawks99]

WWI museum is excellent. For more WWI history check out the "Blueprint for Armageddon" series on the Hardcore History podcast.

[Deleted User 62]

I will, thanks!