Dispatches from Home – “They Shall Never Grow Old.”

Evenin’ Gaters! Last week, I was off to see the Wizard. This week I was at the battles of Verdun, the Somme, and the Marne, along with countless nameless soldiers. I saw “They Shall Never Grow Old,” this afternoon at the picture show. Amazing piece of celluloid it is indeed!

The movie’s first ten or so minutes show archival WWI film, in all its grainy, black-and-white glory. But when the movie goes from that to brilliant color and pristine footage, the change is breathtaking. “The Making Of “was almost as amazing as the movie itself. The director, Peter Jackson, has done a spectacular job of cleaning up 100-year-old film coverage from the BBC archives and the Imperial War Museum.

The reminiscences of WWI soldiers, which were recorded in the ’60s and ’70s, are the movie’s only dialogue. Some of it is amusing, causing me to laugh out loud. Some of it brought tears to my eyes. The same can be said for the film footage as well.

If you want to watch a movie filled with gratuitous sex and violence, inane dialogue, and a thin plot…this ain’t your show. But if you wish to see WWI as it really was, narrated by those who lived through it, and as viewed through the imaginative prism of Mr. Jackson’s genius, then, by all means, check out this show.

Later History-Loving-Gaters.

(Originally posted February 6, 2019)