They Shall Not Grow Old

 An example of the revolutionary update of the original film

I had wanted to see this film since its release last November and missed it in California where I spent Christmas at my daughter’s. The film’s two screenings near her, were sold out, days before the due date. But, at last, it came to Brugge on Sunday May 12^th and it didn’t disappoint!

They Shall Not Grow Old is a staggering technical achievement; Peter Jackson used the WW1 film archives of the Imperial War Museum and by some technological/digital restoration and skilful colouring, managed to translate the old black, grey and white, faded photographs and film of century-old ghosts into rounded, almost contemporary visuals of living soldiers complete with colour. It really was amazing to see the undersized, underfed, deferential rookies put through six weeks of strenuous training during which all gained weight and some gained height! The first part and the closing demobilisation sequences retained their black and white but the colour of the main part of the film, much of which was of rarely-seen battle sequences showing the horrors of Nomansland, and of countless bodies torn to pieces and scattered across churned-up earth and deep mud,

 Rest and relaxation, behind the lines.

added a horrible immediacy and authenticity. More than anything I have ever seen, the unspeakable nature of close combat, the blind terror and urgency of battle, followed by long fallow periods of ‘housekeeping’ and comradely joking about, were conveyed in heart-stopping, often sickening, sequences. Strangely enough, the intensely close relationships among the men amounting almost to love, was the overwhelming sensation felt by a spectator who was drawn in, emotionally. Captured German soldiers were treated well, with the strong emotions of fellow sufferers who instinctively knew, and empathised with the experiences and predicament of their erstwhile enemies, transparently evident.

 Post-gas attack, 1918

There was no narration; Jackson decided to use only audio excerpts from the 600 hours of BBC and Imperial War Museum interviews. The interviews came from 200 veterans with the voices of 120 being used in the film, their names recorded at the end of the film. Peter Jackson said that he wanted the film to be “120 men telling a single story” and for this reason, names of regiments and locations of battles were not included. This is the story of what it was like to be a British Tommy on the Western Front. The result is a moving and haunting narrative of ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances, maintaining unbelievable levels of cheerful acceptance of concentrated and horrifying experiences punctuated by filth and tedium and rats. Such ordinary, extraordinary men in what effectively became an extended brotherhood, demonstrated in word and deed, sustained care and love for each other. Distressingly, we learn that many, many of those not numbered among the one million dead, came home to vanished jobs, and friends and family who not only knew nothing of the privations and horrors experienced, but who did not want to know. Silence and stoicism from the ex-combatants were demanded.

Miraculous transformation.

The closing credits of the film feature an extended version of the song " Mademoiselle from Armentieres", which was particularly popular during the war. The audience learns that the film is dedicated to Jackson’s grandfather who fought and died in WW1. The title was inspired by the line "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old" from the 1914 elegy, "For the Fallen" by  Lawrence Binyon.

 

 Celebration.

Extract from For The Fallen:

They went with songs to the battle, they were young, 

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. 

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted; 

They fell with their faces to the foe.

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.

Lawrence Binyon