Peter Jackson’s stirring documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old, breathes new life into century-old archival footage of the First World War.
Best known for Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Jackson was approached in 2015 by the Imperial War Museum to make a documentary to mark the centenary of Armistice Day in 2018.
The one condition was that he use only the museum’s 100 hours of archival footage for the film, much never before seen publicly.
Utilizing groundbreaking computer technology, Jackson and his team were able to work their wizardry and yield astonishingly sharpened and colourized footage. It was re-timed and slowed to a smoother, more natural speed, eliminating the “herky-jerky” movements normally seen in old newsreels and other documentaries.
Although a documentary, no narration is used in the film: every word spoken comes from the soldiers themselves. Six hundred hours of original BBC radio interviews with First World War survivors were used to shape the story; lip readers and regional voice actors helped recreate the dialogue from the mouths of featured soldiers. They discuss their feelings about the conflict, food, friends, and dreams for the future.
Jackson wanted to make a film that was not about the war, but about the people who were in it. He brings incredible humanity to the conflict in a depiction we have never seen before.
The Sunshine Coast Film Society screens They Shall Not Grow Old on Remembrance Day, Monday, Nov. 11 and Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the Gibsons Heritage Playhouse and Saturday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. at the Raven’s Cry Theatre in Sechelt.
SCFS members: $5. Single event membership: add $4. All annual memberships & Gibsons tickets can be purchased online at www.scfs.ca or at the doors. Sechelt tickets available at the door.
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