They Shall Not Grow Old - WW1
Heard about this film yet? Peter Jackson's colorized WW1 footage. It only has two release dates. I'm taking my dad (88) and my sons (21 and 11) to see it tomorrow night. In light of discussions about famous pipe smokers/archetypes - there is some great footage hear of foot soldiers in the Great War puffing on pipes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrabKK9Bhds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrabKK9Bhds
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I was raised with a healthy dose of the impact every war has had on our family.
As young men, both of my grandfathers were infantrymen sent to Europe with the A.E.F. in WWI and as older men were called in to service immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor for a short time at the beginning of WWII to protect the eastern seaboard. As the military was mobilized, both grandfathers were sent home and both were old enough to send their own sons into active duty. One uncle served/survived as a pilot in the Pacific theater and a second served in the 10th Mountain division on ski patrol in the Italian alps (wounded and sent home for the remainder of the war and injured for life).
My dad was too young for WW2 and was serving on merchant transport vessels during Korea. He turns 88 this week and still flies an American flag every single day. Throwing in a pic of my Pop. He smokes his pipe all day with a great aromatic that reminds you of every grandfather you've ever met.
Interestingly, notice that the rim has been beat repeatedly and displays several parallel striations. When I received it, they had sharp V-shaped grooves (I wish I had not polished them down, too late now). If its’ history is to be believed, I can imagine a soldier with his rifle across his lap...bayonet fixed, tapping his ash out on the bayonet edge, brutalizing the rim in the process.
I hope the film comes out digitally before Memorial Day which I believe would be a better time to watch it.
For some reason I was drawn more into the history of WWII than other wars and I've read numerous books about the European and Pacific campaigns. For the past year or so, I've been doing more reading about the cluster-fornifacation that was Korea and I believe actually led to the US disaster in Vietnam. As for WWI, the most I've read about it was about the use of aircraft and the dogfights. What some of those pilots did was amazing because the slow speed of the aircraft allowed for the close air-to-air combat.
I base most of my theater experiences on films worth viewing on a big screen (and in a crowd). In this case, I'm glad I saw it in a theater with a crowd.
Peter Jackson introduces the film and how/why it was commissioned by the Imperial War Museum and then invites the audience to stick around to see "how it was made." The after show was worth the price of admission all by itself. Jackson talks about why this film was important to him and why he limited his scope in the film to the life of trench warfare.
Overall Impression: It was beautifully restored and essentially follows the life of a typical Brit who joins the war effort, goes through induction, training and deployment to the trenches of France/Belgium. It depicts the death, disease and disorder of life in the trenches and then the devastation of rushing through "no-man's land" for hand to hand combat. It also communicates the camaraderie of soldiers and the thrill of battle (or as one said: "a great camping trip with a few lads and a lot of danger").
Content: Jackson explains why the scope was so narrow (focusing on the life of a Brit in the trench essentially mimics the experience of an American, Canadian, Kiwi, French, etc...). He also explains that the project was too overwhelming to include the story of air warfare, sea warfare, the working women who stepped up to factory life or what life was like in general on the British home front.
Technical filming: The colorization and stabilization was really good. Sound effects brought the war to life. Lastly, the soundtrack consists of interviews from British WW1 vets that were audibly recorded in the 1960s and 70s. It was a bit eery to hear and see the footage from soldiers who were alive at the time of the filming.
Takeaway: As a 50yr old man who has not served in the military, it was a joy to sit in the theater with a crowd of mostly men 70+ years old watching history together. My dad spent the aftermath telling stories from WW1 and WW2 to my boys who went with us. He even has my grandfather's AEF uniform from 1917 at his home.
PS - if you want to see soldiers marching with pipes - this is your film.