Saw it at Beckenham (no cinema in Bromley) which had sold out as had Orpington, suggesting someone underestimated the interest in this film.
It's not a history of the war and as Jackson said it focuses on just the solider on the western front.
The whole film is narrated by veterans, recorded in the 60s and 70s, with their voices played over film footage and in some cases illustrations from the time. That really works well.
The colourisation is fantastic but, for me, the correction of the speed of the old film was just as important.
The colour does show how young the many volunteers were (15 or 16 in some cases but even 18 or 19 is still young) and just how poor their teeth were.
It is gruesome but it is also funny and bawdy and not just about the relatively short time soldiers spent in the front line compared to time in back areas.
I think the IWM are showing it for free in October and it's then on TV on Armistice Day. Watch it.
My Marternal Grandmother,s brother(who came from Woolwich) died in April 1918 after being wounded. I never new what he looked like,never seen any photos. Could be in one of the film clips. His name was Percy Povey, lived in Greenlaw Place,near Woolwich Dockyard Station.
We have our Armistice, 100 year ceremony at the Greenhithe & Swanscombe Royal British Legion, obvs 11/11, last post ceremony at 11:00 & 18:00. Cheap bar, All day entertainment and hot food available, in the evening after last post ceremony, we have an outside cinema screen with a short film on WW1, and other related topics. Fireworks and choir, as well as evening entertainment.
Saw it on Sunday at Greenwich picture house. Excellently done. As said, funny, bawdy, but also very poignant and sad. Tells it like it was, no flounce. The timeline is very simple - war starts, boys sign up, get trained, go to the front, attack, defend, have fun, then the big push. Lots die. Then war is over, and they go home. But to what? The last spoken line really brings it home (or did to me) - "I thought you'd been on nights!"
Saw it on Sunday at Greenwich picture house. Excellently done. As said, funny, bawdy, but also very poignant and sad. Tells it like it was, no flounce. The timeline is very simple - war starts, boys sign up, get trained, go to the front, attack, defend, have fun, then the big push. Lots die. Then war is over, and they go home. But to what? The last spoken line really brings it home (or did to me) - "I thought you'd been on nights!"
Will watch again this Sunday on BBC...
Sounds excellent. Will watch in Sunday. Thanks also for given us a warning about what the last spoken line in the film is!!
Saw it on Sunday at Greenwich picture house. Excellently done. As said, funny, bawdy, but also very poignant and sad. Tells it like it was, no flounce. The timeline is very simple - war starts, boys sign up, get trained, go to the front, attack, defend, have fun, then the big push. Lots die. Then war is over, and they go home. But to what? The last spoken line really brings it home (or did to me) - "I thought you'd been on nights!"
Will watch again this Sunday on BBC...
Sounds excellent. Will watch in Sunday. Thanks also for given us a warning about what the last spoken line in the film is!!
This , of course , will sound stupid - But how do they know the colours? Is the sound exactly from film or is it ‘arctisctic represestation’ Of what they thought it would sound like?
This , of course , will sound stupid - But how do they know the colours? Is the sound exactly from film or is it ‘arctisctic represestation’ Of what they thought it would sound like?
I don't know the detail but jackson spent a lot of time in Belgium and France looking at that colours, uniforms will be researchable.
This , of course , will sound stupid - But how do they know the colours? Is the sound exactly from film or is it ‘arctisctic represestation’ Of what they thought it would sound like?
All I can say is that it seemed realistic. Maybe a few colours and sounds were wrong here and there but it didn't matter in the context of the film.
Its sad and makes you feel angry to hear that a lot of men were turned away from employment after the war, nor did anyone want to hear about what happened yet if they hadnt gone they'd have been regarded as cowards and marked with a white feather
I was completely amazed at this film, I was also very saddened and in tears on a few occasions. We saw the horrors of war in front of our eyes, not actors, but real people dying. The scene where the horses were killed by artillery was just horrific. As an ex-squadie I have no idea how the troops kept their 'bawdy' sense of humor in such awful conditions. Laughing as they spoke of 4 of them going for a dump (no toilets, just a hole in the ground with a pole stretched across it, where you went for a communal dump) when the pole snapped and they fell into the cesspit!! The way they were then treated when they came home was disgusting and a slight on our government of the day. Thank you to all that served and to those that made the ultimate sacrifice. RIP to all of you.
I was completely amazed at this film, I was also very saddened and in tears on a few occasions. We saw the horrors of war in front of our eyes, not actors, but real people dying. The scene where the horses were killed by artillery was just horrific. As an ex-squadie I have no idea how the troops kept their 'bawdy' sense of humor in such awful conditions. Laughing as they spoke of 4 of them going for a dump (no toilets, just a hole in the ground with a pole stretched across it, where you went for a communal dump) when the pole snapped and they fell into the cesspit!! The way they were then treated when they came home was disgusting and a slight on our government of the day. Thank you to all that served and to those that made the ultimate sacrifice. RIP to all of you.
Completely agree.vtge film brought it home in a way that previous documentaries using the stock footage in black and white just couldn't quite. Regarding the humour, you'll probably know this too, but I've got a few mates who served in Iraq and Afghanistan,and their humour is as dark as anything. Probably the only thing keeping them sane.
Comments
It's not a history of the war and as Jackson said it focuses on just the solider on the western front.
The whole film is narrated by veterans, recorded in the 60s and 70s, with their voices played over film footage and in some cases illustrations from the time. That really works well.
The colourisation is fantastic but, for me, the correction of the speed of the old film was just as important.
The colour does show how young the many volunteers were (15 or 16 in some cases but even 18 or 19 is still young) and just how poor their teeth were.
It is gruesome but it is also funny and bawdy and not just about the relatively short time soldiers spent in the front line compared to time in back areas.
I think the IWM are showing it for free in October and it's then on TV on Armistice Day. Watch it.
new what he looked like,never seen any photos. Could be in one of the film clips. His name was Percy Povey, lived in Greenlaw Place,near Woolwich Dockyard Station.
On the 11th of November
Will watch again this Sunday on BBC...
But how do they know the colours?
Is the sound exactly from film or is it ‘arctisctic represestation’ Of what they thought it would sound like?
Also available on iPlayer for a week. My kids have been talking about it so it seems to interesting/reaching school aged children.
What a beautiful thing to put together for the soldiers that lost their lives in the war.
The best movie of 2018 by a long way .
Wow
Thanks though both to them and the near 1 million people (not just from this island) who lost their lives for us to have ours.!
Warts an all footage where I just kept repeating 'this is real film not actors'.
Just epic stuff, well done Peter Jackson
The way they were then treated when they came home was disgusting and a slight on our government of the day.
Thank you to all that served and to those that made the ultimate sacrifice. RIP to all of you.