JQuintana
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I would love to watch it but can wait until it hits Netflix. I think this one will mainly appeal to older veterans and historians vs. mainstream moviegoers.
There has been an awful lot of misinformation perpetuated in the marketing of this film, most of it by Peter Jackson himself. Just for starters, neither he nor his team restored anything: all the footage used was fully restored by the Imperial War Museum years ago. The films cannibalised for this quasi-documentary were originally shot in various slightly differing aspect ratios, all roughly corresponding to the Academy standard. They were shot in dangerous, adverse conditions by top british directors and cinematographers of the time, all of whom are fully recorded. But their names have been completely airbrushed from Jackson's finished work.
We are led to believe that Jackson personally discovered this decrepit, scrappy old footage and resurrected it from the depths of mouldering anonymity. Not true: what he did do was severely crop and edit the carefully composed and edited original restored images, subject them to extreme degraining and DNR, then wave his magic 3D and colorizing wand all over them. So much for honouring original directorial intent. And that's not all.
I urge anyone interested in this film to read these two pieces by friends of mine, which will provide a much more rounded viewpoint than the marketing hype:
I'm well aware of all the potential benefits of a project like this, and anything that puts the true suffering and sacrifices of war on the forefront of the agenda is a good thing. However, for no good reason, this has been carried out in a very disingenuous and disrespectful manner.
- They Shall Not Grow Old and the Elephant in the Room by Lawrence Napper
- They Shall Not Grow Old Honours Veterans But Not the Archive by Pamela Hutchinson
In fairness, I haven't seen the 30-minute documentary, only a preview screening of the main feature and numerous promo videos, press releases and new articles. All of those, including some linked previously in this thread, clearly posit the notions I stated above.The 30-minute post-film documentary doesn't claim anything different than what you just did here. Jackson lays out what he was commissioned to do by the IWM, and his reasons for choosing to present the footage they chose for this specific documentary in the manner that they did. Nowhere does he claim that they alone are responsible for restoring all of this footage or that the manner in which they present the footage (frame rate adjustment, colorization, cropped images/designed camera movements per modern sensibilities, 3D, etc.) is itself a "restoration".
Jackson's intent is for a stirring of emotions towards the individuals that served, not archival. Archival work was not the goal of this film, nor was it what the IWM commissioned Jackson to do for them.
it is, however, a little surprising to find it so uncritically received on a forum ostensibly dedicated to original aspect ratios, non-redubbed (or fabricated) audio, anti-colorization (I'm not!), directors' intent, etc.
I simply think it could have been done with a lot more honesty and transparency. it is, however, a little surprising to find it so uncritically received on a forum ostensibly dedicated to original aspect ratios, non-redubbed (or fabricated) audio, anti-colorization (I'm not!), directors' intent, etc.
I'm so disappointed - it looks like this is only screening in NYC on Monday, and I work on Monday. Every single showtime falls within my working ours. So, Fathom has done three different showings for this and all have been while I was at work. Sigh...
Yeah, I watched this when it was in limited run back in January. I was impressed, but I didn't realize it was only about Brit troops which kind of disappointed me as I wanted to hear some American stories too.Saw it today thanks to A-List.
I thought it was a technically tremendous film. The end result of cleaning up the old footage was stunning
The film itself is a pretty straightforward account of British life in the trenches on the western front during WW1.
Hearing the actual soldiers telling their stories with the accompanying images on the screen in color and 3D was quite intimate and powerful.