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They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) N
A World War I documentary whose main selling point is the restored and colored old film footage. I generally prefer "old school" documents that are more like lectures but They Shall Not Grow Old is among the better and more effective examples of the other type.
First I have to say that I'm slightly disappointed that only about half of the film is made up from the advertised colored material while the rest is either black-and-white film and stills or drawings. The narrative is hasty and extremely vague on historical level but it works from more individual or humane perspective. I like how it emphasizes the differences between then and now, both in good and bad.
Some of the restored footage looks really good and it doesn't shy away from the brutality of WWI. Imagery from and around the trenches is nightmarish but also, as improper as it may be to say so when speaking of real dead people, grotesquely beautiful. Sometimes the footage looks exactly like an old movie and only the men looking straight into the camera reminds me of its reality.
At times it feels like They Shall Not Grow Old leaves something out just to keeps its narrative intact (like before the armistice there's no mention of the intensified fighting in the end) but it's not exactly political. It doesn't really tell that much of the war itself but it offers an interesting glimpse to the men who fought there.
A World War I documentary whose main selling point is the restored and colored old film footage. I generally prefer "old school" documents that are more like lectures but They Shall Not Grow Old is among the better and more effective examples of the other type.
First I have to say that I'm slightly disappointed that only about half of the film is made up from the advertised colored material while the rest is either black-and-white film and stills or drawings. The narrative is hasty and extremely vague on historical level but it works from more individual or humane perspective. I like how it emphasizes the differences between then and now, both in good and bad.
Some of the restored footage looks really good and it doesn't shy away from the brutality of WWI. Imagery from and around the trenches is nightmarish but also, as improper as it may be to say so when speaking of real dead people, grotesquely beautiful. Sometimes the footage looks exactly like an old movie and only the men looking straight into the camera reminds me of its reality.
At times it feels like They Shall Not Grow Old leaves something out just to keeps its narrative intact (like before the armistice there's no mention of the intensified fighting in the end) but it's not exactly political. It doesn't really tell that much of the war itself but it offers an interesting glimpse to the men who fought there.