They Shall Not Grow Old - Review Thread

I really want to see this, been on my radar for a while now.

The career of Peter Jackson has, to me, been a wholly interesting one that's a lot more diverse than I feel people generally give him credit for.  Say what you will about his post-Lord of the Rings output, from the total misfire of The Lovely Bones to the bloated Hobbit films, but Jackson has always been much more than a big budget, spectacle filmmaker along the lines of Spielberg or Cameron.  His earliest efforts could be described as delightful shlock, and I mean that as a fan of Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles, and Dead Alive, until arriving at his breakthrough film Heavenly Creatures, the film that undoubtedly was the one that landed him the confidence from executives to spearhead The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  After making Heavenly Creatures, Jackson released a little seen mockumentary called Forgotten Silver, which was a clever film about Jackson and a small team "discovering" the "lost footage" of a Colin McKenzie, who essentially acted as New Zealand's D.W. Griffith and possibly was the one who truly gave birth to cinema.  Forgotten Silver was filled with clever nods to silent era filmmaking, showing off Jackson's cinematic knowledge, as well as interesting discussions on film preservation and how cinema's past has arrived us to where we sit now.  It's a bit tough to track down, but I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Jackson's latest work, They Shall Not Grow Old, a film which also dabbles in those ideas but also being a much larger and impressive project.  To commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I, Jackson was tasked with sorting through hours and hours of archival footage of The Great War and was prompted to do something innovative with it.  To say that Jackson accomplished that innovation is an understatement, as he and his team have flexed their post-production muscles generally used for the large scale projects he's known for and brought them to this wonderful documentary.  Frame rates which were all over the place have been altered to provide a smoother, more realistic feeling.  Rich color saturates the screen during the footage of the actual warfare.  Sound has been implemented to enhance the visceral feeling of being in the trenches with these British soldiers.  What Jackson and his team have accomplished here actually transcends mere film preservation and has brought World War I to life in a way I've never experienced before.  Not only is They Shall Not Grow Old a beautiful tribute to those who served in The Great War, but it marks a game-changing achievement in documentary work and film preservation that will likely serve as the most pristine model for others to follow.

Obviously when tackling a subject as broad as World War I and without the time of a Ken Burns documentary series, Jackson had to have a perennial focus to latch onto so that the film didn't stretch itself too thin attempting to cover everything.  Jackson then has fixed Sauron's eye to the British soldiers' experience, from their recruitment to their training to the warfare to their return home.  While some will feel dismayed that They Shall Not Grow Old is limited in its perspective, I found this to be a great strength of the film because the viewer is fully immersed in the most important elements of the war and we aren't jumping back-and-forth between the Front and the politics going on in London or America or Germany.  It's where the most interesting and exciting drama is unfolding, and you don't leave those moments for lesser ones.  And when the film really does get going with the soldiers marching off to war, it switches from black-and-white to color in perhaps the most visceral fashion since Dorothy landed in Oz.  Jackson and his team's color restoration is astoundingly detailed, and coupled with the 3D and frame rate smoothing it's just staggering to be viewing this 100-year-old footage with such clarity.  The film largely centers on the trench warfare and the life of a soldier within the trenches.  Jackson weaves from moments of exhilarating battle and its horrific aftermaths to jovial moments of soldiers finding ways to pass the time.  There's certainly a genuine sense of admiration that Jackson has for his subjects, and some of the lighter moments of the film also prove to be some of its most effective.  Equally powerful are the scenes depicting the British soldiers reflecting on winning the war and meeting their German enemies, only to find that they're far more similar than different and are also just victims of government power using these men as tools to further greedy, selfish ambitions.  All of this culminates in the soldiers returning to London, only to find that there's little gratitude from anyone for the hardships they've endured and the great sacrifices they made.  They even met hostile reactions from potential employers and civilians who felt they were a bunch of immoral anarchists that can't contribute to normal society.  Jackson doesn't harp on this for long, and he never hammers the viewer with an anti-war sentiment, but he certainly leads you in the direction of wondering what all of this bloodshed was even for, especially after spending so much time with these soldiers in the trenches.

They Shall Not Grow Old is one of the greatest achievements ever accomplished in both documentary filmmaking and film preservation.  It's a striking testament to what we can do with celluloid in our digital workflow while also remaining true to the spirit of when the footage was initially captured.  This proved to be the perfect next project for Peter Jackson, who was well documented as being entirely burnt out by The Hobbit films and has endured some largely unfair criticisms in his post-Lord of the Rings career.  While this on the surface is a "smaller" project for Jackson, what he's accomplished here is a staggering achievement for cinema that I hope will receive the recognition it rightfully deserves.  Aside from his masterpiece The Lord of the Rings trilogy, this is Jackson's best work to date and I'm extremely enthusiastic about him potentially tackling more projects like this.  They Shall Not Grow Old is one of the best films of the decade, and one of the best documentaries of all time.

9/10

Fathom just announced a third screening for Monday January 21st. Go see it.

I'd like to see this at some point.

I saw it in 2D. I don't think 3D would have added much more to it.

In the parking lot now after leaving.

So glad I saw this in the theater. One of my favorite docs I've ever seen.

Interesting movie, but nothing I'll really remember some time down the road.

7/10