The Ultimate Sacrifice: A review of "They Shall Not Grow Old"

As a teacher, I sometime notice that my students struggle with finding common ground with historical events or figures. They think of them as old people, especially due to the black and white photos or the oil paintings recreating certain events. As a student myself, I had some of the same struggles. When we really look at the timeline of major events that shaped our world, it starts to become more clear that some of these events are closer to the present than what we realized. This highlights one of the reasons why They Shall Not Grow Old was created.

The problem that some have with war documentaries is that they appear to be more of the same: a few shots of grainy film mixed with interviews with war veterans. While this has been beneficial to war historians and history buffs, the formula feels stale to some mainstream film viewers. 14- 18 NOW and Imperial War Museums wanted to commission someone to take the hours of archival footage and interviews and put them into a uniquely formatted documentary to highlight the sacrifices that many gave during World War I. While working with the BBC, one name seemed to have emerged and agreed to take on the project. That name was legendary director, Peter Jackson.

When director Peter Jackson (King Kong, The Lord Of the Rings, Hobbit) was thinking about how to present the hundreds of hours of footage from World War I, he thought about how to present it to the audience to help it feel more alive. Along with the restoration of the quality of the film, Jackson also hired a crew to add color to the film. While Jackson may make this process sound simple, one must remember that they had to work with footage that was captured 100 years ago. Also, this footage did not have audio so they had to replicate as much as they could without robbing the footage of its authenticity. Which reminds me that was another was another stipulation that was placed on Jackson and his crew: they could not use footage or imagery that was not from their archival footage, audio from interviews done decades prior or publications from that era.

So, how was the film itself? They Shall Not Grow Old is a film that requires you to exercise patience at the very beginning. From the whistling melody of the background music to the even keel narrator, the film give an initial impression that would remind you of old war films of yesteryear. As the footage starts to become clearer and the color starts to fill in, you start to become more drawn into the film. You are presented with stories of young men rushing into the war. As the film transitioned from the city to the battle fields, you can feel that the soldiers started to realized that this is more than the romantic image they had about war. When the film introduced graphic images and audio descriptions of battle, the documentary becomes harder to bear because you hear the terror that soldiers had to witness as they fought to get the enemy and to live a little while longer. You see snapshots of soldiers who were once smiling, now laying dead in a trench hit by a grenade. As the audience, we bear witness to a glimpse of the sheer brutality of this war and it become more apparent the sacrifice so many gave on the battlefield. Towards the end, you are met with a solemn conclusion. The war is over but no true victory is felt. Yes, the enemy was fought back into submission but at what cost? Soldiers return home but to a welcome that doesn’t seem fit for the heroes they are. The film shows you without telling you that war is the means to an end but those ends still leave many broken.

One of the things I appreciate about the film is also something I also wished that Peter would’ve done differently. The story is solely laid on the young men who fought for the British and this allowed him to tell a focused story. While that was the case, the story did have some lulls that made the film feel long at times. If you get a chance to see the behind the scenes vignette that Peter Jackson made for the film, you could see that he had multiple angles that he could have also explored during the film. One perspective was of the women left behind to help run the country in the absence of the men who left to fight. Changing up to a secondary story from time to time could of help some of the flow of the film.

Final Thoughts

The powerful message above all is that our past should be held to high regard. In order for us as a human race to move forward, we have to learn from the mistakes and experiences of our forefathers. War never have winners, just a side that has suffered less lost than the other. In order for us to remember that war should only be the last effort, we must remember how much we lose as humans when war does exist. Making a documentary that is easier for the average film watcher to connect to the soldiers is very impactful. Instead of seeing strangers in blurry videos, you see high definition film in color that remind you of a friend or family member. You see emotions that resonate with you beyond the screen. Then you remember that most of these individuals never made it home.

If my review has captured your interest, click play on the trailer to get a glimpse of the beautiful work that Jackson and his studio was able to do with the archival footage. To learn more about 14-18 NOW, check out their website: https://www.1418now.org.uk/ and to learn more about the Imperial War Museum, check out their site as well: https://www.iwm.org.uk/ .