News and tests about board games, games and entertainmentNews and tests about board games, games and entertainmentNews and tests about board games, games and entertainment
  • Home
  • board Games
    • News
    • Board game reviews
    • Crowdfunding
    • top list
    • Inside
    • Buy games
      • Top 50: board games
      • Offers
      • Popular board games
      • Games Dealer
      • Games: tests and reviews
  • video Games
    • News
    • games scene
    • Gaming tests
    • Game tips
    • Gaming accessories
    • Hardware tests
  • top issuesTrends
    • Grand Theft AutoTop
    • Star Wars
    • Disney Lorcan
    • Lord of the Rings
    • World of Warcraft
    • Marvel
    • Cyberpunk 2077
    • WWE
    • Nintendo SwitchTop
    • Blizzard
    • Playstation
  • films and series
    • News
    • Movie review
  • Books
    • News
    • Book review
  • Amusement
  • EventsTrade Shows
    • News
    • GAME in Essen
    • Play!
    • Toy fair in Nuremberg
    • Gamescom in Cologne
    • CCXP Cologne
  • warcraft rumble
  • Disney Lorcan
  • Star Wars
  • Star Wars Unlimited
  • Asmodee
  • Ravensburger
  • Kosmos
  • Pegasus Spiele
  • Contact
  • The game editors
  • Media-Kit.
  • Legal Notice
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contest Rules
  • We're looking for you
Sign In
Notification Show More
Font resizerAa
Font resizerAa
News and tests about board games, games and entertainmentNews and tests about board games, games and entertainment
  • Home
  • board Games
  • video Games
  • top issuesTrends
  • films and series
  • Books
  • Amusement
  • EventsTrade Shows
  • Home
  • board Games
    • News
    • Board game reviews
    • Crowdfunding
    • top list
    • Inside
    • Buy games
  • video Games
    • News
    • games scene
    • Gaming tests
    • Game tips
    • Gaming accessories
    • Hardware tests
  • top issuesTrends
    • Grand Theft AutoTop
    • Star Wars
    • Disney Lorcan
    • Lord of the Rings
    • World of Warcraft
    • Marvel
    • Cyberpunk 2077
    • WWE
    • Nintendo SwitchTop
    • Blizzard
    • Playstation
  • films and series
    • News
    • Movie review
  • Books
    • News
    • Book review
  • Amusement
  • EventsTrade Shows
    • News
    • GAME in Essen
    • Play!
    • Toy fair in Nuremberg
    • Gamescom in Cologne
    • CCXP Cologne
Have an existing account? Sign In
follow US
© 2023 - Spielpunkt - Games and Entertainment
News and tests about board games, games and entertainment > Articles > films and series > Hope, Friendships and Togetherness in Dark Times - Review of Peter Jackson's "They Shall Not Grow Old"
films and series

Hope, Friendships and Togetherness in Dark Times - Review of Peter Jackson's "They Shall Not Grow Old"

Mark Gentzik
Last updated: August 18, 2019 23:21 p.m
Mark Gentzik
9 MinRead
Share
9 MinRead
Source: © 2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Source: © 2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
SHARE

So close, so everyday and so personal as in Peter Jackson's documentary They Shall Not Grow Old one has never seen war on the big screen. The First World War can be seen in cinemas for the first time in color. Our editor Markus was there.

The creative work of the New Zealand film director Peter Jackson is like a kaleidoscope. This toy, a kind of telescope, which directs your gaze to a wild compilation of colorful shapes, patterns and images. If you move this kaleidoscope or look at it from a different angle, the result is a completely new picture - and yet it always consists of the same colorful shapes, patterns and images.

Now let's imagine Peter Jackson's filmography as we can hardly see a genre these days that he hasn't processed. Sure, most of his fame contributed to the complete Lord of the Rings saga, which together with the films for "The Hobbit" contributed to his own worldwide fame, but also later helped the author JRR Tolkien to a Renassaince and also the last literature - and reminded movie lovers.

In a direct comparison it becomes clear how big the difference between the finished recordings is. Source: © 2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
In a direct comparison it becomes clear how big the difference between the finished recordings is. Source: © 2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

But also horror lasher like Braindead, black-humored grotesques ala Meet the Feebles, Hollywood action ala King Kong or the family-friendly film adaptation of Tintin contribute to Peter Jackson's legendary reputation. With They Shall Not Grow Old, his first documentary was released in German cinemas in June of this year. And again he sets standards - in his very own way he leaves me speechless by setting a very personal memorial to the numerous soldiers of the British and Commonwealth of Nations of the First World War.

- Advertisement -

When the last shots were fired on the fronts of the First World War on November 11, 1918, there was dead silence. For four years, a total of 40 nations fought a never-before-seen, worldwide conflict with one another. For four years a total of 70 million people were “under arms”. We know these scenes from the trenches, the bombed and furrowed areas nowadays in most cases from two completely different perspectives. We know the Hollywood-compatible prepared and acted scenes from films such as "The Generation of the Damned", the recently announced 1917 by Sam Mendes or video games such as Battlefield 1 on the one hand - or the strange and distant original black and white film recordings. Coarse-grained and colorless. Almost from a strange world. Definitely not real to us.

But what Peter Jackson brings to the screen in They Shall Not Grow Old breaks the previously set, known limits. He made a collage that is closer to the reality of the millions of soldiers than any previously published documentary. When the documentary celebrated its world premiere in October 2018 at the London Film Festival, the public first became aware of how much work the filmmaker put into the title. 100 hours of video material meet 600 hours of sound recordings and provide an impressive insight into another time. In painstaking technical work, Peter Jackson and his team adjusted the speed of the otherwise rather wooden-looking image sequences to a level that seems pleasant and "normal" to us as viewers and corresponds to our familiar viewing habits. For this purpose, the recordings were colorized picture by picture, digitally revised and smoothed in order to make them appear more authentic. Or, as Jackson describes it: "Once you get rid of that weird Charlie Chaplin black and white look, you see: the people are just like they are today."

In addition to image processing, he succeeded in another just as important trick: a team of lip readers viewed the soundless video material, worked out the contents of the conversations of the filmed soldiers and assigned them the appropriate sound recordings, sometimes even having them repeated. In doing so, they resorted to the voice recordings of hundreds of soldiers, combined all these results and created this impressive unique selling point: We suddenly feel with the young soldiers, hear their laughter and feel their fear.

Source: © 2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc
Source: © 2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc

The almost infinite selection of video material from the Imperial War Museum in London ensures that in the course of the film we do not focus on a single line of action or limit ourselves to one soldier. The abundance of material ensures that the action is limited to the western front for us from the observer's perspective, but we neither accompany a specific mission nor do we learn anything about the special order of a company. We observe the everyday life of all soldiers, and in an hour and a half we get an all-round view of the life of the entire British military body.

We accompany the soldiers, at the beginning still in black and white, in the course of the 99-minute film of their initial euphoria of the drafting period, the tough training units in preparation for the deployment - and ultimately we also see the transformation of motivated, well-trained young fighters into the emaciated faces. Suddenly the colorless images turn into something like closeness. With the arrival at the front and the first fighting, Jackson leaves the colorless images behind. The black and white documentary shots suddenly look like our parents' familiar vacation shots. Not as far as the vacation spots are concerned, but the images look like you're traveling in 1914 with today's camera. The pictures touch us personally.

- Advertisement -

With this trick Peter Jackson makes the everyday life of the 9.000.000 British soldiers a bit more tangible for us as viewers, protected by the cinema screen and a distance of over 100 years. The subsequent processing of all the film material makes it more approachable, for us a bit more realistic - it brings the everyday life of the soldiers closer to our everyday life.

In the one and a half hour film, we follow the soldiers over the four years of fighting. We see the injured. And we see the dead of war. People laugh and cry. Celebrated, mourned and waited. When the film gains color in its course and loses distance through the use of technology, we become partakers of the private thoughts of young soldiers. They Shall Not Grow Old is not a film that especially wants to shine through its action. Nobody who just wants to shock or just want to entertain. But he manages to deliver a little of everything. It is not a film that everyone wants to enjoy, and not one that everyone has to watch. The topic of war is not suitable for everyone as a topic in an entertainment medium. But it would be nice if he wanted to be seen by many.

Ultimately, with They Shall Not Grow Old, Peter Jackson creates a memorial for a generation of lost young men, gives the anonymous dead of the hitherto greatest conflict of all time a name and a face and stimulates reflection. About the senselessness of war, about false promises and the absurdity that awaited the soldiers there, often still young. But also the hopes, the friendships and the solidarity in dark times - when the kaleidoscope continues to rotate after an hour and a half and reveals a new, colorful work of art.

The film has already been shown on the BBC in the UK, has been shown free of charge at the Imperial War Museum and is available for teaching purposes in schools. In Germany, the film started on June 27, 2019 and has an FSK age rating of 16 years and over. In it is still running in many cinemas in Germany.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrabKK9Bhds]

Minecraft film: Game wants to conquer cinemas and receives criticism – unjustly?
Dungeons & Dragons: Trailer shows plenty of fantasy action
Marvel Thunderbolts: Harrison Ford rumors
M3GAN: AI horror with Tik Tok moves goes viral
Flemish comic series Jommeke conquers Germany [with competition]
Tagged:MovieCinemaBooks
How do you like the article?
Love0
Happy 0
Sad0
Angry0
Cry0
Surprise0
Previous Article Matt White is his own illustrator - and creates real works of art from the underlying motifs (https://www.facebook.com/worldwarIIart) "Until the Bitter End - US Airborne" - Print and Play-CoSim successfully funded
Next Article Editors are also gamers: Our personal game highlights and desired topics from Gamescom 2019. Photo: André Volkmann Gamescom 2019: The game highlights from our editorial team
No comments No comments

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your e-mail address will not be published. Required fields are marked with * marked

Stay Connected

FacebookLike
XFollow
InstagramFollow
YoutubeSubscribe

Latest News

Last year's SPIEL was already packed—this time even more fans could make it into the arenas. Photo: Volkmann
SPIEL 2025 in Essen: Important ticket changes could lead to record
Board and card games News GAME in Essen Top
The Nintendo Switch 2 has had an extremely strong sales launch. Photo: Volkmann
Nintendo Switch 2 on sale: Rocket start backed by numbers
News Top video Games
With Disney Lorcana, Ravensburger has launched a collectible card game that focuses on popular characters. Photo: Volkmann
Disney Lorcana: TCG facing drastic changes
Board and card games Hot Topics News Top
new James Bond actor
Fans sure after revelation: He is the actor for the new James Bond
News Top video Games
foxy featured image
5-Minute Insight: Foxy – A Game of the Year Surprise

Board Games: Top 5

On Halloween, the horror can find its way onto the board game table. Cover: Noris
Halloween: Five board game insider tips
Board and card games News top list
The best board games about dreams.
In your head: 5 good board games about dreams
Board and card games News top list
best board games time travel
Flux capacitor on: 5 good time travel board games
Board and card games News top list
best horror board games
Halloween Horror: 13 good board games to scare you
Board and card games News top list

Already read?

Play journalist editorial team
NewsTop

We are looking for backup: News authors for board games, video games and Co

Andre Volkman
Andre Volkman
20. February 2022
Sky new series and films in March 2022
films and seriesNews

Sky Ticket and Sky in March 2022: New series and films

Andre Volkman
Andre Volkman
20. February 2022
Disney Plus Streaming New Films and Series in March 2022
films and seriesNews

Disney Plus in March 2022: All new series and films

Andre Volkman
Andre Volkman
19. February 2022
The Book of Boba Fett - Disney+ Series
films and seriesNewsTop

What Star Wars timeline is The Book of Boba Fett set in?

Andre Volkman
Andre Volkman
30 December 2021
Disney films and series 2022
films and seriesNewsTop

New series and movies on Disney Plus in 2022

Andre Volkman
Andre Volkman
28 December 2021
Show More
follow US
Spielpunkt 2025. Content protected by copyright.
  • Contact
  • The game editors
  • Media-Kit.
  • Legal Notice
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contest Rules
  • We're looking for you
Welcome back!

Login

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?