WWI colour film given extended run due to demand
THE makers of a film bringing archive First World War footage to life are to stage extra screenings after its initial run was an unexpected sell-out.
They Shall Not Grow Old, directed by Oscar-winner Peter Jackson, was shown for the first time last night and originally planned as a one-off, but the run will now be extended due to popular demand.
A spokesman for the film-makers said: “Initially, the plan was for this to be a shorter documentary but it grew to a feature-length film and the response to it has been very positive.
“The distributors have been looking at how best to get it out so that more people can see it. Details of more screenings will be made available in the coming days.”
The BBC will broadcast the film on
‘Let’s just pause in our modern lives for a moment and think about what they went through’
Armistice Day, but the full 3D experience is only available on the big screen.
Jackson, director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, told Forces TV: “The point of the film is that the war was not that long ago. Most people in Britain and the old Empire – Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa – have got family that were in that war, greatgrandfathers or great-uncles.
“Let’s just pause in our modern lives for a moment and think about what they went through… they are part of our family, part of us. We still carry the DNA that they had.”
The footage has been colourised and slowed down, accompanied by voiceovers from veterans of the conflict.
“They saw a war in colour, they certainly didn’t see it in black and white,” Jackson said. “I wanted to reach through the fog of time and pull these men into the modern world, so they can regain their humanity once more – rather than be seen only as Charlie Chaplin-type figures in the vintage archive film.”
The director drew on material from the Imperial War Museum archives, and scenes from the battlefield have earned the film a 15 certificate. A copy will be sent to every secondary school in Britain before Armistice Day.