It’s isn’t often that a documentary stirs up interest in both the young and the old. But ‘Lord of the Rings’ director Peter Jackson has done just that by creating a documentary that appeals to everyone. They Shall Not Grow Old by Peter Jackson is a must watch on Netflix. Over 100 years after World War I, this documentary talks about the time that shaped the world to what we know today. Travel back in time to experience history through the eyes of those who fought until the very end.
The documentary begins with Peter Jackson describing the making of the documentary. He gives details of how he transformed the old grainy black and white silent footage from medieval cameras into colour, sound and digitally enhanced images and frames. He even rendered it in 3D to give it the present day cinematic effects. The addition of sound effects like rifles firing, boots thumping, movement of tanks and even with soldiers distinctly yelling, transcribed by some fine lip readers, all come together to produce one of the finest documentaries of its kind.
The story revolves around the different chronological stages of the war; the start, the difficult training of young recruits to turn them into soldiers of tomorrow, the bloodshed on the front lines, the unanticipated end and finally one step closer to home.
His intricate frames capture the hardships of training, the transport from Dover to Calais and then through France’s farm country, until they go beyond the trenches to fight the Germans, where the sheer suddenness of the horrors of the entire war truly unravels. One experiences true horror when they display the devastated villages that soldiers pass through walking over heaps of corpses only to anticipate the very same end they’d meet themselves one day.
This film is a walk down memory lane to modern man’s first known world crisis. Peter Jackson’s tribute is something we need to experience to be able to truly appreciate the freedom that we take for granted.