By Diana Beechener
In 1914, the men of the United Kingdom were called to war. They signed up by the thousands, men and boys as young as 14 joining the British armed forces with hopes of distinguishing themselves.
They thought it would be an adventure: their chance to become like the heroes they read about in books.
The reality, however, was different.
Trench warfare unlike any the world had ever seen was a filthy, dangerous business. Shells shook the earth and rained shrapnel onto the men. Dead bodies rotted next to living men hunkered down during bombardments. Rats and disease ran through the trenches. Mud was so deep that men drowned in it.
In spite of the horror, there were moments of bravery and levity. The men holding the line found ways to maintain morale. They made deep bonds, exhibited extreme heroism and lived through experiences no civilian could understand.
World War I wasn’t so thoroughly lionized by films and books as World War II, nor filmed as extensively as the battles of Vietnam. Camera men in 1914 had to slog through the mud with the soldiers, set up a camera on a stationary tripod and hand crank it. Because of this, footage was often jerky, improperly exposed and delicate to handle.
On the 100th anniversary of the armistice, the Imperial War Museum commissioned director Peter Jackson (The Hobbit) to make a film to commemorate the event. Jackson has paid tribute to these nearly forgotten men and women in a moving, brilliant documentary. Using digital technology, he colorized and sharpened found footage, making the film look modern and vital.
Jackson chose to focus on the life of soldiers in the trenches, mining hundreds of hours of footage for images that give us, one hundred years later, a feel for what life was like on the Western Front. We get a glimpse of everyday life, from how latrines worked on the front lines to how the men conducted trench raids. These images can be hilarious or hard to take. Jackson doesn’t shy away from mangled bodies and limbs because those were common sights for men in the trenches.
