TV Review War Horse And They Shall Not Grow Old

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The BBC presented some brilliant shows commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armistice. The War Horse Prom concert was great, and the puppet work really makes me want to see the full live stage show based on the novel (the music sequences in the concert were specially created). Not actually seen the Spielberg film either actually. The other highlight was Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old, with its amazing colourization of silent era war time footage and dialogue added from interviews with veterans from various documentaries and interviews and archive materials. I learned that the trenches were not a single straight line but a series of interlocked zig-zagging mazes, designed so that a shell hitting one section couldn't collapse a much wider area. It was easy for men to get lost in the warren of trench sections. The footage of captured Germans was particularly moving. The men of both sides treated one another with great respect, recognizing their mutual sense of the futility of the conflict. The Germans captured were just relieved that they were out of the action and safe, a state the British admit they were extremely close to as well. Scariest footage was of trenches blown up by mines, the blasts arcing up the ground into a huge dome of flying debris from which virtually nothing could survive. Shots of feet destroyed by trenchfoot were horrible too. What was impressive was how the men retained their humanity, sanity and often their sense of humour at all. Closing imagery of the men cast into unemployment, with many businesses putting up signs saying 'servicemen need not apply' was very sad to see too. An astonishing film that screams to be shown in schools everywhere. Youtube - Joey The War Horse - Arthur Chappell