They Shall Not Grow Old

An absolute triumph. This is movie magic, breathing life into fragmented old film and conveying the horror, camaraderie, monotony and futility of war in a way that few other films come close to.

Peter Jackson and his team didn't try to create a comprehensive doc about WW1, but rather than shallow, I'd say it's focused; one reads that 10M soldiers died in the War, and the old quip "a million is a statistic" comes to mind. They Shall Not Grow Old is here to remind us that those were 10 million tragedies. Plus the recording of "Mademoiselle from Armentières" is a gift that keeps on giving.

Very interesting documentary. Love the interview/narration format. Gave me a lot of insight into the realities of the time. It could drag on at times and I don't think the temporal aspects of the stories is addressed adequately (if at all). As a history lover, thoroughly enjoyed this.

A change of track for Mr Jackson (although 'Forgotten Silver' is superb in other ways.) This was as spellbinding as it was heart breaking.

Host ratings: - / 76 / 74. Podcast review link: https://rydeorwrong.podcaster.de/rydeorwrong/folge-059-they-shall-not-grow-old-2018/