AQotWF Reviews and your other WW1 films

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Dr Bison said:
I take this a getting the green light for WW1 films in general. So, here are some of my favourites:
First and foremost is, of course, Sir Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old (2018).
I was - and still am - very impressed by this one: Johnny Got His Gun from 1971.
I also likes James Bond in The Trench (1999)...
...and then there's this one: Stoßtrupp 1917 (1934)
Click to expand...


Johnny Got His Gun is extremely thought provoking and perhaps ahead of its time, although it's fair to say that it probably isn't for a mainstream movie audience.
They Shall Not Grow Old is amazing.
The Trench is another good one.
Have to admit I've never heard of the film in the YT video link
 
As someone who specializes in WWI modelling and history, don't get me started on the latest version of AQotWF! I'm with Martin and Chris on this one... It's really disappointing on so many levels. Inaccurate, ruins the book, nonsensical plot twists (Kat's death is just stupid) and none of the emotional heft of the book. It just relies on the stylized semi-pornographic portrayal of violence to make people go "oh wow, how terrible war is" without analyzing the more fundamental issues that underpin war. For example, the scene where Paul returns home is crucial to his growing sense of futility and is completely missing from the film. And don't get me started on why the St Chamond tank attack scene is so wrong........:mad:

I've been looking at a few clips from the 1930 film and despite some historical inaccuracies, it is much truer to the book and a much better film IMO. They used WWI veterans as advisers and extras in that one as well. I remember watching the whole thing as a kid and that inspired me to read the book when I was older.

The best WWI film is of course They Shall Not Grow Old, like Harry said.
 
harrytheheid said:
They Shall Not Grow Old is amazing.
Click to expand...
It seems to start off as a run-of-the-mill documentary with all grainy, monochrome, fast-forward film (albeit with recorded reminiscences instead of a narrator/irritator), then, at exactly 25 minutes in, it indeed changes to something gobsmackingly amazing.
 
Bundook said:
There's also the TV miniseries "ANZACs" from the 1980s (if you can put up with the constant Brit-bashing in it).
Click to expand...

Seen it. It's okay.
ANZAC Girls is far better though. It doesn't carry the same amount of Brit-bashing baggage and doesn't include much "Girl Power" either.
Just a good old-fashioned, well-made, TV series. The IMdB page includes a reasonable enough trailer.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3078602/
 
The original AQOTWF was far more hard hitting and showed the progressive disillusionment. But most 'historical' films tell us as much about today as the period depicted. The start of 1917 gave an excellent depiction of the journey from the rear echelon to the front line. A Testament of Youth gave the view from the nursing front. Most of the other films have already been mentioned. War Horse was also an interesting film to watch.

Mike
 
Thanks Mike for drawing my attention to '"The Testament of Youth" - one more to watch.

I also remembered some slightly less known films,
...like the Latvian "Blizzard of Souls" from 2019, which covers the Russian side and the revolutionary times after 1917.
...or Amazon's "Rebellion" on the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland.
...and "A Very Long Engagement" (2004) with Audrey Tautou, which has some rather graphic scenes from the French side.
...and the Welsh-language drama "Wedd Hyn" from 1992:


Here's some more background to the latter:


Cheers
Karl
 
MCPWilk said:
But most 'historical' films tell us as much about today as the period depicted.
Click to expand...
Well said. Oh What a Lovely War tells us more about the attitudes of the 1960s than WWI itself. Most of today's "historical" films and TV are too influenced by CGI fantasy epics and Quentin Tarantino for my liking.

That's why They Shall Not Grow Old is such a compelling watch IMO, it comes the closest to telling the story in words and pictures from the time.
 
NigelR said:
Well said. Oh What a Lovely War tells us more about the attitudes of the 1960s than WWI itself. Most of today's "historical" films and TV are too influenced by CGI fantasy epics and Quentin Tarantino for my liking.
That's why They Shall Not Grow Old is such a compelling watch IMO, it comes the closest to telling the story in words and pictures from the time.
Click to expand...

I'd have to agree to a certain extent with your comment on reflecting the attitudes of the 1960's.
I do think the "Christmas Truce" sequence is also handled well in "Joyeux Noel" despite it being a lot more "twee" than the better "Oh! What a Lovely War" version; farcical even -- especially when the opera singers start up. Indeed, this clip is wishful thinking fantasy, but I reckon the movie is still worthwhile, within its limits.



What I find fascinating about "They Shall Not Grow Old" is the fact that these were all silent film clips before Jackson transformed them by having lip-readers study them -- and then added sound with the accents based on what areas of the country the various regiments belonged to.
It's an utterly amazing piece of work.
 
MCPWilk said:
The original AQOTWF was far more hard hitting and showed the progressive disillusionment. But most 'historical' films tell us as much about today as the period depicted. The start of 1917 gave an excellent depiction of the journey from the rear echelon to the front line. A Testament of Youth gave the view from the nursing front. Most of the other films have already been mentioned. War Horse was also an interesting film to watch.
Mike
Click to expand...


I haven't seen "Testament of Youth" in years. Wasn't it redone recently with Kit Harington in the leading role? Not sure -- I'll check once I can access IMdB again as my ISP is playing up at the moment.
I thought "War Horse" was pretty good and gave a fair depiction of the early months of WW1 in the first half of the film.
How about "The Red Baron"? Despite the anachronisms and the fact that the miscast Lena Headey looked old enough to be MvonR's granny, I reckon it's worth a watch.
Can't say the same for "Flyboys" - the over-use of CGI, plus the ridiculously OTT screenplay, ruined it for me.
Cheers
H
 

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