Kermode Uncut: They Shall Not Grow Old

I talk to Lord of the Rings director, Peter Jackson, about how he made his astonishing World War One documentary, which premieres tomorrow.

[eamo]

Peter Jackson, you will be remembered for this and rightly so.

[dimensionsfrancis]

My dad was a sergeant in WW1 he was gassed but survived of course.I am now 70 and i was the youngest of four children. He never spoke a word about the war to me, i was informed by my brother about some details i do have a copy of his service record.

[brianjschumer]

Just the fact that Jackson went to some of the actual battle sites to take photos and get the colors correct boggles the mind. Just a brilliant piece of artistry.

[matthewstokes]

As a Briton - an Englishman - I cannot thank you enough, Peter Jackson.

[waltertaljaard]

The late grandfather of my wife was already a very old man, when I met him in the eighties. He wore a row of medals on the coat of his grey suit on remembrance day and was picked up by a taxi to meet with the rapidly diminishing WW1 veterans in a Glasgow club. Heared that he went through the whole thing, from the beginning, when he was an enlisted young Scottish soldier, towards the very end, when he was a decorated NCO. The only thing he said to me at our wedding; ''Are ye takin' good care of this bonny wee lassie? If not you'll get intae trouble with me.'' And I knew he wasn't joking. Eventhough he was already 93 then. They don't make men like that anymore.

[glyph]

Jaw dropping stuff. Incredible what they've done to bring life to the dusty footage. Can't wait to see this.

[tmorterlaing]

Building frames to artificially increase frame rate is called interpolation. It's been available for years, but the algorithm and computing power as time goes on is getting truly incredible. I love that director's such as PJ leverage this stuff and make such amazing films.

[westfieldartworks]

I was amazed looking at this. Deplorable conditions....yet, all smiles and good cheer. Kinda puts your own life and problems and how you deal with them in their proper perspective.

[SamPorterBridges]

Peter Jackson and team should get the highest of honours for this masterpiece of film. To create this extraordinary work is truly astounding. This personally showed me the absolute horror of WW1 to me like no other. This will be watched for generations to come in understanding the real feeling and thoughts of the soldiers who fought and died in this terrible war.

[TwoMikesProductions]

Just came back this evening from this. Absolutely one of the most important pieces of Documentary and Cinema in our generation. Thank you so much Mark for doing such a great justic to the great Peter Jackson in the interview.

What a phenomenal piece of work.

[globalturfwar]

6:25 what an incredible transition from a distant historic echo to something so real and personal

[N]

I think one of the things that's so amazing is that this takes away a lot of the detachment. Old film often looks wonky and we sort of distance ourselves from what's happening in them. This literally makes you feel closer to the people in the film. Peter Jackson just continues doing amazing things, well done. Really well done.

[Leland]

Dad said grandpa was proud of his service in world war one. he was in the medical corps and clerked in a delousing station in saint naziere for the returning troops. but when the second war came it broke his heart. he thought he had served for nothing.

[davidanderson]

I watched this the other evening & it left me speechless. The restoration on the archive footage is so good, that at times it looks like it was filmed just the other day.

[UndefinedFreeMind]

A labour of love. Thank you Peter and team.

[Eudomac]

Just saw it today. Really powerful, moving documentary which, for me, the sound editing made it feel even more real than the enhanced frame rate and addition of colour.

[Mugofbrown]

I thought that I had seen loads of WW1 footage and what could Sir Peter Jackson do to make it any better? Blimey! How he and his team have revived these films is amazing. It was worth every moment of their hard work, especially where the soldier plays the beer bottle! For a history geek like me who, in 1996, met and chatted to a Great War veteran this was brilliant. Thank you Sir Peter and co.

[awesomenolan]

When they did the first transition shot from the old film to the newer frame rate with color I was so blown away. It was incredible how you felt so much more connected realizing you were seeing real events in front of you.

[technoviking]

I sincerely want to thank the whole team for making this film.

[garethbull]

"People were kind to each other in a way that they had never experienced before, and probably didn't experience again. Complete strangers had to help each other survive." P. Jackson