THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD is a 2018 documentary done as part of the centenary commemoration of World War I, but it is different from most such documentaries in two ways. First, the film is composed entirely of actual World War I documentary footage and first-person unscripted narration. And second, the actual war footage is colorized to make it more realistic and immediate to modern audiences. The home front scenes are left in black-and-white, both as a contrast and because there is less need for the viewers to get a visceral feeling for the scenes.

Warning: The documentary footage of the war is disturbing, even more so because of the colorization. However, the disturbing scenes are all still photographs rather than live-action filming of combat deaths or injuries. Whether this is due to the nature of filming and photography at the time, or director Peter Jackson's decision not to show these scenes (possibly out of respect for the families) is unclear.

Released theatrically 1 February 2019. Rating: high +2 (-4 to +4), or 8/10.

Film Credits: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7905466/reference

What others are saying: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/they_shall_not_grow_old

					Mark R. Leeper
					Copyright 2023 Mark R. Leeper