{{short description|2018 documentary film}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}} {{Infobox film | name = They Shall Not Grow Old | image = They Shall Not Grow Old.jpg | alt = | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = [[Peter Jackson]] | producer = {{Plain list| * Clare Olssen * Peter Jackson }} | writer = | music = [[David Donaldson (composer)|Plan 9]] | cinematography = | editing = [[Jabez Olssen]] | studio = {{Plainlist| *[[14–18 NOW]] *[[Imperial War Museum]] *[[WingNut Films]] *House Productions *[[BBC Films]] *[[New Zealand Film Commission]] }} | distributor = [[Warner Bros. Pictures]] | released = {{Film date|2018|10|16|[[London Film Festival]]|2018|11|9|United Kingdom|df=y}} | runtime = {{plainlist| * 99 minutes <small>(theatrical cut)</small> * 129 minutes <small>(extended cut)</small><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.movie-censorship.com/news.php?ID=14549|title=They Shall Not Grow Old: Extended Cut on Anzac Day - Peter Jackson's Colorized WW2 Doc Gets 30 Minutes Longer Version|website=Movie-Censorship.com|date=20 April 2019|access-date=25 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/111890601/extended-version-of-peter-jacksons-they-shall-not-grow-old-released-for-anzac-day|title=Extended version of Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old released for Anzac Day|website=Stuff|date=9 April 2019|access-date=25 April 2019}}</ref> }} | country = {{ubl|New Zealand|United Kingdom}} | language = English | budget = | gross = $21.6 million<ref name="NUM">{{cite web|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/They-Shall-Not-Grow-Old-(UK)#tab=summary|title=They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) – Financial Information|website=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]]|access-date=7 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="BOM">{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt7905466/|title=They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=30 October 2019}}</ref> }}
'''''They Shall Not Grow Old''''' is a 2018 [[documentary film]] directed and produced by [[Peter Jackson]]. It was created using footage of the [[First World War]] held by the British [[Imperial War Museum]] (IWM), most of which was previously unseen, and all of which was over 100 years old by the time of the film's release. Much of the footage was [[Film colorization|colourised]] and restored using modern production techniques for its use in the film, and [[sound effect]]s and [[voice acting]] were added to the [[Silent film|silent footage]]. The film's narration was edited from interviews with British WWI veterans from the collections of the [[BBC]] and the IWM.
Jackson dedicated the film—his first documentary as director—to his grandfather, who fought in WWI. He said his intention was for the film to be an immersive experience of "what it was like to be a soldier", rather than a story or recounting of events. The crew reviewed 100 hours of archival film footage and 600 hours of interviews with 200 WWI veterans to find the materials from which to construct the film. The film's title was inspired by a line ("They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old") from [[Laurence Binyon]]'s 1914 poem "[[For the Fallen]]", famous for being used in the "[[Ode of Remembrance]]".
The film premiered simultaneously at the [[BFI London Film Festival]] and in selected cinemas in the UK on 16 October 2018, before airing on [[BBC Two]] on 11 November, the hundredth anniversary of the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918]]. In the US, following the success of screenings of the film by [[Fathom Events]] on 17 and 27 December, [[Warner Bros. Pictures]] gave the film a wide theatrical release in February 2019.<ref name="VarietyWideRelease">{{cite web |last1=McNary |first1=Dave |url=https://variety.com/2018/film/news/peter-jackson-they-shall-not-grow-old-1203095920/ |date=27 December 2018 |title=Film News Roundup: Peter Jackson's 'They Shall Not Grow Old' Sets Record With $3.4 Million |website=Variety |access-date=29 December 2018}}</ref> Critics acclaimed the film for its restoration work, immersive atmosphere, and portrayal of war.
== Production == [[14–18 NOW]] and the [[Imperial War Museum]] (IWM) co-commissioned the film, in association with the [[BBC]], approaching Jackson about the project in 2015.<ref name="3awInterview">{{cite web|url=https://www.3aw.com.au/they-shall-not-grow-old-special-interview-with-director-peter-jackson/|title=They Shall Not Grow Old – Special interview with director Peter Jackson|website=3aw|date=11 November 2018|access-date=12 November 2018}}</ref> According to Jackson, to make the film, he and his crew reviewed 600 hours of interviews from the BBC and IWM, and 100 hours of original film footage from the IWM.<ref name="WilliamJoke" /><ref name="FlicksIntreview">{{cite web|url=https://www.flicks.com.au/features/peter-jackson-interview-how-i-made-the-visually-stunning-they-shall-not-grow-old/|title=Peter Jackson interview: how I made the visually stunning They Shall Not Grow Old|website=Flicks|date=10 November 2018|access-date=12 November 2018}}</ref> The interviews came from 200 veterans, with the audio from 120 of them being used in the film.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/257545-iwm-peter-jackson-restore-film-footage-they-shall-not-grow-old/page/10/?tab=comments#comment-2778849 |title=Listing of the oral history contributors |date=22 January 2018 |access-date=30 June 2019}}</ref>
{{Quote box|style=padding:10px;|quote="This is not a story of the First World War, it is not a historical story, it may not even be entirely accurate but it's the memories of the men who fought – they're just giving their impressions of what it was like to be a soldier."| source =—[[Peter Jackson]] at the film's premiere<ref name="WilliamJoke">{{cite web|url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1032449/prince-william-news-peter-jackson-they-shall-not-grow-old-ww1-film|title='You tried to get me in an ORC suit' Prince William jokes with director Peter Jackson|website=[[Daily Express|Express]]|date=16 October 2018|access-date=12 November 2018}}</ref>|width=33%}} After reviewing the footage, Jackson decided the film would not feature traditional [[narration]], and would instead only feature audio excerpts of the soldiers talking about their war memories, in order to make the film about the soldiers themselves. For the same reason, few dates or locations are identified in the finished film.<ref name="FlicksIntreview" /> Jackson stated:{{Blockquote|"We made a decision not to identify the soldiers as the film happened. There were so many of them that names would be popping up on the screen every time a voice appeared. In a way it became an anonymous and agnostic film. We also edited out any references to dates and places, because I didn’t want the movie to be about this day here or that day there. There's hundreds of books about all that stuff. I wanted the film to be a human experience and be agnostic in that way. [...] I didn't want individual stories about individuals. I wanted it to be what it ended up being: 120 men telling a single story. Which is: what was it like to be a British soldier on the western front?"<ref name="FlicksIntreview" />}}
About the decision to [[Film colorization|colourise]] footage for the film, Jackson said: "[The men] saw a war in colour, they certainly didn't see it in black and white. I wanted to reach through the fog of time and pull these men into the modern world, so they can regain their humanity once more – rather than be seen only as [[Charlie Chaplin]]-type figures in the vintage archive film."<ref name="RoyalCentralWilliam">{{cite web|url=http://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/cambridges/prince-william-attends-world-premiere-of-they-shall-not-grow-old-110509|title=Prince William attends World Premiere of "They Shall Not Grow Old"|website=Royal Central|date=18 October 2018|access-date=12 November 2018}}</ref>
Jackson did not receive any payment for the making of the film,<ref name="3awInterview" /> and his crew visually restored—without charge—all 100 hours of footage that the IWM sent them, "just to get their archive in better shape".<ref name="FlicksIntreview" /> Jackson's paternal grandfather, [[Sergeant|Sgt.]] William Jackson (to whom the film is dedicated), was British and fought in the First World War,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/2077707 |title=Person profile – William John Jackson |publisher=Imperial War Museum |access-date=30 June 2019 }}</ref> and Jackson grew up hearing stories about William's experiences in the war from his father.<ref name="HistoryExtraInterview">{{cite web|url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/first-world-war/peter-jackson-interview-they-shall-not-grow-old-lord-rings-hobbit-director-oscar-documentary/|title="There was no feeling sorry for themselves": Director Peter Jackson on the soldiers of the First World War|website=History Extra|date=7 November 2018|access-date=12 November 2018}}</ref> According to Jackson, making the film gave him "a greater understanding of what my grandfather would have gone through".<ref name="RoyalCentralWilliam" />
The film was produced by Jackson's [[WingNut Films]], with House Productions serving as executive producers, and supported by 14–18 NOW, which was funded by the UK's [[National Lottery Heritage Fund]], [[Arts Council England]], and the [[Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport]], along with other public and private funding, including corporate supporters.<ref name="IWM" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7905466/|title=They Shall Not Grow Old|access-date=16 October 2018|via=www.imdb.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.1418now.org.uk/about/faqs/|title= 14–18 NOW About Us: FAQs |website= 14–18 NOW | accessdate= 8 May 2023 }}</ref>
==Music== The film's music was composed by Plan 9, a New Zealand trio consisting of [[David Donaldson (composer)|David Donaldson]], [[Steve Roche]], and [[Janet Roddick]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/they-shall-not-grow-old-london-review/5133679.article|title='They Shall Not Grow Old': London Review|first=Fionnulafa|last=Halligan|date=16 October 2018|website=[[Screen Daily]]|access-date=14 November 2018}}</ref>
The closing credits of the film feature an extended rendition of "[[Mademoiselle from Armentières]]", a song that was particularly popular during WWI.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/oct/16/they-shall-not-grow-old-review-first-world-war-peter-jackson|title=They Shall Not Grow Old review – Peter Jackson's electrifying journey into the first world war trenches|first=Peter|last=Bradshaw|date=16 October 2018|website=The Guardian|access-date=16 October 2018}}</ref> Jackson did not decide to use the song until late in production, so there was only a short time to assemble the performers to record it. As he was in New Zealand, but did not want to have locals sing the song in [[British accent]]s, a group of British men in service to the UK government were recruited from the [[British High Commission, Wellington|British High Commission in New Zealand]] to perform the song.
== Release == ''They Shall Not Grow Old'' premiered on 16 October 2018 as a Special Presentation at the [[BFI London Film Festival]], with [[Prince William, Duke of Cambridge]], in attendance. It was simultaneously released in selected cinemas across the UK, and copies of the film were also sent to UK schools on the same day.<ref name="IWM">{{cite web|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/peter-jackson-they-shall-not-grow-old|title=Peter Jackson They Shall Not Grow Old|website=Imperial War Museums|access-date=16 October 2018}}</ref><ref name="RoyalCentralWilliam" /> The [[simulcast]], with some screenings in 2D and some in [[3D film|3D]], featured a special post-screening Q&A with Jackson hosted by film critic [[Mark Kermode]].<ref name="IWM" />
The film was broadcast on [[BBC Two]] on 11 November 2018, the one-hundredth anniversary of the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918]].<ref name="BBCProgrames">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0brzkzx|title=BBC Two – They Shall Not Grow Old|website=BBC Programmes|access-date=11 November 2018}}</ref> To accompany the film, a special episode of the documentary series ''[[What Do Artists Do All Day?]]'', which followed Peter Jackson making the film, aired the following day on [[BBC Four]].<ref name="WDADAD">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0brzngq |title=BBC Four – What Do Artists Do All Day? – Peter Jackson |website=BBC Programmes |access-date=17 November 2018}}</ref>
In the US, [[Fathom Events]] arranged special screenings of the film on 17 and 27 December 2018, in both 2D and 3D,<ref name="fathom">{{cite web |url=https://www.fathomevents.com/events/they-shall-not-grow-old |title=Fathom Events – They Shall Not Grow Old |website=Fathom Events |access-date=17 December 2018}}</ref> and [[Warner Bros. Pictures]] released it in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC, on 11 January 2019, with plans to expand to 25 markets on 1 February.<ref name="VarietyWideRelease" /> Because it missed the 1 October 2018 filing deadline, the film was deemed ineligible for consideration for the [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]] at the [[91st Academy Awards]], and, because it was a 2018 film, it was ineligible for the award the following year.<ref name="Fathom" /><ref name="DeadlineFathomRecords">{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2018/12/peter-jackson-they-shall-not-grow-old-fathom-events-box-office-record-1202522089/ |title=Peter Jackson's WWI Doc 'They Shall Not Grow Old' Breaks Fathom Events B.O. Records With $2.3M |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=18 December 2018 |access-date=18 December 2018}}</ref>
== Reception == ===Box office=== The film grossed $18 million in the United States and Canada and $3.7 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $21.6 million.<ref name="BOM" />
[[Fathom Events]]' one-day presentation of the film in the US on 17 December 2018 grossed $2.3 million, setting a company record for a documentary showing. The two encore showings of the film in 1,122 cinemas on 27 December grossed $3.4 million, the highest-grossing single-day total for a documentary screened by Fathom, and one of the top-grossing single-day presentations of any kind by the company.<ref name="Fathom">{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2018/12/peter-jackson-they-shall-not-grow-old-box-office-record-1202526739/|title=Peter Jackson's WWI Doc 'They Shall Not Grow Old' Sets Brand New Fathom Events B.O. Record With $3M+, $5M+ To Date|first=Anthony|last=D'Alessandro|date=27 December 2018|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|access-date=27 December 2018}}</ref> On [[Martin Luther King Jr. Day]], the film grossed an additional $2.6 million from screenings in 1,335 cinemas.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2019/film/news/peter-jackson-they-shall-not-grow-old-2-1203117589/|title=Film News Roundup: Peter Jackson's 'They Shall Not Grow Old' Pulls in $2.6 Million on MLK Day|first1=Dave|last1=McNary|website=Variety|date=24 January 2019|access-date=25 January 2019}}</ref> After Warner Bros. gave the film a general release in 735 cinemas on 1 February 2019, it earned $2.4 million its debut weekend, finishing 10th at the box office.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2019/02/miss-bala-fires-up-650k-in-previews-before-heading-into-slow-super-bowl-weekend-1202547407/|title='Glass' Still Has Class With Third Weekend Win; 'Miss Bala' Fires Blanks In Lowest Super Bowl Frame In 19 Years – Sunday Final|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=3 February 2018|first=Anthony |last=D'Alessandro |access-date=3 February 2019}}</ref>
=== Critical response === On the [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], 99% of 157 critics' reviews of the film are positive, with an average score of 8.7/10; the site's "critics consensus" reads: "An impressive technical achievement with a walloping emotional impact, ''They Shall Not Grow Old'' pays brilliant cinematic tribute to the sacrifice of a generation."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/they_shall_not_grow_old|title=They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media|Fandango]]|access-date=11 September 2024}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a [[weighted average]] score of 91 out of 100 based on reviews from 26 critics, indicating "universal acclaim", and it is labeled as a "Metacritic must-see".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/they-shall-not-grow-old |title=They Shall Not Grow Old reviews|publisher=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=1 July 2019}}</ref>
In a five-star review for ''[[The Guardian]]'', [[Peter Bradshaw]] called the film "a visually staggering thought experiment", and wrote: "The effect is electrifying. The soldiers are returned to an eerie, hyperreal kind of life in front of our eyes, like ghosts or figures summoned up in a seance. The faces are unforgettable. [...] The details are harrowing, as is the political incorrectness of what the soldiers recall: some express their candid enjoyment of the war, others their utter desensitisation to what they experienced."<ref name="GuardianReview">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/oct/16/they-shall-not-grow-old-review-first-world-war-peter-jackson|title=They Shall Not Grow Old review – Peter Jackson's electrifying journey into the first world war trenches|first=Peter|last=Bradshaw|date=16 October 2018|website=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=16 October 2018}}</ref>
Guy Lode of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' called the film "a technical dazzler with a surprisingly humane streak", stating: "if ''They Shall Not Grow Old'' is head-spinning for its jolting animation of creakily shot battle scenes—tricked out with ingeniously integrated sound editing and seamlessly re-timed from 13 frames a second to 24—its greatest revelation isn't one of sound and fury. Rather, it's the film's faces that stick longest in the mind. Through the exhaustive transformation completed by Jackson's team, visages that were all but indistinguishably blurred in the archives take on shape, character and creases of worry, terror and occasional hilarity. In conjunction with the film's intricately stitched narration, its soldiers turn from cold statistics to warm, quivering human beings, drawing us with renewed empathy into a Great War that, they all but unanimously agree, had precious little greatness to it."<ref name="VarietyReview">{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/they-shall-not-grow-old-review-peter-jackson-1202981266/ |title=Film Review: 'They Shall Not Grow Old'|first=Guy |last=Lodge |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=16 October 2018|access-date=13 November 2018}}</ref>
Stephen Dalton of ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' said the film "suggests new cinematic methods of rescuing history from history books, humanizing and dramatizing true stories with a modest injection of movie-world artifice. Some critics may object to how Jackson streamlines and elides real events, stripping away specifics while offering no broader socio-political comment on the war. But as an immersive primer on the first-hand experiences of British soldiers, this innovative documentary is a haunting, moving and consistently engaging lesson in how to bring the past vividly alive."<ref name="HollywoodReporterReview">{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/they-not-grow-old-review-1152679|title='They Shall Not Grow Old': Film Review |first=Stephen |last=Dalton |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=16 October 2018|access-date=16 October 2018}}</ref>
Mike McCahill of [[IndieWire]] gave the film a B grade, writing that "the filmmaker's extensive restoration project doesn't always provide new insights, but it succeeds at creating a fresh look at the horrors of WWI."<ref name="IndieWireReview">{{cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2018/10/they-shall-not-grow-old-review-peter-jackson-world-war-one-colorized-1202012440/ |title='They Shall Not Grow Old' Review: Peter Jackson's Colorized WWI Documentary Resurrects the Drama of the Battlefield |first=Mike |last=McCahill |website=[[Indiewire]]|date=16 October 2018|access-date=13 November 2018}}</ref>
The response to the film was not universally positive, however, and some concerns were raised, particularly among archivists and film historians, about the ways in which it erased the original filmmakers, manipulated the image through colourisation<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lukemckernan.com/2018/01/25/colouring-the-past/|title=Colouring the past|last=McKernan|first=Luke|date=25 January 2018|website=Luke McKernan|language=en-US|access-date=12 November 2019}}</ref> and other techniques,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://iamhist.net/2018/10/they_shall_not_grow_old/|title=They Shall Not Grow Old (Peter Jackson, 2018) and the Elephant in the Room|last=Napper|first=Lawrence|date=22 October 2018|website=IAMHIST Blog|language=en-US|access-date=12 November 2019}}</ref> and implied that the original footage, much of which had been extensively restored by the IWM archives, was in disrepair.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://atthepictures.photo.blog/2018/10/12/they-shall-not-grow-old-2-the-abject-archive-the-sacred-archive/|title=They Shall Not Grow Old (2): The Abject Archive… The Sacred Archive|last=Napper|first=Lawrence|date=12 October 2018|website=At the Pictures|language=en|access-date=12 November 2019}}</ref>
Others have questioned the authenticity of the soundtrack, which was constructed from lip reading and oral history archives and has been given less critical attention than the colourisation techniques.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Meyer |first=Jessica |date=2019-12-01 |title=Sound and Silence in Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old |url=https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article/124/5/1789/5672926 |journal=The American Historical Review |language=en |volume=124 |issue=5 |pages=1789–1792 |doi=10.1093/ahr/rhz1020 |issn=0002-8762|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Historians have argued that, while lip reading may reveal the words that were spoken, it does not necessarily represent regional accents or changes in pronunciation over the century between when the images were captured and the film was made.<ref name=":0" />
=== Accolades === The film was nominated for the [[BAFTA Award for Best Documentary]] at the [[72nd British Academy Film Awards]],<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/peter-jackson-documentary-they-shall-not-grow-old-lands-bafta-nomination/R62DF7HMNG57ZCDH5E4DIJNAUQ/ | title=Peter Jackson documentary They Shall Not Grow Old lands BAFTA nomination | newspaper=The New Zealand Herald | date=9 January 2019 | accessdate=23 November 2024}}</ref> but lost to ''[[Free Solo]]'', which also won that years' [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]].<ref>[https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/110492420/new-zealands-they-shall-not-grow-old-team-readies-for-their-big-bafta-night They Shall Not Grow Old misses out at the Baftas|Stuff.co.nz]</ref>
==See also== * ''[[World War II in HD Colour]]'', a 2008 TV series comprising colourised footage of the [[World War II|Second World War]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{wikiquote}} * {{IMDb title|7905466}} * {{Mojo title|theyshallnotgrowold}} * {{Rotten Tomatoes|they_shall_not_grow_old}}
{{Peter Jackson}}
[[Category:2018 3D films]] [[Category:2018 documentary films]] [[Category:2018 films]] [[Category:British 3D films]] [[Category:British documentary films]] [[Category:Documentary films about World War I]] [[Category:Fathom Entertainment films]] [[Category:Films directed by Peter Jackson]] [[Category:WingNut Films films]] [[Category:3D documentary films]] [[Category:Warner Bros. films]] [[Category:2018 English-language films]] [[Category:2018 British films]] [[Category:Films produced by Peter Jackson]] [[Category:English-language documentary films]] [[Category:British collage films]] [[Category:Films with archival recordings]]