"They Shall Not Grow Old" Peter Jackson's WWI film

[Ed Moses]

coppice said:

Somewhere, sometime in the future, somebody is going to write a thesis about the WW1 phenomenon in the 21st Century. I am old enough to recall the 50th anniversary; lots of old soldiers still around at the war memorial ceremony , quiet respect on 11 November but that was it , that was enough . We didn't commemorate the centenary of Victorian conflicts at all, the country was too busy looking forwards .But now we seem to be consumed by nostalgia -is it a millennial thing ?

But it now seems compulsory for most of the nation to wallow in some pantomime of grief - for a century old conflict all of whose participants are now dead, most of them for decades .From Oh What a Lovely War's satire in the 60s we now have created the most sacred of sacred cows .

Ironically , WW1 was a conflict largely forgotten until the last decade . Of course we shouldn't forget - but when I see a convoy of bikers waving Union Jacks and poppy flags, I do wonder what the hell this is now all really about . Nationalism ? Brexit ? God knows ..

I still buy a poppy - I always have - but don't wear it ,not now there is a virtue signalling competition to see who wears one first.

I think there are two parts to this - yes we have discovered nostalgia for WW1 - but there is also the case that we spent much of the last 20 years with our service men and women in harms way - Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Iraq to name a few. This means that there is a significant number of people who have been in conflict zones or know a person that has. The Poppy and activity around it is not just for the First World War, it is for all veterans - from the 19 year old to the 100 year old.

Regards,
Ed

[Halmyre]

Perhaps after the centenary things will tail off, then there will be a lull until the WW2 centenary begins in 2039, with the Falklands 50th anniversary in 2032 as an appetiser.

[227bhp]

I'm not really understanding how you can query what we find interesting or mind boggling about the biggest conflicts the World has ever known. Has there ever been one which we were involved with which saw more lives lost? Modern warfare which came afterwards seems a walk in the park in comparison.
It's what has shaped us as people and a country. We would be different people now if these events had not happened.

[CrutyRammers]

coppice said:

Somewhere, sometime in the future, somebody is going to write a thesis about the WW1 phenomenon in the 21st Century. I am old enough to recall the 50th anniversary; lots of old soldiers still around at the war memorial ceremony , quiet respect on 11 November but that was it , that was enough . We didn't commemorate the centenary of Victorian conflicts at all, the country was too busy looking forwards .But now we seem to be consumed by nostalgia -is it a millennial thing ?

But it now seems compulsory for most of the nation to wallow in some pantomime of grief - for a century old conflict all of whose participants are now dead, most of them for decades .From Oh What a Lovely War's satire in the 60s we now have created the most sacred of sacred cows .

Ironically , WW1 was a conflict largely forgotten until the last decade . Of course we shouldn't forget - but when I see a convoy of bikers waving Union Jacks and poppy flags, I do wonder what the hell this is now all really about . Nationalism ? Brexit ? God knows ..

I still buy a poppy - I always have - but don't wear it ,not now there is a virtue signalling competition to see who wears one first.

I'd say quite the opposite. Most people I know don't even bother with a poppy, or do any form of commemoration. It seemed more prevalent in the 80s from what I remember.

[4Q]

I'm off to Belgium on Monday with my father, brother and uncle to commemorate my great grandfather who was awarded the DCM for his actions at Teighem 100 years ago on Wednesday.

Unfortunately I never met him but my father and uncle knew him well as a quiet reserved old man who never talked about his war. We've found out that he joined in 1914, was wounded 3 times and sent back to the front, and after 4 hard years of what must've been an unimaginable hell, he kept fighting and won one of the highest awards for bravery 11 days before the war ended.

He and many others came back and resumed normal lives, usually without fuss or feeling sorry for themselves. They just got on with it.

We should remember. The men who gave everything deserve it.

Edited by 4Q on Monday 5th November 21:30

[Scrump]

Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated First World War archive feature film They Shall Not Grow Old is to receive its broadcast premiere exclusively on BBC Two on Sunday 11 November at 9.30pm, following its World Premiere at the London Film Festival in October. The film forms part of the BBC’s commemorative coverage around the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2018/...

[FunkyNige]

CrutyRammers said:

I'd say quite the opposite. Most people I know don't even bother with a poppy, or do any form of commemoration. It seemed more prevalent in the 80s from what I remember.

I've noticed a similar thing - there's a massive difference between the abundance of poppies on TV and people on the street.

[Riley Blue]

FunkyNige said:

CrutyRammers said:

I'd say quite the opposite. Most people I know don't even bother with a poppy, or do any form of commemoration. It seemed more prevalent in the 80s from what I remember.

I've noticed a similar thing - there's a massive difference between the abundance of poppies on TV and people on the street.

On a trip to Sainsburys on Friday evening, apart from our two, there was not a poppy to be seen.

[yellowjack]

Riley Blue said:

FunkyNige said:

CrutyRammers said:

I'd say quite the opposite. Most people I know don't even bother with a poppy, or do any form of commemoration. It seemed more prevalent in the 80s from what I remember.

I've noticed a similar thing - there's a massive difference between the abundance of poppies on TV and people on the street.

On a trip to Sainsburys on Friday evening, apart from our two, there was not a poppy to be seen.

I've made donations for several poppies this year, but keep forgetting to pin them on when I go out. I wear them on shirts, but not so much on T-shirts or sweatshirts.

I got glowered at by some old woman (but not old enough to "remember the last War") in Morrisons the other day. I couldn't work out why I'd upset her, but she looked me up and down and frowned at me. A few minutes later I saw her in another aisle and she gave me another dirty look. Then it twigged. She was wearing a Legion fleece jacket, covered with more enamel poppy badges than I've ever seen outside of a poppy-seller's stall. I thought to myself "if I'd realised it was a competition, I'd have worn me bloody medals"...

[LoonyTunes]

FunkyNige said:

CrutyRammers said:

I'd say quite the opposite. Most people I know don't even bother with a poppy, or do any form of commemoration. It seemed more prevalent in the 80s from what I remember.

I've noticed a similar thing - there's a massive difference between the abundance of poppies on TV and people on the street.

Well you've got to remember that to the younger generations nowadays the First World War has only the same amount of relevance as say the Crimean War or Boer War.

Like all wars time erases the gravitas of it to the Average-Aged man in the street. Growing up I had a Grandparent who remembered it - That's not possible anymore.

In 100 years time it'll likely be forgotten almost entirely. As the years roll by seeing less and less poppies is only to be expected sadly.

[Riley Blue]

LoonyTunes said:

FunkyNige said:

CrutyRammers said:

I'd say quite the opposite. Most people I know don't even bother with a poppy, or do any form of commemoration. It seemed more prevalent in the 80s from what I remember.

I've noticed a similar thing - there's a massive difference between the abundance of poppies on TV and people on the street.

Well you've got to remember that to the younger generations nowadays the First World War has only the same amount of relevance as say the Crimean War or Boer War.

Like all wars time erases the gravitas of it to the Average-Aged man in the street. Growing up I had a Grandparent who remembered it - That's not possible anymore.

In 100 years time it'll likely be forgotten almost entirely. As the years roll by seeing less and less poppies is only to be expected sadly.

Poppies aren't just for WW1. Since then we've had WW2, the Korean War, numerous other less well known campaigns, the Falklands, Afghanistan, Iraq and so on. Remembrance never ends.

[LoonyTunes]

Riley Blue said:

LoonyTunes said:

FunkyNige said:

CrutyRammers said:

I'd say quite the opposite. Most people I know don't even bother with a poppy, or do any form of commemoration. It seemed more prevalent in the 80s from what I remember.

I've noticed a similar thing - there's a massive difference between the abundance of poppies on TV and people on the street.

Well you've got to remember that to the younger generations nowadays the First World War has only the same amount of relevance as say the Crimean War or Boer War.

Like all wars time erases the gravitas of it to the Average-Aged man in the street. Growing up I had a Grandparent who remembered it - That's not possible anymore.

In 100 years time it'll likely be forgotten almost entirely. As the years roll by seeing less and less poppies is only to be expected sadly.

Poppies aren't just for WW1. Since then we've had WW2, the Korean War, numerous other less well known campaigns, the Falklands, Afghanistan, Iraq and so on. Remembrance never ends.

Thats being pedantic.

It's irrevocably tied to WW1 in most of the publics mind - they grew on the battlefields after WW1 ended as described in the famous WW1 poem In Flanders Fields.

[anonymous-user]

i don't wear a poppy but support the Charity, people are quick to jump down peoples throats unless they conform, the people that died gave us the right to choose.

[coppice]

The losses , on all sides , in WW1` were a grotesque , pointless obscenity which achieved only the sowing of the seeds for WW2 . If I believed we learned anything from history I'd be more in favour of commemoration at the current feverish level . But we never do , sadly .

[boyse7en]

Anyone seen this know if it is likely to be ok for a 12 year old?

[Bebee]

There are some short and repeated scenes (coloured in) of heads and bodies open, your discretion really.

I saw it yesterday in 3d, it made me closer to story than ever before, ultimately they were fighting machine gunners mostly.

[FourWheelDrift]

It's been given a 15 BBFC certificate probably because of the clearer images and colour.

As a side note Sidney Lewis was only 12 when he fought at the Battle of the Somme. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youngest_British_sol...

[Riley Blue]

boyse7en said:

Anyone seen this know if it is likely to be ok for a 12 year old?

There are close ups of bodies, both men and horses, and being in colour I think they're unsuitable for children. There's also a scene of horses being shelled which I found difficult to sit and watch.

It would be good if an edited version suitable for school viewing could be made, perhaps it will.

[coppice]

If the country has decided to make what was an act of remembrance into a national pastime, then perhaps we could avoid edited images , for any audience ,so as to convey the horror of WW1 . Otherwise we end up with trite nonsense like Spielberg's War Horse

[silverfoxcc]

Mt Grandfather was in WW1 and will be going through his records. for some reason, unknown to me, he transferred from the Navy to the Army!
Dad was in WW2 on HMS Dido, and i never knew just how much action that ship saw until i read wto books by serving crew. He certainly kept some things to himself

When the Frigate HMS Dido (F104) was in Chatham we went on board. to say he was the guest of Honour was an understatement. Every crew Member wanted to know about their predecessor, and he left ,quite full of drink!!!
I shall take my son and Grandson on HMS Belfast soon, esp as the engine room is now accessible and also on HMS Cavalier..
As i write there is a small piece on The Sheffield in the Falklands.
Whilst we have egomaniacs runnig counties who send others in to clear up the st they have caused there will always be wars,.And that is the brutal truth

If only we could put them in a room together to slug it out. I know people sign up voluntarily nowadays ,but in my view it is to defend their country, not have fire fights with countries who are no no danger to us. esp over the last years. JUst because some areshole thinks it is a good idea. The Flaklands was a just war Afghanistan AND Iran i have my doubts. ..Oh it was about the oil.
Politicians... i would shoot the frigging lot..spineless bds 99% of them