The documentary "They Don't Grow Old" tells the story of the British boys who had no war experience during the First World War. They went through life and death trials and added a lot of confusion after the war. The main part of the story unfolds in a timeline, and the narrative structure echoes from beginning to end. Although it is a documentary with the whole group as the protagonist, there is no detailed characterization; but if the entire main line is extracted, it can also constitute a wonderful drama film. The difference is that the perspective of this documentary can be better, allowing the audience to think about the meaning of war to them from the perspective of groups. As a documentary reviewing history, "They Don't Grow Old" is unique in its expression. The narration of the whole film comes from all kinds of British people who have experienced this war. The interview quotes of different people, edited together to tell the same thing, can personally experience the reality of the time and space they once experienced together. As for the pictures, all the remaining images from the past are used, and still photos are used to restore them to videos, as well as pictorials and comics from that era. The sense of the times is outstanding. The film also carefully designed several parts of the story. To start, slowly approach with a small window screen. The content of the picture is of British soldiers on the march, and the narration is the views of the soldiers on the war. This part is the summary, telling the audience what is going to be told. When the screen is expanded to full screen, the image gradually fades until it is completely white. The large area of white is psychologically shocking enough, which is the setting of the whole film. When the recruits marched to the front lines, the monetization method began to change. Black-and-white images turned into color, ambient sounds, and the simulated dialogue of soldiers on the screen. The purpose of the vivid picture is to enhance the sense of substitution. What the audience sees is no longer the dead material, but the real life that once existed. As the fighting progresses, in the climax of the film, British soldiers raid German positions. This is a winning battle in real history, probably because there is no video material, the director used black and white sketches to restore the battlefield. The part that the director really wants to express becomes more and more prominent. Those German soldiers who were captured by the British got along well with the British. They share a common confusion - what is the point of this war? When the war was over, the soldiers took off their uniforms and returned to their hometowns. The picture also returned to a black and white image, gradually receding in the form of a window. The narrator continues to talk about their inner confusion - the difficulty of reintegrating into society for the retired soldiers. There are several details in the film that stood out to me. When Britain and Germany declared war, the two football teams of the two countries were having a friendly association together. British football players received the news of the war, and their hearts were tangled. Friends who were close a moment ago have now become hostile relationships. he The idea of stabbing the opponent with a knife briefly sprouted in his heart, and then he quickly comforted himself: who cares, the war will officially start tomorrow. This detail is a scene after the end of the title, and the expression is ready to come out. During the war, an eight-man British squad raided German trenches. A British soldier hit a German soldier, and the German lad, who looked only eighteen, was dying. The British soldier gave him the wine he brought with him, and the German soldier thanked him and praised the wine as good. The two people at this moment, their flesh does not belong to the soul. Everything that happens on the battlefield is absurd. Friendly German snipers will miss on purpose. A captured German soldier reminded the British that the brutal Prussians (the peoples of northern Germany) were about to take over the battlefield. Almost no one wants war. At the end of the film, a soldier recalls that he finally returned home and returned to his warm bed. The next day, his mother found him asleep on the floor. This is the mark left by the war on him, he had been far away from civilization.
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