Look Alive

THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD (B+) - Peter Jackson takes original jumpy, black-and-white footage of British soldiers on the Western Front in World War I and restores it to an amazing modern look. He overlays archival recordings of interviews with British vets, conducted in the 1960s and '70s, as narration. The results (we saw it in IMAX) are stunning. A WWI buff (he happens to own a vintage cannon, but of course), the "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" director dives head-first into the project. And Jackson spared no expense. The attention to detail is meticulous, from the varying shades of grassland to the tint of the uniforms of specific regiments to the hiring of lip-reading experts to approximate the comments of those filmed so that voice actors -- matched vocally based on the surmised hometown of the various soldiers -- could replicate suspected dialogue.

The result is somehow both artificial and disturbingly authentic. It both glorifies war and lays bare its horrors. Jackson brings to life both the camaraderie of the men (who, decades later, generally look back fondly on the experience) and the nightmare not only of the weapons of war but the day-to-day indignities experienced by Britain's young men engaged in tedious trench warfare. It's both eerie and oddly joyful to see century-old footage spring magically to life.

BONUS TRACK
After the final credits in the theatrical release (and presumably as a DVD extra someday), Jackson hosts a half-hour examination of the techniques used in making the film. He's a genial host, betraying his WWI geekdom as well as his devotion to film restoration. The secrets are fascinating and are worth the price of admission.

And the song over the credits, the bawdy "Mademoiselle from Armentieres," sanitized here for PG sensibilities: