Techniques of Audiovisual Revitalisation of the Past: Peter Jackson’s “They Shall Not Grow Old”

Antoni Michnik

antek_antek@poczta.onet.pl
Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2279-2374

Abstract

The author analyses Peter Jackson’s documentary film They Shall Not Grow Old (2018), which was based on the archival film footage from World War I. He examines the use of the documents, arguing that the interventions made by Jackson’s team go beyond film restoration, and proposing the term “revitalization” to describe the effect of these changes. Further, the author analyses Jackson’s artistic choices, revealing the contexts and purposes of different aspects of his treatment of the footage (screenplay, colour palette, etc.), as well as discussing the preparation of the soundtrack in terms of contemporary practices of historical soundscape reconstruction. Finally, the author approaches the immersive aspect of They Shall Not Grow Old, discussing audiovisual narratives of contemporary museums and the beginnings of film, arguing that Jackson’s documentary is in fact about the cinema itself and the memory of the Great War rather than about history.


Keywords:

Peter Jackson, World War I, documentary film, restoration of archival films, reconstruction of historical soundscapes, revitalisation of the past

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Published
2021-05-13

Cited by

Michnik, A. (2021) “Techniques of Audiovisual Revitalisation of the Past: Peter Jackson’s ‘They Shall Not Grow Old’”, Kwartalnik Filmowy, (113), pp. 132–152. doi: 10.36744/kf.693.

Authors

Antoni Michnik 
antek_antek@poczta.onet.pl
Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2279-2374

PhD student at the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences, he holds a master’s degree from Institute of Art History at the University of Warsaw; culture historian, performer. Founding member of research-performative group Grupa ETC. Since 2013, editor of the Glissando magazine. He published i. a. in Dialog, Konteksty, Kultura Popularna, Kultura Współczesna, Kwartalnik Filmowy, Polish Theatre Journal, Rocznik Historii Sztuki, Ruch Muzyczny, Zeszyty Literackie.



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