How reliable?
Just wondering about the aspects of the battle that the camera men were not able to film. What kind of things were left out? Were any of the scenes faked?
shareThere was a miniseries on the History Channel about 10 years ago, called "Reel Truth," (http://imdb.com/title/tt1091535/) where they assert based on their research that almost all of the shots of the actual battle, including the final shot of the tommies going "over the top," are completely staged. The shots of the Rear are supposedly more accurate, but have to be taken with a grain of salt.
shareThats disappointing to hear. I found it very moving, now i know it was just fake... Still it wasn't all that different i imagine.
The Simpsons:
1989-2000
R.I.P
You need to remember that at the time, a lot of the people who were going to the cinema to see the film would have had relatives fighting on the Somme, or elsewhere. If it had been genuine footage, there would have been a possibility that they may have seen their husband/brother/father/son killed or wounded.
shareSadly, the History Channel is not a reliable information source. Hasn't been for many years.
Some footage was recreated. Most was authentic.
This film was indeed intended to be patriotic wartime propaganda by the Imperial war office, but it had the opposite effect. For more about that, see also:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwB3luIeKe4 starting at about 27:53 and going to 31:00.
"I don't deduce, I observe."
One of the most famous scenes from the Battle of the Somme was that of the men going ‘over the top’. The soldiers climb out of their trench and advance towards the enemy. Some are cut down, presumably by enemy fire.
The academic consensus is that this scene was not filmed during the Battle of the Somme. Rather it seems likely that Geoffrey Malins captured this scene at a training facility and it was inserted into the film by editor Charles Urban.
The motive for this may have been to then added drama – Urban was keen for the film to have a sense of climax.
It is also possible that similar shots were taken but proved to be of insufficient quality once the film was developed and viewed back in London.
Alternatively, Malins and McDowell may have been unable to capture these scenes for practical reasons, such as ferocity of the artillery bombardment or machine fire.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zc3dhyc share