The Battle of the Somme

The documentary is a genre that was born at the same time as the cinema itself because at the beginning the cinematographer was there to reflect and capture daily events of varying degrees of importance: the arrival of a train to a station, the exit of the proletarian masses from the factories or even the exciting view of the parishioners going in and out of church. It followed that the new invention was a perfect instrument to display images, costumes and events that would interest older people as well as the new long haired generation.

But "The Battle Of The Somme" it is not a trivial show of mundane events during the early times of the cinema; it is a document of a great importance for film history and history itself. The film depicts the terrible and largest WWI battle; it happened in a long front north and south of the River Somme in northern France and was a huge battle in which more than a million people from different nationalities died. The film is an exceptional document of the horrors of war that shows the great magnitude of that that tragic war or really any war. This conflict changed Europedrastically ( the end of the innocence ) and, even worse, rather than deter future wars, it only led the way to the even more terrible WWII. The film was photographed, not directed,-there is a big difference between those terms- by the British official cinematographers Geoffrey Malins and John McDowell whose primary intention was to film such an important battle but since they ended up shooting quite a lot footage, the British Topical Committee for War Films decided to release it as the first feature-length documentary film that depicts war combat. The film is structured and divided into different parts in which can be seen the different war preliminaries and the consequences of the battle, besides the tactics and arms used in the WWI. Since it was released during the war the movie functions as a propaganda film for the British Army. And of course it exposes to the civilians the horrors of war that was still raging. The film was shown in Great Britain and many countries of the world while the battles continued in France.

"The Battle Of The Somme" it is an exceptional war document of historical importance, a silent film that, although it seems a redundancy, doesn't need words.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave, because this German Count wants to wish that those disasters of war never happen again.

Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien

This is a documentary, apparently watched by a third of Britain's population at the time of release. Watching it now it may prove hard for some viewers to appreciate what a technological tour de force is was for the time. Being a war documentary issued at a time of war it is biased, but there is still enough there to hint at the horrors of the battle. It's true merit is in it's historical importance. Much has been used in documentaries since. For those with an interest in the First World War it is a must see, for others it is an education nonetheless.

Last night I went to the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank to watch a screening of the digitally restored print of this silent film, accompanied by the Philharmonia Orchestra, playing music written by Laura Rossi. I was nervous about the application of music to a silent film, as I am about the application of music to any film, but more so. Whilst there can be no doubt about the power of music to augment the impact of a scene, this manipulation of our emotions can also be crass, offensive, or a complete failure. There were times during this film when the music was the perfect partner - the rendering of the wind over the battlefield was incredible and terrifying. But the accompaniment of drum-bursts for the firing of artillery pieces was less-than-impressive. And there were moments when i wished the film would be left to speak for itself, such as the filming of the first charges; some men slid back down the muddy faces of the trenches, one thought initially because they had lost their footing, but it was soon clear that they had been killed before they had even set foot in no-man's land. For me, this moment would have been made powerful by silence, because there are no words or sounds for the sadness and futility of such things. Finally, on the music, the accompaniment of cheerful marching tunes when the lads marched back from "a successful attack", left me with a sour taste, but i think this says more about the film than the music. Laura Rossi could hardly provide sarcastic or barbed rejoinders (in the manner of Kipling or Sassoon's poetry) to these moments of propaganda. This is where the film falls down (but is still fascinating and valuable) in that, for the most part, it is content to talk up the British Army, the power of bombardment, and the success of its attacks. Even the images of dead men and horses are tempered by the smiling faces of 'jolly tommys' and the jaunty, cheery tone of the titles boards. What this unique visual record of the battle needs is to be seen in context, against the terrible losses of battalions such as the Accrington Pals, and the pitiful gains of this style of warfare. I never fail to be impressed, however, by the efforts of the institutions on the South Bank to bring amazing documents like this out of obscurity. Well done to them, and to Laura Rossi for her attempts to soundtrack this one-off film.

... and is an early example of propaganda. Most of the footage shows British troops from various divisions preparing for war, gathering ammunition and deploying heavy guns. Some time is spent showing the medical section working on wounded soldiers, as well as the treatment of German prisoners, and even a few moments of battlefield casualties.

Historically, this film is priceless, a glimpse at the Great War while it was still in full swing, and a treasure trove for history buffs and military enthusiasts. This was released one month into the battle, which would continue for another 3 months. Although rather arbitrarily divided into 5 chapters, there's no narrative,per say, and will be of little interest to most viewers. However, it is listed as one of the 101 War Movies to See Before You Die.

A documentary about the Battle of the Somme - a World War 1 fight between Germany and UK in Somme, France.

This is important since it is probably the earliest videos of War that ever existed. In fact, it made 20 Million Ticket sales and has now enshrined by UN for its historical importance.

I personally did not care for it. I guess by 1916, the documentary genre is like just plainly taking videos. There is no view point in this film, just plain videos of the war with very descriptive intertitles. Clearly, if your British you would feel happy and at least enliven with how things went BUT this does not feel as propagandic as what was described. The famous scene in this film is literally about a troop that have massive fatalities not little after 30 minutes in the field. It feels more like a morbid curiosity (now and then) to be honest.

Kudos though for making the British middle class interested in films, which is nice. I guess having to see war is such a curiosity for early film audiences, since this was the same commentaries for All Quiet for the Western Front. They probably heard a lot of broken down veterans and think that can be that tough.

Recommended for Historical Reasons only.