Columbus, GA – The British troops line up in their trench, ready on ladders to “go over the top.” Artillery fire peppers their positions and the troops ignore it, waiting for the whistle call. When it comes they stream out and over en masse into no-man's land, a huge frontal assault in the midst of the incoming barrage. In this scene from the new Steven Spielberg film War Horse, historical accuracy takes a back seat to dramatic effect.
According to filmmaker and historian Jonathan Kitzen, “[In War Horse], we see far more Hollywood then we do actual war. No real soldier would stand up ignoring the artillery, there is no fire step in the trench in which to defend the trench, the wire was so thick in those days that they had to cut lanes through it just before the battle in order to clear their own lines, and when they advance [in the film] the trees are still burning in no-man’s land, when in reality they were reduced to mud an buried years before in the Battle of the Somme in 1916.”
To counter this sensational Hollywood depiction of WWI combat, Jonathan Kitzen has produced a new documentary film, War of Wars, using original 3D photographs from the costliest battle in world history: the Battle of the Somme, which claimed the lives of over a million Soldiers. To tell the story, modern-day veterans provide voiceover narration describing their own time in combat to highlight the universal experience that all Soldiers share. “To see the real experience you need to go back to the source – over 10,000 original 3D stereoscopic images of the war taken by photographers and soldiers in the trenches. That experience is far different from the Hollywood version.”
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| Squad of French Soldiers walk down the main street of a front line village with gas masks to protect against numerous colorless, tasteless chemical agents. “While the large-scale war epic is a great way to engage audiences...many combat vets will find War of Wars to be a great catharsis, a break from the melodrama and hyperbole of standard Hollywood films.” - Jordan Beck, National Infantry Foundation |
