Just these minutes I dropped into a nice little (and somewhat artistic) documentation movie called the camera men of Verdun ("Die Kameramänner von Verdun"). I did not find out the french original title. It covers the making of front movies and reporting during the war. We know many of these battle scenes and they were almost all staged far behind the front lines. But the reporters also filmed many scenes that were immediately scensored and never turned up in propaganda.
The movie shows original material and the reserved, often sarcastic comments of the makers on both sides. It is very informative to see these scenes in the context of the original notes.
In one instance, a french camera man has the oportunity to fim an actual attack. Later he shows it to the survivors of the charge. The men laugh and applaude when they recognize themselves. But then they suddenly get very somber. He realizes that non of the men he had filmed jumping out of his part of the trench have returned.
The movie shows original material and the reserved, often sarcastic comments of the makers on both sides. It is very informative to see these scenes in the context of the original notes.
In one instance, a french camera man has the oportunity to fim an actual attack. Later he shows it to the survivors of the charge. The men laugh and applaude when they recognize themselves. But then they suddenly get very somber. He realizes that non of the men he had filmed jumping out of his part of the trench have returned.
