War of Words: Soldier-Poets of the Somme (2014)
The 1916 Battle of the Somme remains the most famous battle of World War I, remembered for its bloodshed and its limited territorial gains. What is often overlooked, however, is the literary importance of the Somme: more writers and poets fought in it than in any other battle in history. Narrated by Michael Sheen, War of Words: Soldier-Poets of the Somme details the experiences of the poets and writers who served in the battle. The work of Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, David Jones, Isaac Rosenberg and JRR Tolkien (who arrived at the Western Front with ambitions to be a poet) was informed and transformed by the battle. Taken together, their experiences allow us to see this dreadful historical event through multiple points of view. The film uses animation, documentary accounts, surviving artefacts, battalion war diaries and the landscape itself to reconnect this literature to the events that inspired it.
Director: Sebastian Barfield
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04pw01r
Michael Sheen Narrator (voice) |
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Peter Barton Himself - First World War Historian |
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Max Egremont Himself - Biographer, Siegfried Sassoon |
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Christophe Fricker Himself - Literary Historian |
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John Garth Himself - Author, Tolkien and the Great War |
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William Graves Himself - Son of Robert Graves |
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Jean Moorcroft Wilson Herself - Biographer, Siegfried Sassoon |
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Paul O'Prey Himself - Editor, Selected Poems: Robert Graves |
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Jonathon Riley Himself - Royal Welch Fusiliers |
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Jon Stallworthy Himself - Editor, The Oxford Book of War Poetry |
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Nigel Steel Himself - Principal Historian, Imperial War Museums |
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Michael Symmons Roberts Himself - Poet |
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Charlotte Zeepvat Herself - Biographer, W.N. Hodgson |
Camera | Douglas Hartington | Camera Operator |
Camera | Mike Fox | Camera Operator |
Camera | Ian Salvage | Director of Photography |
Production | Michael Poole | Executive Producer |
Editing | Stuart Davies | Editor |
Production | Peter Barton | Producer |
Directing | Sebastian Barfield | Director |
Production | Sebastian Barfield | Producer |
Crew | Mark Bell | Commissioning Editor |
Editing | Ed Ison | Editor |
Crew | Tana Beynon | Post-Production Manager |
Production | Alison Shouls | Production Manager |
Art | Steve Burrell | Production Design |
Art | Tim Marriot | Production Design |
Sound | Alan Hill | Sound |
Sound | Bill Rudolph | Sound |
Visual Effects | Burrell Durrant Hifle | Animation |
Visual Effects | Hugh Cowling | Animation |
Visual Effects | Paul Greer | Animation |
Visual Effects | Libby Redden | Animation |