it's hard to believe that this film was made in 1928. the photography is outstanding. the print was sharp. and the music (played by a live pianist in this case) is utterly sublime. the special effects are extremely well done, with a variety of explosions (ok, a huge variety of explosions), ghostly images, scenery (the french countryside as a moonscape of craters and splintered trees) and graphic maps that would work nicely in a film created today.
considering that this is essentially a documentary/re-enactment of the now nearly-forgotten world war one trench battle of verdun, it is surprisingly engrossing material. the presence of several fictionalized characters fighting through the battle helps hold interest as opposed to a dry, third-person telling. it has a pro-french slant (it is a french film, after all), but the Germans are presented sympathetically.
i understand that this film has been "lost" for years, with a print recently reconstructed from footage found in a moscow film archives (the Germans took the original during ww2 & the russians subsequently took it from them later in the war) and it has only been shown a handful of times, though a DVD is coming soon. if the opportunity presents, see this movie. the music alone is reason enough, but pair that with the images on screen and it's amazing.
