La vie sur le front de la mort (Life and Death on the Front)

From behind the front lines it is impossible to imagine the
lives of the soldiers and the horror of combat on the front,
despite the letters, the post-cards and the photographs which
were sent back. When it came to the illustrated journals, the
photos published were more on a military theme than an actual
depiction of combat and tended to show how the soldiers passed
their time. The cinema could have given a better rendition of
the fighting, but most of the footage is simply a series of
re-enactments. As the telefoto lens did not exist at the time
the cameraman had to risk his life more than once in order to
get a rather less than spectacular image. Although photography
was forbidden on the front, there was in fact intense activity.
The soldiers had their portrait taken to send home. They also
tried to build up collections of war photographs which reflected
this period of near nightmare, that they were not likely to
forget. (Magazines Summary)


Citaten:
Veray, L.: Le Cinéma au service de la nation de 1914 à 1920 (1987)
Badsey, S.D.: British Official Filming in the first World War
Reeves, N.: Official British film Propaganda during the first World War (1986)
Kahn, A.: Journal de guerre d'un juif patriote: 1914-1918 (1978)
Laurentin, M.: 1914-1918, Carnet d'un fantassin (1965)
Etevé, M.: Lettres d'un combattant: 1914-1916 (1917)