Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

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The Battle of the Somme
Inscribed 2005
What is it
A black-and-white silent 35 mm film in five reels with a
running time of approximately 70 minutes showing the
British army preparations for the Battle of the Somme in
1916 and the battle’s early stages.
Why was it inscribed
The film is the first feature-length documentary film
record of combat, a genre in which its importance
has been defining and long-lasting. It established the
importance of film in wartime propaganda.
On its general release, the film allowed home audiences
to share the soldiers’ experiences for the first time,
so cementing the experience of Total War that the
First World War (1914–18) engendered on a thenunprecedented
scale.
Where is it
Imperial War Museum, London, UK
The Battle of the Somme, filmed over several weeks
in northern France in the summer of 1916 by
cinematographers of the British War Office, heralded a
revolutionary departure in warfare, in propaganda and in
the still relatively new medium of moving film. The film’s
approach to depicting combat became a standard which
was adopted in other films of warfare of the Second World
War and later.
One of the earliest and most famous documentary
films, it was intended to raise morale on the home front,
and in this it was a great success: an estimated twenty
million people saw it in cinemas in the first six weeks of its
release. It brought the war to popular awareness not just in
Britain and the Empire but also in neutral countries, such
as America. It was also used as a morale booster among
Britain’s allies, including Russia, and stimulated counterpropaganda
film making in Germany.
The film sparked contemporary debate over the inclusion
of staged material in documentary film in terms that are
still familiar now. Its value was recognized immediately
438 The Battle of the Somme
Still from the film of soldiers going over the top
on the first day of the battle. �