The Great War (2007) - CBC

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CBC
The Great War
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General Information
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Type.................: documentary
More Information.....: (none)

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Technical Information
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Source...............: NTSC CABLE
AVI Size.............: 2x 1,082,155,008 bytes
Duration.............: 2x 01:30:21
FPS..................: 23.976

Video Codec..........: XviD
Codec DCT......: H263
QPel...........: No
GMC............: No
Video Bitrate........: 2000 (ABR)
Video Resolution.....: 640x464
Video Aspect Ratio...: 1.379

Audio Format.........: 0x0055(MP3, ISO) MPEG-1 Layer 3
Audio Encoder........: LAME 3.92
Bitrate..............: 128kbits/sec (CBR)
Hz...................: 48000
Channels.............: Stereo
Captured by..........: festering leper

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Description
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Following their ancestors\' foosteps

Between 1914 and 1918, when Canada was scarcely more than a British colony,
and less than eight million people, she dispatched an army overseas of 325,000
soldiers and nurses. The chance of returning home unscathed was one of three.
In short,two thirds of our army was killed or wounded, with 60,000 dead on the
battlefield. A generation was annihilated. Across the country, stories of
bravery, close calls, broken hearts and patriotism have been passed down from
generation to generation.

In 2005, CBC-TV and Galafilm put out a call to descendants of Canadian First
World War soldiers to participate in the living history component of the Great
War project. Over 6,500 Canadians applied and 150 made the final cut to take
part in vivid battle recreations, and to experience what their ancestors went
through in the killing grounds of Europe. Of the 150, 14 descendants were
chosen for a special mission�to travel to the battlefields of England, France
and Belgium where their ancestors fought and sometimes gave their lives.

In documentary style, THE GREAT WAR follows the 14 young men and women�
representing a cross-section of Canada�as they voyage through time to
understand their ancestors� experience as soldiers and nurses at the front.
Viewers will watch as the great-grandchildren relive the horror of that time
and how they are transformed by it.

THE GREAT WAR also dramatizes the poignant stories of the war�s greatest heroes
for Canada: Talbot Mercer Papineau (played by Justin Trudeau), who died a hero
at Passchendaele, one of the deadliest battles of the war for Canada; Chaplain
Canon Scott (played by Michael Rudder), who had to bury his own son killed in
battle; Ernest Lamarche (played by Maxime Cournoyer), who fought with the Van
Doos, the only French speaking regiment in the British army.

The epic battle re-enactments of THE GREAT WAR, filmed in rural Quebec, would
never have happened without the participation of the 150 descendants. As with
real war, the young volunteers lived in an encampment and marched into the
trenches to fight the battles their ancestors fought. Their living history
experience brings to life the five major Canadian battles of the war: St.
Julien, Beaumont-Hamel, Courcelette, Vimy and Passchaendale.

THE GREAT WAR is a new concept in historical storytelling. It weaves together
a tapestry of perspectives, and will give audiences a deeper sense of this
defining event in Canada�s past.

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- thanks to festering leper at http://www.mvgroup.org