I wouldn’t consider myself a history buff.

I’ve always had a great appreciation for learning it and respecting it, however.  Recently for an extra credit opportunity in AP Euro I ended up going down to the Angelika Film Center down in Dallas to watch They Shall Not Grow Old, a World War I colorized documentary directed by Peter Jackson, producer of the Lord of the Rings series.

For a film that I did not expect to attract a huge audience, the theater was moderately packed with adults and and a couple teens.

The documentary itself smashed every pre-conceived notion I had of it. I always tend to associate war documentaries before color in film to be gray, dismal, and lacking life. It’s hard to be immersed into a world you can’t relate to.

The colorization and the technology, however, of They Shall Not Grow Old, lent itself to a vivid universe, one in which the joys, sorrows, and everything in between could be felt along with the soldiers.

I found I could relate to the merriment and pastimes of the soldiers, and I found a link between the history and the humanity that is sometimes lost in the textbooks.

Watching the film with my dad was a nice reminder that treating yourself to new experiences can be so worth it.