"For King and Empire" (2001) TV series

User Rating:

9.5/10   

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

4 November 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | History | War

Plot:

A documentary series about the Canadian Army's participation in World War I.

Plot Keywords:

Canadian Army | Battle Of The Somme | WWI | Army Life | Canada

Cast

Norm Christie

...

Host (unknown episodes)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Company:

Breakthrough Films and Television

Gripping, moving, unusual, and haunting

A walking tour of WWI graveyards sounds like it might make for tedious TV, but not in the hands of Norm Christie. Christie is an historian and has a deep appreciation for these gravesites, and what happened to the soldiers that lie within them. He's created a series that brings the stories of the Canadian soldiers alive in an extremely personal way. The series combines archive footage, narration, actor's voices, still images, soldiers letters and Christie's on-camera descriptions of the battles and soldiers lives. He makes us understand the significance of the events that the soldiers found themselves in. This is an important historical record for all Canadians, and we owe a great debt to Christie for waking us up to the accomplishments and determination of our soldiers.

The tense background music strikes me as unique and haunting, and creates an air of suspense as Christie relates the stories in chronological order.

My great-great uncle, who died in the assault on Vimy Ridge, and great uncle, who survived Vimy but died at Ypres, are well-served by Christie's important effort. I intend to find their graves in France now that I've seen this series and read Christie's books (which match the episodes). You'll never look at a war memorial in the same way again after seeing this series.