War of Words: Soldier-Poets of the Somme

Synopsis

The 1916 Battle of the Somme remains the most famous battle of World War I, remembered for its bloodshed and its limited territorial gains. What is often overlooked, however, is the literary importance of the Somme: more writers and poets fought in it than in any other battle in history. Narrated by Michael Sheen, War of Words: Soldier-Poets of the Somme details the experiences of the poets and writers who served in the battle. The work of Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, David Jones, Isaac Rosenberg and JRR Tolkien (who arrived at the Western Front with ambitions to be a poet) was informed and transformed by the battle. Taken together, their experiences allow us to see this dreadful historical event through multiple points of view. The film uses animation, documentary accounts, surviving artefacts, battalion war diaries and the landscape itself to reconnect this literature to the events that inspired it.

Main Cast

Michael Sheen

Narrator (voice)

Age : N/A | Popularity : 100%

Peter Barton

Himself - First World War Historian

Age : N/A | Popularity : 0%

Max Egremont

Himself - Biographer, Siegfried Sassoon

Age : N/A | Popularity : 0%

Christophe Fricker

Himself - Literary Historian

Age : N/A | Popularity : 0%

John Garth

Himself - Author, Tolkien and the Great War

Age : N/A | Popularity : 0%

William Graves

Himself - Son of Robert Graves

Age : N/A | Popularity : 0%

Jean Moorcroft Wilson

Herself - Biographer, Siegfried Sassoon

Age : N/A | Popularity : 0%

Paul O'Prey

Himself - Editor, Selected Poems: Robert Graves

Age : N/A | Popularity : 0%

Crew

Department	Role	Name
Directing	Director	Sebastian Barfield
Crew	Commissioning Editor	Mark Bell
	Post-Production Manager	Tana Beynon
Editing	Editor	Ed Ison Stuart Davies
Production	Production Manager	Alison Shouls
	Producer	Sebastian Barfield Peter Barton
	Executive Producer	Michael Poole
Art	Production Design	Steve Burrell Tim Marriot
Sound	Sound	Alan Hill Bill Rudolph
Visual Effects	Animation	Burrell Durrant Hifle Hugh Cowling Paul Greer Libby Redden
Camera	Director of Photography	Ian Salvage
	Camera Operator	Douglas Hartington Mike Fox
Department	Role	Name

Join the discussion