An historic and harrowing film of one of the bloodiest campaigns of the First World War has been restored to the original version that was shown in cinemas that same year.
The minute film that immerses the audience in the horrors of the Battle of Arras was made by four cameramen who were despatched to northern France by the War Office. Experts at Imperial War Museums restored the footage over the course of five years. Senior curator Toby Haggith said: 'It really looks incredible⦠It's a very good film and an important one in terms of raising the profile of what, after all, was a very bloody campaign.
He spoke of the ethical dilemma that they faced over whether to use modern technology to delete camera shakes from footage shot on the battlefield.
For example, as the troops faced artillery bombardment, the camera shook as the ground reverberated with the vibrations of the shelling. That was among factors that influenced the decision to keep the shakes and imperfections in returning the film to the state in which it was originally projected.
The pursuit of authenticity meant that even a speck of dust that experts determined had got into the film during the shooting process was kept in.
