14: Diaries Of The Great War - 2014 - 7/10

Imaginative WWI documentary should not be ones first choice for an overview of that war.
A compelling series, nonetheless, that will reward viewers who dig into it.
The usual combination of newsreel footage, stills and maps, is augmented with reenactments.
Diaries are quoted extensively and played out by actors.
This may take awhile to get accustomed to, but one does fall in with the concept.
“14 Diaries” are the prime journeys, yet secondary quotes and passages come from hundreds of memoirs.
Diaries and journals are not necessarily historically accurate, but they are heartfelt and hopefully honest whereas wartime news reports are invariably censored, if not fabricated.
Of particular note is the film restoration and coloring (sparingly) which is breathtaking.

An international production (trench sequences shot in Canada) that gives me my only quibble.
Characters speak in many languages. Sometimes they are subbed, other times overdubbed.
I wish producers would have made one choice and stuck with it.
Minor nitpick. For historical types, this should go onto your queue.