The Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme was one of the bloodiest battles in history. On the first day alone, there were more than 57,000 British casualties, and by the end of the campaign, the Allied and Central Powers would lose more than 1.5 million men. The 1916 film The Battle of the Somme is uniquely significant both as the compelling documentary record of one of the key battles of the First World War, and as the first feature-length documentary film record of combat produced anywhere in the world.

Seen by many millions of British civilians within the first month of distribution, The Battle of the Somme allowed the civilian home-front audience to share the experiences of the front-line soldier, helping both to create and to reflect the concept of Total War. The film also played a major part in establishing the methodology of documentary and propaganda film, and initiated debate on a number of issues relating to the ethical treatment of “factual” film which continue to be relevant to this day.

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