J’accuse, Abel Gance, 1919: “ Gance’s film chronicles the decimation of a Provençal village as the sons of France go off to fight, either dying on the front or returning as shell-shocked, hollow men.The conditions in which we filmed were profoundly moving.These men had come straight from the Front,from Verdun and they were due back 8 days later. They played the dead knowing that in all probability they’d be dead themselves before long. Within a few weeks of their return, 80% had been killed.”