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Indian Express
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
28 years later: Truth behind the haunting 110-year-old World War I chant; how a soldier's breakdown became a modern horror anthem
Danny Boyle's 2025 post-apocalyptic horror, 28 Years Later, features a spine-chilling chant that stirred buzz long before the film even dropped. When the first trailer starring Ralph Fiennes and Jodie Comer released, it had everything: eerie visuals, a broken world, the zombies, but the creepy voice in the background wasn't made specifically for the movie. That haunting cadence actually comes from a 100-year-old recording of 'Boots,' a 1903 poem by Rudyard Kipling. At first, it feels random. But with the chaos onscreen, it lands like a deranged war cry, unsettling and unforgettable. According to Boyle, who spoke to Variety, Rudyard Kipling wrote the poem to show how brutally repetitive life was for British soldiers who marched across southern Africa for weeks during the Boer War. It was recorded during World War I. The version used in the trailer is from the year 1915, read out by actor Taylor Holmes. At first, the chant sounds like a usual military drill, but by the end, the voice sounds hysterical, like it's losing control. For Boyle, it was a perfect way to capture the essence of the trailer. Also read: 28 Years Later Movie Review: Danny Boyle's legacy sequel leaves you hungry for what comes next The lyrics go as: 'I—have—marched—six—weeks in hell and certify It—is—not—fire—devils, dark, or anything, But boots—boots—boots—boots—movin up and down again.' 'And there's no discharge in the war! Try—try—try—try—to think of something different Oh—my—God—keep—me from going lunatic!' According to the Kipling Society, the poem has been used over and over for marches by various army units, and in some cases, given how disturbing it gets towards the end, it has also been used to assess psychological impact by the U.S. military in their schools. Sony's trailer ad team found the old clip and knew it was perfect. Boyle and writer Alex Garland heard it mixed over the zombie footage and said, 'Holy crap… that's it.' Then they modified their version and blended the recording with actual film, during a scene where the main character Spike and his father are walking to face off the enemies, just like a war-like situation. 'We had all these archives that we wanted to use to suggest the culture that the island was teaching its children,' Boyle told Variety. 'It was very much a regressive thing — they were looking back to a time when England was great. Boyle had considered Shakespeare's famous Saint Crispin's Day speech from Henry V, but it felt too obvious. 'Boots', on the other hand, had him gripped in one go. The low bass music under the chant increases the unease. 'We tried it in our archive sequence, and it was like it was made for. It,' the director said. Boyle said it was like the poem had been waiting over 100 years for this moment. It still carries the raw emotional power it did back then—even in our TikTok age.
Hindustan Times
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Spice of life: Lord Wavell, a viceroy with the heart of a poet
For many in India, Lord Wavell shall be remembered as one of the last long-serving viceroys, having served at the helm from 1943-47 and as a man who held onto his colonial mindset till the very end, alienating not only Indian politicians but also his masters sitting in London. It would be apt to remember Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell this May, as the month brought him both his birth (May 5, 1883) as well as his death (May 24, 1950). Lord Wavell might not have been a success in the political office of viceroy but he was a great military man and what may surprise many, an even more successful writer and poet, having authored six books. Lord Wavell had a passion for poetry since childhood. He could memorise long poems with ease. He was often showed off by his parents to relatives and friends to recite reams of poetry. Apart from fighting the Boer War, two World Wars, attaining the highest rank of Field Marshal, earning an earldom and serving as viceroy of India, he was known to devote a lot of time to his duties as president of the Poetry Society, the Royal Society of Literature, the Kipling Society and Browning Society. His military aide, Peter Fleming (travel writer and brother of Ian Fleming, the man who created the character of James Bond), once asked him to compile his favourite poems for publishing. Initially hesitant, Lord Wavell took on the task and compiled the volume of 255 poems almost totally from memory. The result was Other Men's Flowers, published in 1944. Priced at 10 shillings and six pence, the book sold out immediately and remains in print even Times commended his book and welcomed him as 'the latest recruit to the ranks of anthologists'. To mend fences with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who was incarcerated in Ahmednagar Fort, he sent an inscribed copy of his book along with a personal letter. Pandit Nehru was delighted and described the book as 'a good one'. He dedicated this book to his son, who shared his love for poetry. Unfortunately, the poetry-loving son died a brave soldier battling the Mau Mau in Kenya after having lost his left arm in the Second World War. After four years of war when he visited the Madonna of the Cherries, he wrote a sonnet to all things beautiful that help us forget the dreariness of war. 'For all the loveliness, the warmth, that light, / Blessed Madonna, I go back to fight,' wrote Lord Wavell as the last lines of his sonnet (Page510, Other Men's Flowers), emphasising the fact that sometimes war has to be fought to safeguard the beautiful things in life. gurnoorgrewal572@ The writer is a Chandigarh-based freelance contributor.
