The song "La Chanson de Craonne" ("Adieu la Vie"), sung by Pia Colombo (Estaminet Singer) in this movie, commemorates a mutiny in 1917 by French troops. Merely singing it was considered an act of mutiny, and it was banned in France until 1974. During the war, a reward of one million francs and immediate honorable release from the Army was offered for the identity of the author, but never claimed.
In spite of the horrors of the war narrated in the movie, all casualties are always implied. Not a single blood drop or stain is shown, and no person is seen felled by bombs or bullets.
The final scene involved the placing of over 16,000 individual crosses on the Sussex Downs. Each cross had to have a hole dug for it in order to hold it steady in the ground to stop it from falling or being blown over. The final trackback from the graves, shot from a helicopter, had to be done several times due to problems with high winds and camera shake.
The trench scenes were all shot at Brighton Municipal Rubbish dump. The actors and crew involved in those scenes described the overwhelming stench of the dump, which was exacerbated by the hot summer weather.
The "Christmas Day Truce" scenes, which involved creating a freezing snowy landscape, were shot during midsummer. The actors had to endure some of the hottest days of the year with the temperature in the 90s, wearing full heavy winter costumes.