Home | Message in the Movies

MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

All Quiet on the Western Front is based on a 1929 novel by the German writer Erich Maria Remarque. It became an international best-seller and the source material for an Academy Award winning 1930 film (and decades later, a 1979 television movie). It is one of the classic anti-war novels, based on the author’s own experiences of fighting for Germany in the Great War. It is a short book but unrelenting in its bleak narrative. Millions have read this book (many of them while in high school) and know the story.

I feel that the best way to review this movie is by answering a few anticipated questions.

Do we really need another 2½ hour film version? Yes, because this is the first filmed adaptation with a German cast and crew. It is also visually impressive, with widescreen vistas, attention to detail, and great acting.

If this movie is so great, why is it streaming on Netflix and not in theaters? While this film has been shown on a few screens (and was created to be shown in theaters), I am very glad that Netflix acquired it for home viewing, since theatergoers are no longer choosing to pay money to watch thoughtful downbeat stories.

I don’t like foreign films because I hate to read captions. Good news again. You can set up Netflix to have every voice dubbed in English.

What’s the basic story? After a stunning opening sequence, the rest of movie (like the book) follows young Paul Bäumer (Kammerer) as he enthusiastically enlists with the German Imperial Army and goes off to fight in the war with three of his classmates from school. It is not long before Paul meets up with the horrors of war, including painful deaths of soldiers on both sides of the battle. As the war drags on, the film shows German and French military leaders working first on a ceasefire and later on terms for surrender.

What is the first lesson from World War I that we should have been paying attention to? This is the first “modern” war involving advanced vehicles, weapons and mustard gas – and destined to produce record high casualties on all sides (with no clear “winner”). In spite of this predictable outcome in every subsequent military engagement, warfare continues.

Where is God in this story? God’s love is found in the friendships of fellow soldiers and in the judgement of every unnecessary loss.

What’s the R rating for? There is no rough language or sexual content, but there is a lot of war violence, including deaths of major and minor characters.

This my sound like homework, but All Quiet on the Western Front is impressive and powerful, a foreign language film deserving of its Oscar nomination as one of the best movies of 2022.

Halo and Pitchfork Rating:

Three halos: A visually stunning depiction of the folly of war.
Four pitchforks: Intense and sometimes gory war violence; the senselessness of war; mild swearing.

Comment:

Do you have comments about this movie or movie review? E-mail your comments. (Your name and UM affiliation must be supplied in order for your comments to be posted.)