All Quite on The Western Front
This is a brutal movie with scenes of carnage.
If this bothers you do not watch this film. This is not a remake of the 1930 version,
the classic butterfly scene is absent. It is based on the same book Nothing
New in the West, by Erich Maria Remarque. Every cliché about war applies to
this movie: the futility of war, the horror of war
and the fog of war. The film’s message has been mitigated by modern history:
World War II, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, but it is still poignant.
The
movie follows the main character, Paul Baumer, played by Felix Kammerer. He experiences
horrendous battles all for a few feet of territory. Before becoming a soldier, he
was an enthusiastic schoolboy who wanted to enlist. Germany was gripped
in the rapture of nationalism. A crack in this fervent facade is when the young
recruits are given the patched-up uniforms of dead soldiers. There are some joyful
scenes when the soldiers steal a goose and enjoy an eager feast.
The film shows a countdown to the date
of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, armistice day.
In the last fifteen minutes before eleven am, an aristocratic general ordered a
futile attack on the enemy which caused more pointless deaths, epitomizing the senselessness
of the war.
Aside from this gripping story an outstanding
feature of the film is the cinematography. The battle scenes are brutal with detailed
close ups of suffering soldiers. By contrast there are
beautiful vista shots of the countryside.
This is a well-crafted film but be
prepared for some brutal reality.
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