A Film by Edward Berger

Until the publication of Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front (Im Westen nichts Neues) in 1929, most books about war were stuffy affairs regaling the reader with the exploits of heroic generals and their courageous men as they gallantly fight off their opposition. By using his own experiences in World War I, Remarque’s book blew the lid off of what it was really like fighting in an endless war from the point of view of the actual men in the literal trenches. It was a visceral look at why war is not always some “cool” thing that happens, and warns of what horrors could follow if humans keep going down the wrong path.

As you can imagine, this candid look at what Remarque considered German incompetence was not well-liked by the soon-to-be incoming Nazi Government, earning himself a self-imposed exile from the land he fought so hard to protect. The book, however, became a smash-hit everywhere else, eventually leading to plays, radio dramas, feature films and more. One adaptation of the book in particular, the 1930 American adaptation, directed by Lewis Milestone, went on to win two Academy Awards. in 2022 Netflix released a new adaptation of the classic story to great acclaim, winning four academy awards of it’s own out of the nine it was nominated four. While not the same as any other version of the story, 2022’s All Quiet on the Western Front is a marvelous film, and perhaps one of the best war films ever made.

“All Quiet on the Western Front tells the gripping story of a young German soldier on the Western Front of World War I. Paul and his comrades experience first-hand how the initial euphoria of war turns into desperation and fear as they fight for their lives, and each other, in the trenches. The film from director Edward Berger is based on the world renowned bestseller of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque.”

As with any version of this near 100 year old story, there are considerable differences from the source material, or any other version, for that matter. Instead of the rather slow opening of the novel, wherein our main character, Paul Bäumer, falls-in with his ultra-nationalist schoolteacher, Professor Kantorek, and is goaded with entire class to join the war effort, we see an intense battle sequence that results in numerous German casualties. These corpses are unceremoniously packed into coffins while stripped of their boots and uniforms. These items are packed up and cleaned, mended and readied for the next wave of humans into the “meatgrinder” of pointless war.

This movie version of Paul, as played by Felix Kammerer, is initially aghast that someone else’s name is written on the inside of his “new” long coat. The quartermaster just goes with it and calms Paul by saying “Yes, it was probably too small for the fellow”. Relieved, the naïve Paul is excited to go out and prove his worth on the battlefield, something that he had to forge documents, lie about his age, and run away from his family to do. This opening was jarring and sets the tone for the remainder of the film. it’s both a poignant reminder of the callous disdain for human life that bureaucrats and politicians seem to have during wartime, and is very well done. That theme of soldiers being used as cannon fodder while the aristocracy waste time and eat themselves fat was present in the book, but it comes to the forefront here in this film.

Speaking of differences, Professor Kantorek is in the film, but his role is somewhat diminished, and for better or worse, other changes occur. Paul is heading to the front three years into the war versus right at the beginning. He never gets the home leave he is awarded in the book (due to being wounded), a section of the book that showed the readers Paul was unlikely to be able to function ever again. Finally, the BIG character deaths have been changed, but in ways that make them even more sad in my opinion. Taking the place of the home leave portion of the book is a series of segments about what is happening behind the lines, featuring (real) politician Matthias Erzberger (played by Daniel Brühl) as he leads negotiations for an armistice and Devid Striesow as General Freiderich, a man so blinded by bloodlust he is willing to sacrifice thousands of boys to gain just feet of ground as the clock ticks towards the end of hostilities.

While I’ve outlined changes made to the plot that stood out to me, this film is great for pretty much anyone (that can stomach a war movie), even those that have not ever read or watched an older version. The movie stands on its own and does its own thing at times, subverting expectations from what the viewer was likely expecting. The acting is absolutely riveting, with strong performances from pretty much every actor in this film. I was especially surprised with Felix Kammerer’s Paul as he goes from a wide-eyed boy looking for adventure to a ghostly husk of a man weary and desensitized by the horrors of war, simply looking for death to finally be at peace. Rarely do you see an actor provide such a sweeping portrayal of a man’s decent into hell as we have here.

All Quiet on the Western Front is absolutely amazing in its cinematography and direction, with scenes that convey the sheer magnitude of the war, including barren post-apocalyptic battlefields full corpses and fire, to the exact opposite with somber woodland scenes with lightly falling snow. The location shooting in incredible, and I wish more directors of historical films tried as hard as the staff did here. Some of the battle scenes are absolutely harrowing, with one in particular that really sticks out to me. There is a scene towards the middle of the film where the French Army deploys a series of Saint-Chamond assault tanks to try to crush the German trenches, something that they had likely never before seen. This scene is played as a horror film of sorts, with no one knowing exactly how to face-off against a murderous iron juggernaut crushing everything it comes across. The battle scenes are not too numerous, but when they do hit the screen, they hit VERY hard.

As anyone that is familiar with this story can attest, All Quiet on the Western Front is not a happy film. It shows the horrors of war in a way that is completely 180 degrees from the typical western war film. Then again, since the release of Saving Private Ryan, the “rah rah ‘Merica” nature of films in this genre has cooled down considerably. There is no ham-fisted pro-war propaganda on display, nor does much of anything “happy” happen throughout. The whole film is a somber and terrifying look at how war should be viewed – as an affront to humanity and something everyone should avoid.

It’s interesting to not that this is the first version of this story that is actually in the book’s native German, as all other films have been American and British. The cast is German, and the director as well. Daniel Brühl is likely the most notable actor that most Americans would recognize, largely due to his works in English speaking films such as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The Cloverfield Paradox, and more. Since Udo Kier is getting “up there in age”, I joking point out that Brühl has become the actor they always call when a German accent is needed in something. I, of course, watched this in German with subtitles, but a dubbed version is also available. I don’t normally like dubbed live action films too much, but Netflix is usually good with the German TV shows I’ve seen (such as Dark), so I’m sure it’s fine.

I’m not hoping for a sequel of sorts to this, but if the money was there and the director wanted to, there is actually a sequel to the book that many don’t know about, 1931’s The Road Back. It’s a novel that shows the destabilization of Germany after World War I, and how veterans were mistreated or had trouble rejoining society after their ordeal. The film does kill off the only character that was in both stories, so I am not betting on this ever happening.

I’m not sure why it took me so long to finally watch Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front, but it was absolutely well-worth the wait. Everything about this film is incredible, and it may just be my favorite film depicting World War I that I have ever seen. if you are squeamish or adverse to horror films or violence, this is obviously not a film to seek out, but if you are hungry for a look at a time period that only recently started getting some attention, this is a great choice.

For more things I have reviewed based on World War I, click HERE