All Quiet on the Western Front

Just released on Netflix is a new remake of one of the greatest films ever made. I’m not generally a fan of remakes, but this film adds unique touches that make it worth the watch for those who can handle the incredibly graphic violence and the relentlessly bleak and brutal story.

In 1928, German novelist Erich Maria Remarque wrote an anti-war novel about the horror of trench warfare in WWI. It was called Im Westen nichts Neues. The English title was All Quiet on the Western Front and, in 1930, Lewis Milestone made it into the definitive anti-war film. The remake by Edward Berger is not as good or powerful as the original (how could it be?), but it’s made by Germans this time, which I think is important, and it uses gorgeous (if often ghastly) cinematography to highlight the insanity and futility of war in juxtaposition to a beautiful world that lies all around it and will (we can only hope) continue beyond whatever horrors humanity inflicts upon itself. 

The acting by newcomer Felix Kammerer, as the 17/18-year-old protagonist through whom we witness the madness of war, is terrific; all of the acting in the film is good. The minimalist soundtrack is dark and effective. The battle scenes are brilliantly done, if also awful to watch. 

All Quiet on the Western Front is, unfortunately, still a timely horror story. For reasons that, for me, defy explanation, the 1930 film did not persuade the nations of the world that war is always always bad and always always wrong, no matter what the excuse. And so less than ten years later we had the horror of WWII, followed by many smaller wars. Today there is another pointless war being fought on European soil, with commanders sitting behind walls and ordering their soldiers into battle like plastic pawns on a chessboard. Will this new film change that? No. But if it can persuade even a few that nothing is worth the cost of war and that nationalism is one of the world’s greatest evils, then it is a worthwhile endeavour. All Quiet on the Western Front gets a solid ****. My mug is up.

P.S. Most film critics don’t agree with my generous assessment of the film, giving it an average of three stars out of four. This confused me, so I read some of their reviews. I was surprised and disappointed by the number of reviews that complained about trivial things and didn’t seem to understand what makes this film and its message different from, and superior to, films like 1917 and Saving Private Ryan. Sigh.