With brutal depictions of the horrors of war and an extremely timely message, All Quiet on the Western Front is simply one of the best war films ever made.
Overall Score: 10/10
Image: Netflix
War is never the answer. No matter the conflict, no matter the cause, one should never resort to war. Sadly, the world that we live in today is nowhere as ideal as many of us (including myself) would like it to be, and notions like this are sadly often disregarded.
“Hold on,” you might ask. “What do war movies have to do with all of this?” Well, think about what it is they do. They show us the horrors of war. And while not all are openly anti-war, most of them serve as warnings against warfare — in hopes of ensuring that history doesn’t repeat itself.
Based on the book of the same name, All Quiet on the Western Front is a German war film that follows Paul, a young German soldier, during the final years of World War I. In the beginning, Paul and his friends eagerly sign up for the army, excited and expecting to go into glorious battle and return as heroes. Much to their collective dismay, however, they soon find out that they’ve actually been thrust into a violent, horrendous, and never-ending nightmare.
Now, I’ve seen plenty of war movies, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one quite like All Quiet on the Western Front. Well, maybe not since Saving Private Ryan. What I mean by this is that the film’s depiction of war is brutal and disturbingly realistic. How so? I’d attribute that to two things. First, it stops every once in a while to remember that soldiers, despite the horrible things that they do or go through, are, after all, human. For instance, there are moments of warmth shared between Paul and his comrades, and just as they bond on-screen, we too, form an attachment to them. This depiction of soldiers as normal human beings also applies to those on the other side as well. Many movies depict enemy soldiers as being savage and evil, dehumanizing them. That’s why I appreciate All Quiet on the Western Front’s approach. It refrains from painting things as black and white, choosing instead to show soldiers as people who have been forced into these deadly situations — something we often forget.
The second thing is the film’s excellent portrayal of the loss of compassion and all sense of humanity that is experienced by soldiers. For example, there’s a scene where Paul viciously stabs and fatally wounds a French soldier. Instead of leaving his enemy to succumb to his injuries, however, Paul realizes and is horrified by what he’s done and ends up trying to comfort the man as a friend in his final moments. In another sequence towards the end of the movie, Paul and his comrades are ordered to attack the French minutes before the armistice is supposed to take effect. Despondent, Paul goes about ruthlessly snuffing out his enemies one by one. Here, we very clearly see that his humanity and compassion are all but gone, replaced by savage, animal-like instincts. He has to do what he has to in order to survive. It’s kill or be killed. And it’s through scenes such as these that All Quiet on the Western Front effectively shows us that war makes people do horrible and unspeakable things.
Another thing that I think stands out is the film’s anti-war message. It does an extremely good job of making us see that there is nothing to be gained from war and that all it does is take. It takes away the things that matter the most to us. It takes away lives. It takes away the people we love and those around us. And, should you survive long enough, it also takes away your humanity. Again, this is made clear through Paul’s experiences on the battlefield as he watches as his friends and comrades are killed one by one, leaving him lost and, eventually, all alone.
Also, the film resonated with me because it reminded me of the fact that many young lives were pointlessly lost because of World War I. A lot of these soldiers were merely boys who were brainwashed by propaganda into thinking that they’d be serving a great cause by going to war for their countries. All Quiet on the Western Front really hammers this point home in what I think is one of the film’s most memorable scenes. In it, Ludwig, one of Paul’s friends, turns to him (as they’re taking cover from their enemy) and says “I can't do this, Paul. I can't do this. I need to go home.” I think this interaction between these two characters is very powerful and serves as the perfect example of young boys becoming disillusioned with and ultimately terrified of the war that they’re no longer able to escape.
In conclusion, All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the best war movies I’ve ever seen and arguably one of the best that’s ever been made. It’s impressively and frighteningly realistic and it’s refreshingly anti-war. There are no heroes, nor are there any villains. What the film does is show us what World War I was like and state that it should never have happened and that something like it should never happen again. Furthermore, because it’s a German movie, the filmmakers are able to present the war from a unique angle — one full of regret and remorse — and tell a story from the perspective of the defeated. It’s all very powerful, and I doubt that it would’ve had the same effect if it had been a film that was told from the perspective of the British or the Americans. This is Germany’s submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. And although I certainly hope that it wins in this category, I also hope that it’ll earn a nomination for Best Picture. It’s more than worthy and I think that the fact that its source material is still relevant to the world of today really says something.
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