Netflix released “All Quiet on the Western Front,” a grim, brutal depiction of WWI which reminds audiences of the wartime mass death and trauma, on Oct. 28. The movie follows fresh faced Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer) and his excited friends as they set out to proudly defend their homeland on the front lines. However, as they encounter countless atrocities, their youthful spirits are replaced by gaunt hopelessness and mourning. Director Edward Berger immerses viewers in a world of pain, suffering, loss and violence in a recreation of the particularly poignant 1928 German war-novel.
The opening scene presents a series of images: a mountain sunrise, a misty forest and sleeping foxes nestled into a cave. Through these images a quiet, peaceful beauty is conveyed. The screen then flashes to a field of mud soaked bodies that inverts the feeling of peace and quiet — this is a quietude produced by death. Throughout the movie, images of wartime brutality are intentionally contrasted with the calming beauty of the forest to highlight that war is a monstrosity. This is one example of the film’s excellent use of cinematography to communicate complex themes.
Similarly, by following the life of a soldier’s jacket, Berger communicates an unending loss of innocence. First, a soldier by the name of Heinrich (Jakob Schmidt) is forced into battle by his commanding officer; fear encompasses the character as bodies fall around him while he hyperventilates. Heinrich collects himself and a seriousness falls over his face. He then pulls out an ax and transforms into an agent of violence. The screen then switches to a pile of bodies, and the audience is left to assume Heimrick is among them.
Throughout the introduction, the perspective of Germany during WWI is masterfully curated. The audience sees older men hauling giant bags of blood soaked clothing and rooms full to the brim with uniformed tailors working on the tattered garments. These images communicate an incredible amount of information in the first seven minutes of the movie, and demonstrate the power of film specifically to capture an entire world in so little time. It is a breathtaking opening.
The film adaptation takes many liberties from the original extremely symbolic novel in order to create an entertaining and dramatized movie. The plot has been drastically altered in order to create a more cohesive story. For example, the movie begins with the enlistment of a seventeen-year-old Paul and his classmates, while the novel opens with the same characters when they’re 20-years-old half-way through their wartime experience. Though the movie scrambles the book’s plot, its primary themes are kept intact. This decision worked well for the movie — a plot that stuck precisely to the novel could have felt outdated and possibly confusing to an audience that may not have as close of an understanding of WWI as the initial audience had nearly 100 years ago.
The main difference from the novel is the focus on the German war officials and their struggle to end the war through surrender; the novel was focused only on the experience of the common soldier. This decision is linked to the director’s choice to have an all-German cast speaking only in German. This is the first adaptation of the novel to do so. In an interview with the Guardian at the Toronto Film Festival, Berger said, “To tell this story now, from the point of view of a societal understanding which is very specifically German, that embraces the guilt that is also connected to the memory of the first world war.”
There is a sense of pure German-ness to this film that has been neglected to be communicated to such an extent in previous adaptations. The two previous ones from 1930 and 1979 were both in English and made by Americans. This movie is made by Germans about their own history. The scenes of German diplomats negotiating peace are full of desperation brought about by the mass death at the front lines as well as a pride shriveled under the idea of defeat. This decision to include the governmental perspective creates a wider understanding of Germany during WWI and the overall devastation experienced by everyone involved — common citizens and government officials alike.
The movie falters in only two aspects. The most climactic scene takes place in the middle of the movie, leaving the last 30 minutes trailing on. By this point the movie has already communicated its opinions about war and the government diplomats have already surrendered. Unnecessary battle scenes follow that serve only to communicate the hopelessness of the war and to reaffirm the theme of cyclicity presented in the opening scenes. However, this hopelessness is transmitted to the audience in the form of hopelessness that the movie will never end. It fails to remain engaging.
The second shortcoming is the use of music. The majority of the movie takes place in the symphony of machinery and screaming. The only real music is a strange electronic bass that serves to heighten the drama of the cinematography. This choice is occasionally effective, as the movie utilizes a lack of sound particularly well. However, for the most part, it feels like an attempt to modernize the 100-year-old story, while remaining an unnecessary effort as the themes of this story are timeless.
Overall, Berger’s adaptation of “All Quiet on the Western Front,” is cinematographically and emotionally effective. The movie’s themes of stolen innocence and the monstrosity of war are communicated through carefully crafted details. The artistry is magnificent up until the last few scenes that drag on for a bit too long. This movie marks a moment of reflection by Germany on their complex and brutal history. It is an old story, but nonetheless one that is still relevant today.
Emma McCandless is an Entertainment Intern for the fall 2022 quarter. She can be reached at emccandl@uci.edu.
