Hello, all, and here’s hoping everyone has an excellent Veteran’s Day… especially everyone who knows what happened to the little bird. Today’s entry in this “series” may very well be, by default, “the granddaddy of them all,” largely in part of the significance of the day with respect to the film. Much as I am looking forward to Sam Mendes’s upcoming 1917, I doubt there will ever be a film set during the so-called “War To End All Wars” that portrays the absolute tragedy of it all quite so well as ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT.
Firstly, even if you don’t like to spend your free time reading, the book upon which this film [and a remake made in 1979] is based is almost required reading. Based on the author’s experiences as a soldier fighting for Germany on the Western Front, it’s just a classic. [As an aside, if you like that book, you may want to pick up Ernst Junger’s The Storm of Steel, which is a non-fiction account of that author’s experiences on the Western Front… and they’re fairly epic.]
It seems that World War II gets most of the attention from production companies in Hollyweird these days, be it in the creation of entertaining schlock like the DEAD SNOW films or the alternate history iterations seen in movies like the largely underwhelming OVERLORD, when there’s really a wealth of material to be found in the history books about The Great War. The folks in Hollyweird like their sequels, I guess, and it seems that applies to which World War they want to try to depict. Thankfully, it seems that the tide is shifting at least somewhat back to a focus on The Great War, be it in video games like Battlefield 1 or upcoming movies like 1917.
But it all really started with this one. And what an achievement this one is, capturing the out of control nationalism of folks who jubilantly responded to their nation’s [or their professor’s, as shown in the trailer] call to arms. Anyone familiar with World War I has probably heard of or even read the poem “Dulce Et Decorum Est,” and the theme of that poem fills not only the source material of this film, but the film itself. If you’re really well versed in World War I lore, you’re probably familiar with the so-called Massacre of the Innocents… combine the theme of the former with the events of the latter, and you’ve got this incredible film.
The plot is fairly straightforward, but expertly told – Paul Baumer [played by Lewis Ayres] runs off to play a part in the last great war, encouraged by schoolmasters, classmates, and family alike. Naturally, he realizes quite quickly how little glory there is to be found, instead finding what most combat vets would discover: war is a bore, punctuated by moments of sheer terror. It’s in one of these scenes that the concomitantly simple yet complex experience of a combat soldier is perhaps best portrayed, with Paul being temporarily stuck in a shell crater with a French soldier he’s just stabbed. It’s a terrific scene, later to be “called back” in one of the more jarring scenes of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. The combat scenes are quite well done, and the absence of CGI [I’m looking at you, trailer for MIDWAY] only adds to the authenticity of the film.
Although the combat scenes are quite well done, it’s really the way the film portrays the bond between the soldiers that carries the film. While not given “battle buddies,” per se, the film quickly establishes the rapport between Paul, the raw recruit, and Katczinsky [or “Kat”], the grizzled, battle-hardened veteran. While there are other characters and subplots that more fully flesh out the existence [read: hardships] of the frontline troops – the one with Kemmerich’s boots being especially representative – it’s really the friendship between Paul and “Kat” that propels the film. It’s already a fantastic film, but the relationship here helps to catapult the film into classic territory. It is, after all, not for king and country that the folks at the front are fighting, but the guy in the foxhole [or trench] with you. If you haven’t seen this one, please do yourself a favor and check it [and the book] out sometime. Enjoy!
Other films recommended:
[Day 1 - KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (Director's Cut); Day 2 - GLADIATOR; Day 3 - TROY; Day 4 - SPARTACUS; Day 5 - BRAVEHEART; Day 6 - MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD; Day 7 - GLORY; Day 8 - GODS AND GENERALS; Day 9 - GONE WITH THE WIND; Day 10 - CAPITAINE CONAN]
Firstly, even if you don’t like to spend your free time reading, the book upon which this film [and a remake made in 1979] is based is almost required reading. Based on the author’s experiences as a soldier fighting for Germany on the Western Front, it’s just a classic. [As an aside, if you like that book, you may want to pick up Ernst Junger’s The Storm of Steel, which is a non-fiction account of that author’s experiences on the Western Front… and they’re fairly epic.]
It seems that World War II gets most of the attention from production companies in Hollyweird these days, be it in the creation of entertaining schlock like the DEAD SNOW films or the alternate history iterations seen in movies like the largely underwhelming OVERLORD, when there’s really a wealth of material to be found in the history books about The Great War. The folks in Hollyweird like their sequels, I guess, and it seems that applies to which World War they want to try to depict. Thankfully, it seems that the tide is shifting at least somewhat back to a focus on The Great War, be it in video games like Battlefield 1 or upcoming movies like 1917.
But it all really started with this one. And what an achievement this one is, capturing the out of control nationalism of folks who jubilantly responded to their nation’s [or their professor’s, as shown in the trailer] call to arms. Anyone familiar with World War I has probably heard of or even read the poem “Dulce Et Decorum Est,” and the theme of that poem fills not only the source material of this film, but the film itself. If you’re really well versed in World War I lore, you’re probably familiar with the so-called Massacre of the Innocents… combine the theme of the former with the events of the latter, and you’ve got this incredible film.
The plot is fairly straightforward, but expertly told – Paul Baumer [played by Lewis Ayres] runs off to play a part in the last great war, encouraged by schoolmasters, classmates, and family alike. Naturally, he realizes quite quickly how little glory there is to be found, instead finding what most combat vets would discover: war is a bore, punctuated by moments of sheer terror. It’s in one of these scenes that the concomitantly simple yet complex experience of a combat soldier is perhaps best portrayed, with Paul being temporarily stuck in a shell crater with a French soldier he’s just stabbed. It’s a terrific scene, later to be “called back” in one of the more jarring scenes of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. The combat scenes are quite well done, and the absence of CGI [I’m looking at you, trailer for MIDWAY] only adds to the authenticity of the film.
Although the combat scenes are quite well done, it’s really the way the film portrays the bond between the soldiers that carries the film. While not given “battle buddies,” per se, the film quickly establishes the rapport between Paul, the raw recruit, and Katczinsky [or “Kat”], the grizzled, battle-hardened veteran. While there are other characters and subplots that more fully flesh out the existence [read: hardships] of the frontline troops – the one with Kemmerich’s boots being especially representative – it’s really the friendship between Paul and “Kat” that propels the film. It’s already a fantastic film, but the relationship here helps to catapult the film into classic territory. It is, after all, not for king and country that the folks at the front are fighting, but the guy in the foxhole [or trench] with you. If you haven’t seen this one, please do yourself a favor and check it [and the book] out sometime. Enjoy!
Other films recommended:
[Day 1 - KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (Director's Cut); Day 2 - GLADIATOR; Day 3 - TROY; Day 4 - SPARTACUS; Day 5 - BRAVEHEART; Day 6 - MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD; Day 7 - GLORY; Day 8 - GODS AND GENERALS; Day 9 - GONE WITH THE WIND; Day 10 - CAPITAINE CONAN]
