The First World War was one of the worst things that happened to humanity. Both World Wars were catastrophic, but the seminal tragedy was the worst: soldiers getting killed, burned, and intoxicated in trenches in the worst imaginable ways. The death toll was over 10 million, and more than 17 million people were displaced.
Until 1928, few literary works depicted the horrors of World War I. Erich Maria Remarque's novel brought the First World War back to life in pages. His novel, ‘All Quiet on the Western Front,’ portrayed the war through the eyes of a German soldier in the most horrifying ways.
The anti-war literary work became a worldwide success and was adapted into movies. The 1930 adaptation deservedly won an Oscar, but the recent 2022 adaptation, directed by German director Edward Berger tried to add a new perspective to it.
The film starts with a young German soldier named Heinrich charging from the trench on his commander's order. He unwillingly moves forward, watching his friends die, only to be killed by French enemies. His uniform is removed from his dead body, washed and handed to our protagonist, Paul Bäumer, the fresh recruit. He and his friends enthusiastically sign up to fight in the front, but they don't know that their uniforms are worth more than their lives.
Soon after joining the trenches, the boys get the harrowing experience of trench warfare. They get acquainted with Katczinsky, an older soldier who soon becomes their mentor.
Paul sees his friends getting killed one by one in front of his own eyes. Of course, they didn’t want any of this. Back home, Paul's headmaster gave a patriotic speech about fighting for the fatherland and occupying Paris in a few months. But the reality was far from it; thousands of soldiers were massacred for occupying a few swathes of land.
Political perspective was absent in the original novel, apart from Kaiser Wilhelm's handing out military crosses to the soldiers while visiting the frontline. In this film, director Berger includes the political negotiations between the belligerents.
The erstwhile German finance minister, Matthias Erzberger, tries to negotiate a truce with the French forces to stop the ongoing bloodshed. But General Friedrichs is more eager to be aggressive on the frontline and wants to use the recruits as meat shields.
He never fights in the front lines; instead, he prefers to watch the battle from his balcony while smoking a cigar. This depiction shows that the sacrifices of the soldiers mean nothing to the generals and politicians; they are just tools to gain some personal glory.
All Quiet on the Western Front is an excellent film with anti-war sentiments. Although many of the major scenes in the novel are absent, Edward Berger leaves no stone unturned to depict the harrowing experiences of the First World War.
War isn't about glory and bravery. It brings nothing but pain and sorrow. Erich Maria Remarque's novel conveys the messages perfectly, and this film brings them to life.
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