One of the most highly anticipated films of the 2022 fall festival season is Edward Berger’s ambitious reimagining of the classic anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front. The grizzly World War I epic has already earned rave reviews upon its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Germany has selected the film as its official submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature. Given the incredible response that the film has received and the advantage of Netflix’s award season campaigning, it’s likely that All Quiet on the Western Front will be one of the category’s frontrunners.
It’s no surprise that the film has become such a phenomenon, as it’s based on one of the most important pieces of literature in the 20th century. Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 novel of the same name was startling upon its initial release; the book’s bleak perspective on German soldiers’ lives in the trenches and the carnage they witnessed was shocking to mass audiences. There was no sense of patriotism in the novel; it concluded that the war solved nothing, and that only a truly depraved nation would engage in another global conflict. The lines on a map mean nothing to the young men who have to suffer.
Berger’s version of All Quiet on the Western Front faced some trepidation going in, because it was not the first time the novel was adapted to the screen. In 1930, Lewis Milestone’s game changing adaptation became one of the first American cinematic classics that truly depicted the banality of war. It became the first film to win both the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director. Although some “Old Hollywood” classics are more influential than they are watchable, All Quiet on the Western Front is as haunting today as it was upon its initial debut. Given its release prior to the beginning of World War II, All Quiet on the Western Front’s cynicism on pacifism is even more impactful.
What Is ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ About?
All Quiet on the Western Front follows the lives of the young recruit Paul Bäumer (Lew Ayres) and his colleagues during their recruitment and indoctrination into the German military. In the opening scene, Milestone subverted the rousing “call to arms” sequence that was common in Hollywood epics at the time. The boys’ instructor, Professor Kantorek (Arnold Lucy), gives them an inspirational speech about the merits of military service and the honor that it will bestow upon their families. It seemingly sets up a very clear journey for the characters; military service is simply a right-of-passage. It’s not until the end of the film that Paul realizes how hollow his Professor’s words were.
A bit of historical context explains why All Quiet on the Western Front was so influential. Cinema was more popular than ever in the 1930s, but “war films” did not generally focus on events that were so recent. Wartime newsreels became more popular in World War II, and at that point Hollywood filmmakers took an active interest in creating films centered on the emerging conflict itself. It’s why a film like Casablanca was able to incorporate World War II events into its storyline, and The Best Years of Our Lives quickly responded to the end of the war. World War II is when cinema began to truly evolve, and as a result, World War I epics were more rare.
The very notion of seeing realistic depictions of wartime combat was startling to early cinema audiences; this was the type of footage that they could only speculate about. It was from the Pre-Code era before restrictions were made on cinematic content in 1934. All Quiet on the Western Front did not shy away from making the trench warfare sequences as graphic as was necessary. The widespread adoption of sound was also a novelty, as “sound films” had only become a genre in 1929.
Part of ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’s Fascination Ties to When It Was Released
All Quiet on the Western Front is also a fascinating historical artifact because of its release prior to World War II. The war itself is characterized as the “war to end all wars,” even if the film ultimately concludes that mankind will always end up spiraling into bloody conflicts. Milestone prioritized accuracy, and even recruited veterans as extras and technical consultants to oversee the production. This makes All Quiet on the Western Front both an insightful perspective on the war and an activist message that was sadly not heeded.
The battle sequences were not the type of rousing, patriotic setpieces that you generally see in mainstream war films. Milestone captures the anxiety that these young men were facing; they can barely see who they’re fighting, and their faces are covered in smoke and gas. Several noted directors have used Milestone’s style as an influence. Steven Spielberg credited All Quiet on the Western Front as a major inspiration on Saving Private Ryan. The film’s tracking shots within the trenches were similar to the ones Stanley Kubrick would use in Paths of Glory, a similar anti-war epic that challenges the notion of patriotism.
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ Was Banned in Germany
Although we can now look back at All Quiet on the Western Front as a timeless masterpiece, its impact was evident quickly after its release. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party opposed the film’s message, and successfully banned the film from German cinemas. Although an edited version was allowed to play briefly in 1931, the film was removed from circulation once more after the Nazi party rose to pwoer in 1933. It wasn’t until the 1950s that the film was allowed once more; it was also banned in Austria, France, and Italy.
Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front should hopefully draw more audiences to the original film, and cast the conflict in a new light. It’s hard to overstate the bravery that it took for Milestone to present such an unflinching depiction of such recent events, but without All Quiet on the Western Front, we likely wouldn’t see the war films that we do today. The fact that the film was so controversial upon its release only signifies that it successfully conveyed its timeless message.
