One of those works of art that come only once every few years

Rating: 10/10 (5 September 2017)

In the early 20th century, war changed from a game of professionals to an all-out contest of whole nations. Generations of young men were fed into the meatgrinder that was WWI; the first really technological war on a mass scale. No general staff understood what modern weapons would mean. These weapons created a war of stalemate and trench warfare, both sides evenly matched, and no breakthrough possible, with the ordinary soldier suffering the most. That is the story that 'All Quiet on the Western' Front tells.
It tells it from a German perspective because it was adapted from Eric Maria Remarque's novel based on his experiences as a combat soldier in the German Army. The book is itself a testament to the grueling fate of soldiers of both sides. Interestingly, another book came out of Germany about the war, Enst Junger's "Storm of Steel" which paints the same bleak picture of the war, but concludes with patriotic pride that the millions of dead were worth it as a test of strength.
The film 'All Quiet on the Western Front' is one of those works of art that come only once every few years. The reasons are several. 1. It follows the book fairly closely, and the book was good. 2. The realism was first rate for a film of that or any other period. 3. The acting, while not always modern, is well done in the major parts. The actor who plays 'Kat' dominates the film and the film's hero, 'Paul', played by Lew Ayres, although his performance is also good. 4. The direction was superb, and the movement of the camera during the battle sequences is amazingly good for that era. 5. The sound effects of the warfare scenes are quite good, as good as I've ever heard in that kind of film.
It's also interesting that America was able to produce a film from the standpoint of what was an enemy nation only 12 years before. But is seems less an accomplishment when you consider that the soldiers in the film question the war and all wars. If they'd been in the American Army, there would have been censorship problems about those sentiments coming from American soldiers. Nevertheless, the film is an admiral anti-war statement-- the futility of war at all times and for all nations. Hitler and Goebbels certainly knew the film's power-- it was banned from showing in Germany after the Nazis took power there in 1933.
It's not banned anymore. If you feel a film that old will be too dated, you will come to understand that really good filmmaking happens in all eras. If you haven't seen this film yet, you have a remarkable experience ahead of you.
Have people learned the lessons of this film? I hope so, for the weapons of war are much more terrible than before. That fact is what has stopped war. But this film, and the knowledge it imparts played a small part too.