Probably among the more significant anti-war movies

Rating: 6/10 (14 April 2019)

"All Quiet on the Western Front" (really like the title despite the reference being so quick (yet so accurate) you might miss it if you don't pay attention for a moment) is an American movie from 1930, so this one is almost 90 years old now. The director is Lewis Milestone and he won a prestigious Oscar during this early Academy Awards ceremony and the film itself took home the big prize for Best Picture as well, known as Outstanding Production back then. Milestone is also part of the writing team here, many writers included in fact, but not surprisingly because this film is based on a novel. It is a black-and-white movie which should also surprise nobody really given the year it came out. And it is from the early days of sound film. The silent film classic Metropolis for example is from 1927, so it really should not be taken for granted not just that there is sound in here, but that it is really good. There exist all kinds of versions of this movie we got here, the one I watched is probably the most common nowadays and also the shortest at around 100 minutes. This is the story of a group of young men who basically hear a speech at their school that was inspiring enough to leave and move right into war action, exactly what the speaker intended. German boys by the way. Played by American actors. One of the most interesting aspects here is certainly how the boys' mood changes. Early on they are so motivated to fight for their country. But the training already reduces their good spirit and one of the kids says on one occasion that he is surprised how the one in charge of training them is not as nice anymore as he was before the training. Then the war action starts. Many of them die and despair and sobering are omnipresent. One of the soldiers says that the one who started this war should be damned. And eventually until the credits roll in, they are basically all dead.
I must say I struggled a bit with the beginning. The only thing I found memorable in the first half hour was the aforementioned spirit in which everybody was for being allowed to fight for their country. This was really very early on. What followed afterwards, the training as well as a really lengthy sequence of war scenes did almost nothing for me. But that is probably just me because these specific war scenes also in other war movies rarely make an impact on me. Sadly this also includes the scene with the dead Frenchman and the photo of his family, which could have been a more emotional moment for me otherwise. The war this is about is of course World War I (1914-1918) and it is kinda ironic that the 2nd World War was already closer when this film came out than the first if we look at the number of years before/after 1930. Oh well, there are some quotes memorable enough to mention like one character saying towards the end that this war will not end before dies. Which did prove true as you could expect. When that quote came out, basically all the characters the young ones were already killed in action or severely wounded. There are two scenes after these specific war scenes that stayed memorable for me. One would be the injured friend with the noble boots that he can't carry anymore and he begs his peers to stay with him. The other would be the quote by one character about why war exists. Because two countries insult each other. So how can a mountain and a field insult each other? Nope it is humans of course. It always is. And those who lose their lives are not insulting or insulted. The one who said all that which may seem childish initially, but does include a great deal of truth, was maybe also my favorite character. If anybody deserved a supporting nomination here, then probably him. But it is an ensemble performance and all about the cruelties of war than about unique performances. I am glad the film improved more and more the longer it went.
I was lucky enough to watch this one on the big screen again as it was shown here as part of a special series and I think it was worth checking it out in a theater and not just on a small laptop or television screen. I have seen by far not enough from 1930 to say if it is my favorite film from that year. Most certainly it is not, but I still liked it and after initial hesitation definitely give it a thumbs-up. There are many moments and sequences I could mention here, like when apparently most of the students fromt he original group have died and we see the next generation. Or how the soldiers try to distract themselves from all the mayhem and desctruction with the help of women and alcohol. If there is one scene that is slightly funny and was also intended slightly funny, then that would be the one with one character taking one beer after the next and not letting another have any. It wasn't mean, they were all buddies at that moment already. Other than that, it is a really serious movie without anything to laugh at all and you don't get these films that often, especially back then when the likes of Lloyd, Keaton, Chaplin and others were among the biggest movie stars and they were (initially) all about the comedy. Sure there was D.W. Griffith, but 100% dramatic films were nothing that common and if they were then they frequently included an element of horror like several German films that were huge successes during that era. Finally, I would like to say a few words about the final shot of the film. We see the students moving forward and their marching is mixed together with these thousands of tombstone graves on these green fields of France. Haunting. Stuff. After the sub-par beginning, I definitely would not have expected this film would still touch me as much as it did in this particular scene towards the end. very well done there. A really sad film overall. But one that needs to be watched. Go check it out, preferrably on the big screen if you get a chance to so like I did. I give it 3 stars out of 5 and a thumbs-up. Oh and yes this is of course not a war movie, but an anti-war movie.