All Quiet on the Western Front

Plot synopsis:
The book tells the story of Paul Bäumer, a German soldier who—urged on by his school teacher—joins the German army shortly after the start of World War I. His class was "scattered over the platoons amongst Frisian fishermen, peasants, and labourers." Bäumer arrives at the Western Front with his friends and schoolmates (Leer, Müller, Kropp and a number of other characters). There they meet Stanislaus Katczinsky, an older soldier, nicknamed Kat, who becomes Paul's mentor. While fighting at the front, Bäumer and his comrades have to engage in frequent battles and endure the treacherous and filthy conditions of trench warfare.
At the very beginning of the book, Erich Maria Remarque says "This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped (its) shells, were destroyed by the war." The book does not focus on heroic stories of bravery, but rather gives a view of the conditions in which the soldiers find themselves. The monotony between battles, the constant threat of artillery fire and bombardments, the struggle to find food, the lack of training of young recruits (meaning lower chances of survival), and the overarching role of random chance in the lives and deaths of the soldiers are described in detail.
The battles fought here have no names and seem to have little overall significance, except for the impending possibility of injury or death for Bäumer and his comrades. Only pitifully small pieces of land are gained, about the size of a football field, which are often lost again later. Remarque often refers to the living soldiers as old and dead, emotionally drained and shaken. "We are not youth any longer. We don't want to take the world by storm. We are fleeing from ourselves, from our life. We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces."
Paul's visit on leave to his home highlights the cost of the war on his psyche. The town has not changed since he went off to war; however, he finds that he does "not belong here anymore, it is a foreign world." He feels disconnected from most of the townspeople. His father asks him "stupid and distressing" questions about his war experiences, not understanding "that a man cannot talk of such things." An old schoolmaster lectures him about strategy and advancing to Paris while insisting that Paul and his friends know only their "own little sector" of the war but nothing of the big picture.
Indeed, the only person he remains connected to is his dying mother, with whom he shares a tender, yet restrained relationship. The night before he is to return from leave, he stays up with her, exchanging small expressions of love and concern for each other. He thinks to himself, "Ah! Mother, Mother! How can it be that I must part from you? Here I sit and there you are lying; we have so much to say, and we shall never say it." In the end, he concludes that he "ought never to have come [home] on leave."
Paul feels glad to be reunited with his comrades. Soon after, he volunteers to go on a patrol and kills a man for the first time in hand-to-hand combat. He watches the man die, in pain for hours. He feels remorse and asks forgiveness from the man's corpse. He is devastated and later confesses to Kat and Albert, who try to comfort him and reassure him that it is only part of the war. They are then sent on what Paul calls a "good job." They must guard a supply depot in a village that was evacuated due to being shelled too heavily. During this time, the men are able to adequately feed themselves, unlike the near-starvation conditions in the German trenches. In addition, the men enjoy themselves while living off the spoils from the village and officers' luxuries from the supply depot (such as fine cigars). While evacuating the villagers (enemy civilians), Paul and Albert are taken by surprise by artillery fired at the civilian convoy and wounded by a shell. On the train back home, Albert takes a turn for the worse and cannot complete the journey, instead being sent off the train to recuperate in a Catholic hospital. Paul uses a combination of bartering and manipulation to stay by Albert's side. Albert eventually has his leg amputated, while Paul is deemed fit for service and returned to the front.
By now, the war is nearing its end and the German Army is retreating. In despair, Paul watches as his friends fall one by one. It is the death of Kat that eventually makes Paul careless about living. In the final chapter, he comments that peace is coming soon, but he does not see the future as bright and shining with hope. Paul feels that he has no aims or goals left in life and that their generation will be different and misunderstood. When he dies at the end of the novel, the situation report from the frontline states, "All is Quiet on the Western Front."

Tags: cult, murder, violence

Review:
All Quiet on the Western Front won a deserved Best Picture Academy Award in the year it came out and brought great prestige to Universal Pictures as the first Oscar in that category won by that studio.Lew Ayres is the student leader of a bunch of German school boys in 1914 who listen to the voice of their school master and enlist in the war that's just been declared.
Later on at the front, he gets a view of combat he wasn't quite ready for.All Quiet on the Western Front with its eternal message of peace and life will be one eternal film, it will be shown and appreciated for many generations to come..
The three main reasons why I consider this movie so forceful are the acting, the cinematography, and simply the sincerity.Lew Ayres, the man who plays Paul Baumer, convincingly portrays the main character in many ways.
First of all, the sheer innocence of his facial appearance adds a poignant touch to the film, because the overwhelming theme of the story is how the war effects all young people of each nation, whether that person dies in the trenches or survives only to lament his days in the war.
These peripheral characters all help add to the general tone of the film (and the book) because they show how dark and terrible the war can be; and they in turn show how propaganda can be so harmful, because most of the soldiers in Paul's regiment are volunteers who receive a very rude awakening when they discover what the war is really all about.
As I write, this is probably the oldest film I've currently seen (I haven't seen too many flicks pre-1950s - shameful, I know), but one that still holds astonishingly well to this day; a poignant and hard-hitting anti-war drama that details life in the German side of the trenches of WWI, it has lost none of its knuckle since it first veered onto the screens nearly 75 years ago.
The war depicted here is not one of glory and heroism, but one of hardship, horror and desperation.(Also, isn't it kinda eerie how those dramatic battle sequences, in which the opposing soldiers become little more than human targets, now, with retrospect, echo the vicious gameplay of a shoot-em-up video game?)The only really noticeable problem with this film comes in the heavy use of US accents, which clash somewhat with the German setting and therefore sound just a little offbeat.
Right from the start, we know what's inevitable for the optimistic young soldiers as they head out to the trenches, but at the same time we value their hope and innocence and yearn that they might be able to retain it all the same, making it all the more tragic as the events of the battlefield lay waste to their youthful spirits.With its gripping direction and powerful imagery, it's a film that manages to leave a considerable imprint on the viewer, and I speak from experience on that one - upon reaching the end, both myself and the entire party I viewed it with were left speechless, and it took a good couple of minutes before any of us could pluck up the courage to break that uneasy silence.
'All Quiet on the Western Front' remains one of the must-see movies of its decade, and it's easy to see why, after all this time, it still has such a firm hold on that classic status - it may have arrived on the scene as far back as 1930, but its emotive edge is timeless.Grade: A+.
A film about the horrors and suffering in the First World War. Through the story takes us to a group of young German soldiers.
Not everything is about Paul, but through his character we can understand the essence.Louis Wolheim as Stanislaus Katczinsky is mentor of young soldiers, and his performances are full of humanity and humor.In the conditions of trench warfare, man is exposed to the horror that it destroys the mind and body.
All Quiet on the Western Front is the first great non-silent anti-war movie and arguably the most powerful one to date.
Based on the critically acclaimed homonymous novel by Erich Maria Remarque, it portraits the transformations a young German soldier suffers during the World War I: the innocence before the war and the promise of everlasting glory, the shock with reality and the realization of his own mortality and of the hypocrisy of war and finally the return to the world away from the trenches, a world that didn't stop to wait for him.Full of symbolisms, violence and impressive camera work, the whole film is a cinematographic masterpiece.
The viewer is placed directly in the battlefield to the point he can almost grasp the blood-soaped earth of the trenches and smell the rotten corpses in no-man's land.There's two layers I can find in this movie: the first one tells us about the physical destruction endured in a war – hunger, dirt, explosions, amputations, diseases, death The film does not try to hide the truth, war is ugly and dirty, it is constant suffering and painful.
The entire cast delivers stand up performances, especially Louis Wolheim and Lew Ayres who depict masterfully two generations united by war.The only flaw I could find on this is the strong American accent on the few German words spoken, fact that can distract a bit especially on the beginning of the movie.Overall, this is an overwhelming experience and a mandatory watch to every war film lover!.
Great acting, direction and production all made this original THE best of the anti-war films of the 1920s and 30s.Other similar great movies I strongly recommend are J'ACCUSE (French), WESTFRONT 1918 (German), THE BIG PARADE (USA--silent) and THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK (USA).
From the fact it was made in 1930, you could class 'All Quiet on the Western Front' as a war movie museum piece, but Lewis Milestone's film is a seminal piece of anti-war propaganda, focusing on the Great War from the perspective of a group of German soldiers, in particular Paul Baumer (Lew Ayres).
Ayres gives a sensitive and powerful performance: by the 2nd World War the actor chose to serve as a medic, where he gained distinction.Remembered for the sequence with the butterfly at the end in particular, this early talkie manages to set its scene and transmit a powerful message.
We watch the protagonists as they stare death in the face and learn what is and isn't important when you risk your life at every passing moment.This was one of the first films to announce America as a major film-making nation as with it's epic battle sequences and first class acting, All Quiet on the Western Front impresses on a technical level, as well as impressing with it's detailed and thought-provoking account of war.
Still one of the most worthwhile films about the hard realities of war, "All Quiet On The Western Front" has numerous memorable images and thoughtful moments.
"All Quiet on the Western Front" is a classic history - drama movie in which we are in World War I and through the experiences of a young soldier we watch the tragedy and the pain of war through the eyes of individuals.
This movie is based on a novel by German author, Erich Maria Remarque.I liked this movie because it shows the truth about war and especially World War I and how difficult are things there for soldiers.
I have to admit that the direction of this movie which made by Lewis Milestone was very good (won the Oscar for the Best Director) and of course the interpretation of Lew Ayres who played as Paul was simply outstanding.Finally I have to say that "All Quiet on the Western Front" is a must see movie when we talk about history movies.
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.
A poignant look at a time when many fighting were just young boys trying to be heroes, All Quiet on the Western Front seems worthy of the gold statuette.Opening inside a classroom, a professor is convincing a classroom of impressionable teenagers to enlist, revealing the first unfortunate aspect of WWI.
"All Quiet on the Western Front" is Lewis Milestone's epic adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's best-selling novel, the name of the author might sound unfamiliar so let's only say that he was a German World War I veteran.The film was made 12 years after the end of the most barbaric and devastating massacres that prefaced Contemporary History with bloody letters and won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Directing.
And if not an adventure, it still conveys the strange exhilarating feeling of an escape from the world's lies and politicians' vanity, to reach a point where people can become fully themselves, as said Louis-Ferdinand Celine, a French WWI veteran and author: "Our youth has gone to the ends of the earth to die in the silence of the truth" in 'Journey to the End of the Night'.More than an accusation, confession or adventure, the story is a tribute to a lost generation, the year of the release is even more significant because those who survived the War were not only alive, but young enough to have kept intact memories.
Some shot show shadowy soldiers jumping from below as to suggest a human submersion, the atrocities and pointlessness of War never seemed so raw and real as in "All Quiet on the Western Front", because it showed what a slaughter World War I was, whether Spielberg's point was only to show that the second one was a good war.When the few survivors came back to their hometown, they realize that the attitude and the enthusiasm toward the war were unchanged.
Part way into the second act and after Katczinski and the other old hand's have softened (or is it that the new recruits have simply hardened giving us an illusion) we are treated to a scene with some lovely French peasant girls, and the betrayal of Himmelstoss, getting him blind drunk so the three young boys can have a girl each is particularly funny.Possibly the saddest part of the film is towards the end where Baumer is injured and able to spend some time on leave at home.
The first 10 minutes of All Quiet on the Western Front is easily one of the best openings to any film I have ever seen in the past few years.The doors open and the camera pushes in to reveal hordes of soldiers moving in formation, marching for their country.
Paul's notions of life and war are immediately shattered and the film follows his progression as he questions the meaning of his life and the purpose of the war.An example: "How does a war even start?" "It's when one country offends another." "Well, I guess I can go home because I'm not offended."This is a perfect example of the mindset and attitudes displayed by the characters who are simply trying to survive and find enough food for another day.Dramatic and heart-wrenching, All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the best WWI films.
Treated as a hero at home and given constant advice about the war from elderly men who are far from the front lines, Paul loses his sense of home and purpose and is left lost in the new world he discovers.Despite some poor acting at times and humor that has not aged well, All Quiet on the Western Front is a good film.
If you're interested in an early film about soldiers in the Great War, it's definitely worth a watch..
There is, however, one surprisingly good action sequence featuring a French attack on the German trenches, although the most effective scenes are often those, like the one in the hospital and the one where Paul addresses the dead French soldier he has killed, which do not involve any actual fighting.
Perhaps the best acting performance comes from Louis Wolheim as Stanislaus Katczinsky, a gruff, cynical older soldier who becomes Paul's closest friend and who, even in the early days of the war, embodies a spirit of sardonic disillusionment.
The movie "All Quiet on the Western Front" is based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, and, the film expedites the same candor as the novel does about what the acrimonious truth to what World War I was actually about..
Film makers learnt quickly how to be more subtle at propaganda but sometimes a sincere message makes a point better.German boy is indoctrinated by school mouthpiece of the caviar-guzzling class to go to war, he does with stars in his eyes, loses the stars, tries not to get killed, that's all.
I cannot really say much except that this film is a piece of work that would make anyone who watched it a pacifist; the grim anti-war message is further supported by the loss of innocence by the main character Paul, the ignorance of the slaughter on the home front by the folks and general behind the front lines in relative safety, and the romanticism of the glories of war held by Paul's professor.
Because in a world where we believe that Saving Private Ryan is a masterpiece (It is no doubt) of war cinema All Quite on the Western Front (AQWF) has done it in a magnitude beyond its time and that's some mind boggling truth to realize.
Adapted from the book of the same name this is the experiences of the Great War from the eyes of the German soldiers and particularly the sensitive Paul Baumer.The films begins with their teacher giving an impassioned speech about the glory of serving in the Army for the 'Fatherland'.
Many a time it seems the soldiers died from what looked like a minor injury.Still this is an important war film in the history of cinema..
This film is widely considered to be an all-time classic, and I thought it worth showing my 12 year old as we are approaching the 100th anniversary of the start of World War 1.
All Quiet on the Western Front was the first great war film of the American sound era and graphically shows that.And it shows that from the enemy perspective.
All Quiet on the Western Front was the first great war film of the American sound era and graphically shows that.And it shows that from the enemy perspective.
The movie (just like the book) shows us that these men are not soldiers but human beings who are trying to survive in the war to end all wars.
I hope to come across more of Ayres work in the near future, he was a great actor from what I saw in this movie.While Ayres gives a magnificent performance he is overshadowed by Louis Wolheim who portrays the leader of the bunch, Kat. Wolheim died a year after making this film and to me this was his best work.
Considering that this film was made in 1930, it is a remarkable achievement that a film with such a powerful message was allowed to see the light of day, especially considering the circumstances.Centering on the first World War from a German perspective, it is a story about a group of teenagers who are recruited to join the army.
"All Quiet on the Western Front" is different from most movies about World War I, because it tells the story through the Germans' point of view.
Nearly everything mankind can remember about The Great War 1914-18 is derived from the film version of Erich Maria Remarque's ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT , the brainwashing of a nation's youth in to joining the army , of having no personal animosity towards the enemy etc .
But as good(great even) as these movies are, I give the title "quintessential war movie" to All Quiet on the Western Front.The whole film is beautifully shot, with the cinematography and editing still holding up well today, and the whole is compellingly written in story and dialogue that it has not once for me lost its ability to shock and involve.
All Quiet on the Western Front is an early antiwar film about World War I.
Soon after being deployed to the front lines, they realize that war is not as heroic or honorable as they came to expect.For being such an old film, All Quiet on the Western Front feels surprisingly modern and refined.
Movies like All Quiet On The Western Front show the true madness of war.
All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the greatest anti-war movies of all time.
His experiences in "All Quiet on the Western Front" were certainly shared by the soldiers on either side of No Man's Land.There are other anti-war movies that deal with the attempted de-humanisation of those who are trained to kill and the sheer horror of modern mechanised warfare, but this film is one of the first and there are few that can ever equal it.
Although made over 70 years ago, Lewis Milestone's " All Quiet on the Western Front" is the greatest anti-war film of all time.
100 years from now (if man is still alive) this film will still be the greatest anti-war story of all time.
All Quiet On The Western Front, in my opinion is the greatest war film ever made.The battle scenes are great, I think they are sometimes up to todays standards.Lewis Ayres plays Paul Baumer and Louis Wolheim plays Kat short for Katczinsky.If you want to see a really great war film I strongly recommend this one.10/10.
In 1998 All Quiet on the Western Front was #54 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years 100 Movies" list.