309 reviews
The horrors of war, The Great War, seldom better summarised by: 'It's dirty and painful to die for your country, when it comes dying for your country it's better not to die at all. There are millions out there dying for their countries, and what good does it do?'. And yet the wars continue, death and destruction sustained, lessons seldom learnt, the cries remain unheard.
- Nazi_Fighter_David
- Oct 7, 2000
- Permalink
Erich Maria Remarque's novel and the film made from it may possibly be the greatest anti-war statement ever created. 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. The whole class enlists and that's not hyperbole because in Germany at the time it was the boys who got the education and the girls if they got it, got it separately from the boys.
I'm sure that viewers of All Quiet on the Western Front today probably are asking why that school master and so many of his generation were urging their youth on to such folly. Very simply that their generation had a quick victory in 1870 in the Franco-Prussian War. Every generation since wars were recorded figures their war experience will be the same for their children.
Only it wasn't. On the western front the Allied and Central Powers armies were locked in a bitter stalemate that ran diagonally across France and Belgium from the English Channel to the Swiss border. This went on for a little over four years. In fact had it not been for the fact that America joined the Allied side and the French and British held out until they did, I'm sure an honest armistice would have been declared long before November 11, 1918.
You lived, fought and died in those trenches. Either you were defending or you were attacking the other guy's trenches against murderous automatic weapon fire and long distance artillery batteries. 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. That's something today's audience can't appreciate, the fact that the film was from the Wilhelmine German perspective. Remember these were the enemy a dozen years before. But the experience in the trenches was universal.
Lew Ayres became a star with this film and it effected him so deeply that he became a committed pacifist which caused later problems in his career. He's the voice of reason and civilization and the voice of a lost generation of Germans who would never have listened to the demagogic appeals of the Nazis.
Louis Wolheim plays the veteran soldier who befriends Ayres and his school boy chums and teaches them how to survive in the trenches. It turned out to be his greatest role. He was a brutish looking man and played mostly those types in silent films. All Quiet on the Western Front would have been the start of a whole new career opening. But Wolheim died the following year just as he was to start filming The Front Page. Adolphe Menjou took the part of Walter Burns in that film which Wolheim was to have.
The third really stand out performance is that of John Wray who some might remember as the brutal prison guard in Each Dawn I Die. Wray plays an officious mail man who is in the German Army Reserve. He gets called up and this little nobody gets rather impressed with himself and his new found authority as a training sergeant to Ayres and his friends. 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.
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. The whole class enlists and that's not hyperbole because in Germany at the time it was the boys who got the education and the girls if they got it, got it separately from the boys.
I'm sure that viewers of All Quiet on the Western Front today probably are asking why that school master and so many of his generation were urging their youth on to such folly. Very simply that their generation had a quick victory in 1870 in the Franco-Prussian War. Every generation since wars were recorded figures their war experience will be the same for their children.
Only it wasn't. On the western front the Allied and Central Powers armies were locked in a bitter stalemate that ran diagonally across France and Belgium from the English Channel to the Swiss border. This went on for a little over four years. In fact had it not been for the fact that America joined the Allied side and the French and British held out until they did, I'm sure an honest armistice would have been declared long before November 11, 1918.
You lived, fought and died in those trenches. Either you were defending or you were attacking the other guy's trenches against murderous automatic weapon fire and long distance artillery batteries. 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. That's something today's audience can't appreciate, the fact that the film was from the Wilhelmine German perspective. Remember these were the enemy a dozen years before. But the experience in the trenches was universal.
Lew Ayres became a star with this film and it effected him so deeply that he became a committed pacifist which caused later problems in his career. He's the voice of reason and civilization and the voice of a lost generation of Germans who would never have listened to the demagogic appeals of the Nazis.
Louis Wolheim plays the veteran soldier who befriends Ayres and his school boy chums and teaches them how to survive in the trenches. It turned out to be his greatest role. He was a brutish looking man and played mostly those types in silent films. All Quiet on the Western Front would have been the start of a whole new career opening. But Wolheim died the following year just as he was to start filming The Front Page. Adolphe Menjou took the part of Walter Burns in that film which Wolheim was to have.
The third really stand out performance is that of John Wray who some might remember as the brutal prison guard in Each Dawn I Die. Wray plays an officious mail man who is in the German Army Reserve. He gets called up and this little nobody gets rather impressed with himself and his new found authority as a training sergeant to Ayres and his friends. 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.
- bkoganbing
- Mar 14, 2006
- Permalink
- george.schmidt
- May 26, 2012
- Permalink
The film begins in a classroom. Outside, martial music is blaring and the professor inside the room is lecturing the boys about their duty to the Fatherland and encouraging them all to as a group in the German army at the outbreak of WWI. The film is exceptional in how it captures the enthusiasm and naiveté of the boys--as they imagine glory awaiting them after they enlist! Even in boot camp, the mood is light and the new recruits are excited about seeing their first action. This perfectly sets the stage for the actual war--not the sanitized or "fun" war of many films but the hellish and pointless mess that was WWI. The rest of the film is brutally honest and harsh and shows how the students die off one-by-one and the remaining students become more and more jaded and emotionally dead due to the fighting.
I love this film and strongly recommend it to anyone who considers themselves to be a film buff. Part of my love of the film is because it was made relatively shortly after the war and the uniforms, trucks, etc. all appear correct for the period. Many years later, a made for TV version of this film appeared with Ernest Borgnine and Richard Thomas. It, too, was excellent but also was perhaps a bit too polished and pretty--lacking some of the grit of the original. 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). All excel at portraying war in a truthful and non-glamorized manner--it's just a shame that their impact of the world as a whole was negligible--particularly in Germany--where Fascism would soon replace the anti-war sentiment of the book ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. In fact, his books and this film were banned once the Nazis came to power just a few years later.
I love this film and strongly recommend it to anyone who considers themselves to be a film buff. Part of my love of the film is because it was made relatively shortly after the war and the uniforms, trucks, etc. all appear correct for the period. Many years later, a made for TV version of this film appeared with Ernest Borgnine and Richard Thomas. It, too, was excellent but also was perhaps a bit too polished and pretty--lacking some of the grit of the original. 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). All excel at portraying war in a truthful and non-glamorized manner--it's just a shame that their impact of the world as a whole was negligible--particularly in Germany--where Fascism would soon replace the anti-war sentiment of the book ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. In fact, his books and this film were banned once the Nazis came to power just a few years later.
- planktonrules
- Feb 6, 2007
- Permalink
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. It makes its point and pulls no punches doing so, illustrating the impersonal coldness of war and the desolation in rendering an 'enemy' of someone who you'd really have no issues with on an individual basis. This message is particularly well-captured in one especially harrowing scene - I won't divulge in the details, for the sake of those still yet to witness this masterpiece, but needless to say, it's a real tear-jerker. 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. Nonetheless, the well-assembled cast more than compensate with some truly impassioned performances, notably from Lew Ayres, who is simply brilliant as Paul, the young protagonist coming of age in this harsh environment. His friendship with long-time solider Katczinsky adds moments of warmth as well as sorrow, and the dialogue exchanged between the close-knit group of soldiers is both absorbing and believable, drawing you closer into their world and experiencing their own frustration and disillusionment along with them. 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. I don't know for sure when I'll be up for watching it a second time, but that final feeling certainly won't be going away from me any time soon, and I can almost guarantee this the kind of film you'll be glad for watching at least once. '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+
(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. Nonetheless, the well-assembled cast more than compensate with some truly impassioned performances, notably from Lew Ayres, who is simply brilliant as Paul, the young protagonist coming of age in this harsh environment. His friendship with long-time solider Katczinsky adds moments of warmth as well as sorrow, and the dialogue exchanged between the close-knit group of soldiers is both absorbing and believable, drawing you closer into their world and experiencing their own frustration and disillusionment along with them. 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. I don't know for sure when I'll be up for watching it a second time, but that final feeling certainly won't be going away from me any time soon, and I can almost guarantee this the kind of film you'll be glad for watching at least once. '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+
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. Too many war dramas, regardless of their perspective, resort to distortions of history and overblown characters that make them convincing only to those who watch uncritically. This one works nicely by keeping the characters low-key and by, for the most part, allowing the events and situations to speak for themselves. It's not perfect in this respect, and it is perhaps a movie more to be respected than enjoyed, but it has many notable strengths.
The characters, most of them young soldiers, are played very simply, even plainly, but this is by no means a weakness - rather, it allows the movie to show what war is like for real soldiers rather than for idealized or stereotyped characters. The two most important characters are developed more fully, and are played well. Louis Wolheim's resourceful 'Kat' is the liveliest of the soldiers, and as Paul, Lew Ayres is quite understated but very believable. His character is well-chosen as the focal point of most of the movie.
The close-fighting nature of World War I particularly lends itself to this kind of movie, and the atmosphere is convincing and detailed. The contrast with the civilian scenes is also set up well, although the civilian scenes sometimes seem slightly less convincing. The overall effect is a movie that, while you probably wouldn't call it exciting or fun, is one you won't forget.
The characters, most of them young soldiers, are played very simply, even plainly, but this is by no means a weakness - rather, it allows the movie to show what war is like for real soldiers rather than for idealized or stereotyped characters. The two most important characters are developed more fully, and are played well. Louis Wolheim's resourceful 'Kat' is the liveliest of the soldiers, and as Paul, Lew Ayres is quite understated but very believable. His character is well-chosen as the focal point of most of the movie.
The close-fighting nature of World War I particularly lends itself to this kind of movie, and the atmosphere is convincing and detailed. The contrast with the civilian scenes is also set up well, although the civilian scenes sometimes seem slightly less convincing. The overall effect is a movie that, while you probably wouldn't call it exciting or fun, is one you won't forget.
- Snow Leopard
- May 15, 2002
- Permalink
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. An involving and clever film which on its recent restoration and cinema re-release has taken on new significance in the 21st century.
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. An involving and clever film which on its recent restoration and cinema re-release has taken on new significance in the 21st century.
In 1981, we had a screening at the L.A. County Museum of Art of the newly discovered restored version. I took my girlfriend, who was not as savvy on film history as I was, and warned her not to expect much: that the movie was dated, the acting often awkward and broad, and some of the sound effects just plain weird, and so on. When the screening finished, she leaned over to me and said, "This movie hasn't dated at all." I could only agree, because the effect on both of us--and everyone in that theatre--was overpowering.
It's curious to compare it with the very fine tv version with Richard Thomas. The latter version has more scenes from the book and better acting, yet it's still inferior. It suffers from the lack of detail that so many tv productions had then along with comparatively flat lighting. The first version, on the other hand, has a look that resembles a documentary on World War I. They filmed it only eleven years after the war ended, and it contains a power only possible by those who've lived through an era being dramatized. Also, like CITIZEN KANE and DODSWORTH, it baffles one as to how Hollywood of this time produced such a non-escapist piece of entertainment.
It's curious to compare it with the very fine tv version with Richard Thomas. The latter version has more scenes from the book and better acting, yet it's still inferior. It suffers from the lack of detail that so many tv productions had then along with comparatively flat lighting. The first version, on the other hand, has a look that resembles a documentary on World War I. They filmed it only eleven years after the war ended, and it contains a power only possible by those who've lived through an era being dramatized. Also, like CITIZEN KANE and DODSWORTH, it baffles one as to how Hollywood of this time produced such a non-escapist piece of entertainment.
- patrick.hunter
- Sep 11, 2000
- Permalink
I kicked off my February, which is always Oscar's month, with All Quiet on the Western Front. Director Lewis Milestone's wartime drama took home the Academy's top prize for 1930. Capturing the essence of the individuals directly involved in the conflict, All Quiet on the Western Front, is a magnificent look at the effects of war both on soldiers physicality and mentality. 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. In the cloak of patriotism, a group of young men vow to support their country in war. Many of them end up permanently injured, some losing limbs, all of them end up emotionally scarred. The incredible part of this is that it was 1930. Seeing such a raw portrayal was incredible. The shots of each young man's face were well-done and beautifully executed each time. A well-done film, All Quiet on the Western Front is definitely one to see.
Opening inside a classroom, a professor is convincing a classroom of impressionable teenagers to enlist, revealing the first unfortunate aspect of WWI. In the cloak of patriotism, a group of young men vow to support their country in war. Many of them end up permanently injured, some losing limbs, all of them end up emotionally scarred. The incredible part of this is that it was 1930. Seeing such a raw portrayal was incredible. The shots of each young man's face were well-done and beautifully executed each time. A well-done film, All Quiet on the Western Front is definitely one to see.
- oOoBarracuda
- Feb 1, 2016
- Permalink
I was in high school when I first saw this great war film and I am now a senior, senior, citizen and have seen it a few more times. ALL QUIET remains right at the top of my list of outstanding war pictures. Here was a unique depiction of life in the trenches from an enemy point of view, a novel approach.
Lew Ayres gives a memorable performance as Paul Baumer, the sensitive German soldier, and has a fine supporting cast. The vivid battles in the trenches remain in my thought, and though they lack the technological know how of today, are indelible.
One of the most touching scenes is when Baumer kills the Frenchman in the shell hole and remorse overcomes him. Another tragic part is when his buddy is dying in the hospital and is visited by his comrades. A lighter scene is when the company has an over abundance of food due to its losses and the men become satiated. They are so comfortable that they are inclined to philosophize about the causes of war and its solution.
When Paul loses his friend, his depression grows and his death at the hands of a sniper is a fitting end to it all. The remake, with Ernest Borgnine, was satisfactory, but could not approach the quality of the original which I often find to be true.
Lew Ayres gives a memorable performance as Paul Baumer, the sensitive German soldier, and has a fine supporting cast. The vivid battles in the trenches remain in my thought, and though they lack the technological know how of today, are indelible.
One of the most touching scenes is when Baumer kills the Frenchman in the shell hole and remorse overcomes him. Another tragic part is when his buddy is dying in the hospital and is visited by his comrades. A lighter scene is when the company has an over abundance of food due to its losses and the men become satiated. They are so comfortable that they are inclined to philosophize about the causes of war and its solution.
When Paul loses his friend, his depression grows and his death at the hands of a sniper is a fitting end to it all. The remake, with Ernest Borgnine, was satisfactory, but could not approach the quality of the original which I often find to be true.
"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. We watch their feelings and their emotions when they are in the war, from what they think about life in general and their lives until what they have to do to survive. This movie shows us not something heroic or any kind of hero but the cruelness and the pain of people who are in that war. 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. This movie combines very well events from World War I with the true drama of that war and this is something that makes this movie so good.
I liked this movie because it shows the truth about war and especially World War I and how difficult are things there for soldiers. We watch their feelings and their emotions when they are in the war, from what they think about life in general and their lives until what they have to do to survive. This movie shows us not something heroic or any kind of hero but the cruelness and the pain of people who are in that war. 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. This movie combines very well events from World War I with the true drama of that war and this is something that makes this movie so good.
- Thanos_Alfie
- Mar 2, 2015
- Permalink
Disappointing for such an honored classic. This sweeping war epic was another victim of that period of adjustment between silent and talking motion pictures. If it had come out just two years later it could have been great. As it is, Erich Maria Remarque's grim war novel is turned into a piece of bubblegum melodrama by the poor writing and horrible cast. It's the acting, really, that brings the film down more than anything else. Aside from Louis Wolheim as veteran soldier Katczinsky, there is not a single actor who can say a line without striking a pose and giving the hammiest over the top performance. They kill nearly every scene. It's a wonder that Wolheim was able to turn in such a good performance next to these deadbeats. On the upside, it is a great production. The visuals are grand, and the battle scenes are impressive, even by today's standards. Aside from not being able to tell good acting from bad, Lewis Milestone did quite a good job directing the film. In the end the movie pretty much breaks even.
- km_dickson
- Aug 6, 2005
- Permalink
To say that this movie is one of the greatest war films of all time would be an understatement. Naturally, since the picture is based on Erich Maria Remarque's marvelous novel, the screenwriter was given quite a powerful story to begin with. 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. Ironically, when the film was initially being put together, Remarque, the novelist who won critical acclaim for writing the book, was asked to play the role of Paul. Having seen time in the war the producers must have thought him aptly prepared to play the role. But he declined because he had other commitments and because he felt he was not such a great actor. Lucky for us, because Ayres gives a powerful performance. Other characters with relatively minor roles have major importance in the film because they portray touching, heart wrenching scene s of death. 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. The acting is simply superb, and perhaps this is due to the fact that the famous director George Cukor was an assistant who, although uncredited, came onto the set to help supervise the actors (possibly because director Lewis Milestone's English was not too good).
The cinematography of this film is absolutely magnificent. The film rarely has gory sequences because the director finds other ways to imply death and still have the same emotional effect. One way in which he does this is by showing single body parts (such as a hand or a leg) and allowing these appendages to show the death of the soldier as a whole. Also, the cameraman uses overhead angles at times with great skill and also focuses on the trenches at times as the soldiers fall back into them after being shot (which implies that the trenches are a symbol of hell, because soldiers fall into them to die). In short, the cinematographer Arthur Edeson allows the camera to do the talking and to drive the film, rather than the dialogue (speaking of which, there is relatively little; the actors' facial expressions do the bulk of the talking in the film).
When I say this film is sincere I really can't give you any tangible evidence to prove the point; all I can tell you is to see the film. The film at times overwhelmed me with emotion to the extent that I got goose bumps from watching some of the more agonizing scenes. In a way, this movie is much like a silent film. This stands to reason because it came at the very beginning of the 'talkie' age, only three years after The Jazz Singer (1927). Also, Milestone directed silent films before this one, and he seemed to know that less focus on dialogue and more focus on acting would bring about an overwhelmingly emotional and well, sincere, film. The film obviously had an effect on its star, Mr. Ayres, because once World War II began and he was drafted into the war, he conscientiously protested serving in the army because of his opinions towards war. I believe he admits that his opinions stem from his work in this movie. Certainly this is a powerful admission, because his protest caused him and his films to be blacklisted in Hollywood, and his career suffered greatly because of his ideals. So if you don't believe my words about the power of this film, believe his.
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. Ironically, when the film was initially being put together, Remarque, the novelist who won critical acclaim for writing the book, was asked to play the role of Paul. Having seen time in the war the producers must have thought him aptly prepared to play the role. But he declined because he had other commitments and because he felt he was not such a great actor. Lucky for us, because Ayres gives a powerful performance. Other characters with relatively minor roles have major importance in the film because they portray touching, heart wrenching scene s of death. 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. The acting is simply superb, and perhaps this is due to the fact that the famous director George Cukor was an assistant who, although uncredited, came onto the set to help supervise the actors (possibly because director Lewis Milestone's English was not too good).
The cinematography of this film is absolutely magnificent. The film rarely has gory sequences because the director finds other ways to imply death and still have the same emotional effect. One way in which he does this is by showing single body parts (such as a hand or a leg) and allowing these appendages to show the death of the soldier as a whole. Also, the cameraman uses overhead angles at times with great skill and also focuses on the trenches at times as the soldiers fall back into them after being shot (which implies that the trenches are a symbol of hell, because soldiers fall into them to die). In short, the cinematographer Arthur Edeson allows the camera to do the talking and to drive the film, rather than the dialogue (speaking of which, there is relatively little; the actors' facial expressions do the bulk of the talking in the film).
When I say this film is sincere I really can't give you any tangible evidence to prove the point; all I can tell you is to see the film. The film at times overwhelmed me with emotion to the extent that I got goose bumps from watching some of the more agonizing scenes. In a way, this movie is much like a silent film. This stands to reason because it came at the very beginning of the 'talkie' age, only three years after The Jazz Singer (1927). Also, Milestone directed silent films before this one, and he seemed to know that less focus on dialogue and more focus on acting would bring about an overwhelmingly emotional and well, sincere, film. The film obviously had an effect on its star, Mr. Ayres, because once World War II began and he was drafted into the war, he conscientiously protested serving in the army because of his opinions towards war. I believe he admits that his opinions stem from his work in this movie. Certainly this is a powerful admission, because his protest caused him and his films to be blacklisted in Hollywood, and his career suffered greatly because of his ideals. So if you don't believe my words about the power of this film, believe his.
Before watching this epic masterpiece, I never quite understood what it is that makes people want to fight a war that was started by some politician, and after watching this film; I'm even more baffled. With it's ambiguous portrait of war, All Quiet on the Western Front never actually condemns (nor condones) the act of war, but through it's portrait; the anti-war message more than shine through. Multiple scenes show the hideousness of war, and through watching this film it becomes apparent that war is futile and a disgraceful waste of human life. We follow the (mis)fortune of a group of young adults who, due to the patriotic words of their teacher, decide to join the war effort. The rest of the film pans out as a sort of coming of age story in the middle of a great feud. 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. The film features numerous excellent scenarios, all of which are thought provoking in the context of the film, but also in life on the whole. Consider the part where one young man is told that maths problems are a waste of time as he could stop a bullet at any time, or the sequence that sees a soldier try to save the life of his fellow man that he has stabbed in the stomach (a French soldier, but still a fellow man). Not to mention the classy finish. Whichever way you look at it; this film is a masterpiece. It succeeds on a technical level and also does what films were created to do; entertain and inspire thought from their audiences. There are some films that every film buff must see regardless of their genre preferences. This is one of them.
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. The film features numerous excellent scenarios, all of which are thought provoking in the context of the film, but also in life on the whole. Consider the part where one young man is told that maths problems are a waste of time as he could stop a bullet at any time, or the sequence that sees a soldier try to save the life of his fellow man that he has stabbed in the stomach (a French soldier, but still a fellow man). Not to mention the classy finish. Whichever way you look at it; this film is a masterpiece. It succeeds on a technical level and also does what films were created to do; entertain and inspire thought from their audiences. There are some films that every film buff must see regardless of their genre preferences. This is one of them.
World War 1 and a young German, Paul Baumer, enthusiastically joins the Army. With romantic notions of war and idealistic dreams in his head he undergoes training and then is sent off to the Western Front. In due course the romantic notions are replaced by the harsh reality of war and he becomes disillusioned with it all.
Great World War 1 movie, made when the war was still fresh in everyone's minds.
Might well be the first anti-war war movie, as it depicts the grim realities of war, rather than the romantic, heroic non-existent version of it.
Harrowing, shocking, original, unpredictable, and just as relevant today as in 1930.
Surprisingly good production values for 1930.
Solid performances all round.
Far far better than the 1979 remake.
Great World War 1 movie, made when the war was still fresh in everyone's minds.
Might well be the first anti-war war movie, as it depicts the grim realities of war, rather than the romantic, heroic non-existent version of it.
Harrowing, shocking, original, unpredictable, and just as relevant today as in 1930.
Surprisingly good production values for 1930.
Solid performances all round.
Far far better than the 1979 remake.
- evanston_dad
- Nov 9, 2005
- Permalink
- ironhorse_iv
- Jan 24, 2015
- Permalink
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. If the first layer is strong enough to create a strong impression on the viewer, the second one is even more powerful: the psychological breakdown the soldiers experience is masterfully portrayed. The excitement turns into doubt, the doubt into disgust, the disgust into anger and the anger into complete numbness. A young promising student is gradually transformed into a soulless killing machine.
Also the acting deserves to be mentioned. 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!
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. If the first layer is strong enough to create a strong impression on the viewer, the second one is even more powerful: the psychological breakdown the soldiers experience is masterfully portrayed. The excitement turns into doubt, the doubt into disgust, the disgust into anger and the anger into complete numbness. A young promising student is gradually transformed into a soulless killing machine.
Also the acting deserves to be mentioned. 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!
- luis_neiva
- May 7, 2015
- Permalink
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.
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.
- greenmesamountaina
- Sep 4, 2017
- Permalink
A young soldier (Lew Ayres) faces profound disillusionment in the soul-destroying horror of World War I.
Early in the film, the characters discuss the causes of war... one country "offends" another, but what does that mean? If nobody wants war, why do we have it? Of course, there are reasons, but it can all seem a bit silly.
Because of the period this was made, there is plenty of over the top, theatrical acting. And the anti-war message is so incredibly blunt, it almost cannot be taken seriously at times. Not that I disagree with the film and what was trying to say, but if these young men are dying, the horrors of war do not actually need to be explained out loud.
Early in the film, the characters discuss the causes of war... one country "offends" another, but what does that mean? If nobody wants war, why do we have it? Of course, there are reasons, but it can all seem a bit silly.
Because of the period this was made, there is plenty of over the top, theatrical acting. And the anti-war message is so incredibly blunt, it almost cannot be taken seriously at times. Not that I disagree with the film and what was trying to say, but if these young men are dying, the horrors of war do not actually need to be explained out loud.
I can understand how this film would have been so well-received back when it first came out, but quite simply, time has not been kind to this movie. In my opinion, this film is far too slow-moving and simplistic to be considered a masterpiece, much like most of the early films that are considered classics today. This film was far too tame to have an impact on me, and I must confess that I found it to be frequently boring as well. I can certainly appreciate the effort that was put forth, and I can recognize that a great deal of talent worked on this film, but by today's standards, this movie just doesn't measure up.
"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. I could use so many superlatives to describe it but watching Milestone's war/epic left me cold with all the self- glorification and enthusiasm that only serves as a desire to hide the awareness of our own mediocrity. I will only say that "All Quiet on the Western Front" is a masterpiece because it's the first movie to make a political statement, and a courageous one, not pacifist but humanistic. If only for that, Milestone's film is a milestone on the field of cinematic intelligence.
"This story is 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 shells, were destroyed by the war."
If not an accusation, it does admit that a generation was destroyed. If not a confession, the film demonstrates that it takes war to realize life's value just as it takes jail to value freedom. 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. "All Quiet on the Western Front" is a tribute to a youth sacrificed by greed, profit and patriotic glory in the altar of trenches, where every mile cost thousands of bodies. The film starts with boys whose eyes harangued by the patriotic speech of their school professor, burn with the intensely proud flame to fight in the name of Germany and desire of victory... and eventually to leave school. The first bombing will shatter all these beliefs, as they'll understand that whether you fight for French Motherland of German Fatherland, Mother Earth is the ultimate destination.
Most of the actors were not professional except for the extraordinary performance of Louis Wolheim as Kat, a mentor for the boys and for us. The actors were as inexperienced and youthful, as the boys who were listed and criticizing the acting on that level is like stamping on an ant when you can admire its strength: the cast embodies the tragedy of a War that dug a big hole in a whole generation. The last shot of the boys walking and turning their faces at us, juxtaposed with the sight of a mortuary, is like a warning for the years to come. But history taught us war is indeed a fever that just strikes everybody, nobody wants it until it happens and everybody wants it until they make it.
It's only at war that the soldiers can question its meaning, its origin, and only at war that the ranks, medals and protocols make no difference whatsoever. The most zealous drill sergeant starts sobbing at the first shell wheezing, highlighting one of war's few consolations: to reveal the true value of people in life and make everyone equal in death. In a powerful scene, Paul, the central character stabs for the first time a French soldier, and as he spends some time hidden with the body, he talks to him and realizes that they're both comrades, brothers, victims of the same political vanity and full of the same desire to live. All that separates them is a uniform, and to Death, even uniforms don't make a damn difference. The merit of "All Quiet on the Western Front" is to be told from German perspective, from the enemy, the other, and what better lesson for empathy than inviting an audience to comprehend that the other side, like in "Das Boot" for WWII, shared the same trauma?
And Milestone's film renders the most horrific aspects of war without any other special effects than an extraordinary editing and directing. 68 years before "Saving Private Ryan"'s iconic opening, Milestone showed soldiers hit by a volley of machine-gun fire, falling but with such a fast-paced directing that we never see them hitting the ground. 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. Civilians and military, Family, the teacher, the boys in the classroom didn't learn anything. "And our bodies are earth, and our thoughts are clay, and we sleep and eat with death!" says Paul but he only receives insults and incomprehension. But he knows, and we know from his experience that he's the one who owns the truth, because in his mind are all his friends dead in the trenches, in the battlefield, in a lousy hospital.
But the tragedy of life is that as usual, it's not the dead but the living that need to be awakened.
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. I could use so many superlatives to describe it but watching Milestone's war/epic left me cold with all the self- glorification and enthusiasm that only serves as a desire to hide the awareness of our own mediocrity. I will only say that "All Quiet on the Western Front" is a masterpiece because it's the first movie to make a political statement, and a courageous one, not pacifist but humanistic. If only for that, Milestone's film is a milestone on the field of cinematic intelligence.
"This story is 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 shells, were destroyed by the war."
If not an accusation, it does admit that a generation was destroyed. If not a confession, the film demonstrates that it takes war to realize life's value just as it takes jail to value freedom. 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. "All Quiet on the Western Front" is a tribute to a youth sacrificed by greed, profit and patriotic glory in the altar of trenches, where every mile cost thousands of bodies. The film starts with boys whose eyes harangued by the patriotic speech of their school professor, burn with the intensely proud flame to fight in the name of Germany and desire of victory... and eventually to leave school. The first bombing will shatter all these beliefs, as they'll understand that whether you fight for French Motherland of German Fatherland, Mother Earth is the ultimate destination.
Most of the actors were not professional except for the extraordinary performance of Louis Wolheim as Kat, a mentor for the boys and for us. The actors were as inexperienced and youthful, as the boys who were listed and criticizing the acting on that level is like stamping on an ant when you can admire its strength: the cast embodies the tragedy of a War that dug a big hole in a whole generation. The last shot of the boys walking and turning their faces at us, juxtaposed with the sight of a mortuary, is like a warning for the years to come. But history taught us war is indeed a fever that just strikes everybody, nobody wants it until it happens and everybody wants it until they make it.
It's only at war that the soldiers can question its meaning, its origin, and only at war that the ranks, medals and protocols make no difference whatsoever. The most zealous drill sergeant starts sobbing at the first shell wheezing, highlighting one of war's few consolations: to reveal the true value of people in life and make everyone equal in death. In a powerful scene, Paul, the central character stabs for the first time a French soldier, and as he spends some time hidden with the body, he talks to him and realizes that they're both comrades, brothers, victims of the same political vanity and full of the same desire to live. All that separates them is a uniform, and to Death, even uniforms don't make a damn difference. The merit of "All Quiet on the Western Front" is to be told from German perspective, from the enemy, the other, and what better lesson for empathy than inviting an audience to comprehend that the other side, like in "Das Boot" for WWII, shared the same trauma?
And Milestone's film renders the most horrific aspects of war without any other special effects than an extraordinary editing and directing. 68 years before "Saving Private Ryan"'s iconic opening, Milestone showed soldiers hit by a volley of machine-gun fire, falling but with such a fast-paced directing that we never see them hitting the ground. 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. Civilians and military, Family, the teacher, the boys in the classroom didn't learn anything. "And our bodies are earth, and our thoughts are clay, and we sleep and eat with death!" says Paul but he only receives insults and incomprehension. But he knows, and we know from his experience that he's the one who owns the truth, because in his mind are all his friends dead in the trenches, in the battlefield, in a lousy hospital.
But the tragedy of life is that as usual, it's not the dead but the living that need to be awakened.
- ElMaruecan82
- Apr 2, 2012
- Permalink