ALBAWABA- All Quiet on The Western Front was the line of trenches dug by the central forces and the allied forces during the first world war stretching from the black sea all the way to Switzerland dividing Belgium and France. It is the front line of the war and where most of the fighting happened throughout the 4 years of the war.
All Quiet on The Western Front based on the 1928 anti-war novel of the same name by author Erich Maria Remarque is the second adaptation of the novel and the first German adaptation. We rarely see a war movie from the German point of view and this movie did not disappoint showing us the brutality of war and shedding light on the fact that no one wins in war.
The movie amazingly starts with an enthusiastic German student enlisting in the army and being given a uniform unbeknownst to him that the uniform belongs to a previous German fighter who was KIA.
All Quiet on The Western Front swept seven awards out of an astonishing 14 nods at the British Academy of Film Awards beating the record set by Cinema Paradiso. All quite on the western front also received nine Oscar nominations including the elusive best picture. In 2021 parasite broke the 91-year record of being the first foreign film to win best picture and this years All quite on the western front has a fighting chance to be among the first foreign films to receive this honor, while also being the clear front runner for the best foreign film category.
The film is a smashing success both commercially and critically however in order to achieve this critical acclaim director Edward Berger deviated from the source material greatly and the film has multiple historical inaccuracies which cause some backlash from German critics some even asking if the director actually read the Nobel peace prize winning novel.
However, this deviation served the film in reaching out to the younger generations who are unfamiliar with WWI and make them question how can a person be fueled by blinding hate and stupidity that would cause great lose for all sides involved.
The film goes further in its anti-war stance than the pacifist masterpiece of a novel in the visual representation and deeper view of shell-shocked soldiers. However, time jumps in the movie and quick succession of events hinder character development and doesn’t give us enough time to grow with the characters.
With everything said and done All Quiet on The Western Front is a visual and acting master piece with out of this world cinematography and delivers quite the message when understood. It doesn’t have to be historically accurate nor be faithful the source material, the movie took inspiration from the 1928 novel and expanded on it and delivered a powerful message that the world desperately needs nowadays.
War co-existed throughout time alongside humanity, one could argue that humans are inherently good, however previous countless instances proved that argument wrong. War plagued mankind throughout history, we see it now all around us, you would think after two world wars and two nuclear explosions humans would change their ways. But humans continue with their self-destructive ways and we praise filmmakers who try their best to deliver stories and messages to change the wicked ways of our world.
written by Munir Abumuhor
