All Quiet on the Western Front (2022, R)

I haven’t read All Quiet on the Western Front. All I really knew prior to this film was that it’s about WWI, which isn’t much, but at least it’s more than anyone involved with making/approving this cover. This German film shows the harrowing brutality of trench warfare and the stunning waste of the first world war.

In 1916, Paul Baümer and his three hometown friends enlist together in the army, with Paul so determined not to be left behind that he forges a parental signature on his forms. But the speeches about glorious heroism and “marching on Paris” any day now is a devastatingly far cry from reality. As Paul struggles to survive the increasingly futile war, he clings to the comradeship of his friends and fellow soldiers.

One of the most affecting parts of the film is its opening sequence. Before we meet Paul and his naïve, idealistic friends, we meet another boy who’s already been fighting in the trenches. His story lasts no more than a few minutes, but it sets the tone in a heartrending way. I also like that, after the horror and viscera of Paul’s first day on the front, we jump ahead 18 months. There are war movies that show green recruits confronted with the reality of war, that show jaded, tired soldiers who’ve seen it all, and that show the green recruits taken under the impatient wing of the jaded vets. Seeing Paul take on both roles in the same film, though, is interesting.

The film industry, both internationally and stateside, is no stranger to depicting graphic violence, including in war films. There isn’t much shown in the battle scenes that we haven’t seen before, and the characters are drawn lightly enough that one might think the story has little new to say. But I think it still hits home. I was taken by the look in Paul’s eyes after 18 months at war, at once haunted and numbed, and I like the humanity the soldiers find in simple pleasures during the quiet moments off duty, juxtaposed with the disorientation, terror, and violence of the battles.

More than anything, the film really captures the futility of WWI. The time skip brings us near the end of 1918, and when we’re not with Paul’s unit, we’re following a German delegation sent to discuss terms with the French. The German official leading the delegation is acutely aware that every moment they spending negotiating is another moment in which young men are being killed for a few hundreds meters of muddy ground. Truly, every friend Paul loses at this point is someone who almost made it out, which makes their deaths all the more senseless.

The only actor I was familiar with was Daniel Brühl, delivering a lowkey but effective performance as German official Matthias Erzberger. Feliz Kammerer is quietly heartbreaking in his film debut as Paul, an eager kid who loses his spirit and innocence to the relentless war machine. I also really like Albrecht Schuch as a fellow soldier named Katczinsky (a.k.a. Kat,) an older, more experienced soldier who becomes very close with Paul over the course of the film.

Warnings

Graphic violence, disturbing images, drinking/smoking, sexual references, and strong thematic elements (including suicide.)