All Quiet on the Western Front, 2022.
Directed by Edward Berger.
Starring Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, and Daniel Brühl.
SYNOPSIS:
Netflix’s harrowing war film All Quiet on the Western Front, the third and probably most brutal of the adaptations of the classic novel, arrives on Blu-ray with just a pair of extras, a scant making-of and a commentary by director Edward Berger. The film is great, but it’s a bummer that more background material wasn’t included here.
War is hell, as they say, but one of the best examples of its horrific futility was the western front of World War I, when millions of young men died to fight over territory whose ownership had barely changed by the end of the conflict. And the novel that encapsulated the brutality of that event was Erich Maria Remarque’s classic novel All Quiet on the Western Front.
The book has been adapted twice before, as a 1930 film and as a 1979 made-for-TV movie, but this version is the only one that takes place exclusively on and near battlefields. The novel and its first two adaptations feature the main character, Paul Bäumer, going home on leave during the war, but director Edward Berger’s 2022 version skips over that portion of the story.
That decision gives the 2022 version of All Quiet on the Western Front a bleak relentlessness, as Paul becomes a “beast of survival,” as Berger describes the men of the German army in his commentary track. Their humanity is whittled away until it’s just a small spark that briefly lights a moment here and there before dying away, like one of the many flares that we see arcing over the battlefields at night.
As a result, the story tracks very closely with that theme, which reinforces Berger’s message that “war is futility,” but it also loses opportunities for Paul to have some character development. Because we never see him again in a domestic setting, and what we do see at the beginning of the film revolves completely around his desire to enlist in the army at the tender age of 17, we don’t really get a good sense of him as a person.
But given how Berger repeatedly comes back to his discussion of the German war machine during the commentary track, it’s clear that his intent was to dehumanize these men the same way the German military command did. In fact, the one character who gets the most well-rounded approach is a nameless French soldier killed by Paul. He sobs and apologizes to the man as he rifles through the dead soldier’s belongings, including a photo of his wife and child and what is presumably a letter from home.
The story also cuts away at times to the German leadership, both those at the top of the chain who ultimately negotiate an armistice with the Allies and the local German general who demands that the men under his command launch a final offensives, mere minutes before the cease-fire is to take effect, to take back territory they had previously lost. The final moments of the story, along with a text epilogue, drive home the pointlessness of the entire endeavor.
This Blu-ray edition only comes with a pair of bonus features, Berger’s aforementioned commentary track and a brief 18-minute making-of that touches the main points but doesn’t go as deep as I wished it had. Given the history of the source material, this was the perfect opportunity for a lengthy documentary; perhaps one will be commissioned some day.
As for Berger’s commentary, he leads off by saying that this is his first such discussion over a movie. Like the film itself, this isn’t a light-hearted discussion, which is certainly understandable. Berger gives a lot of background information about the production throughout his chat, alternating between that and some scene-specific comments.
One of the best examples of the latter is his discussion of a scene that he added after Netflix asked for some more character moments. It involves a soldier who goes by the nickname Kat, who becomes like an older brother to Paul but turns out to be illiterate and has his buddy read a letter from his wife to him. Berger also uses that moment to touch on why he didn’t include any scenes of Paul going home on leave.
Another moment that struck me was early on during the track, when he’s talking about how the first part of the story really drives home the idea of the German war machine, and he points out that the sound effects of the sewing machines used to make uniforms was actual machine gun fire. Such a great touch.
A pair of trailers round out the platter.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
Originally published May 7, 2023. Updated April 22, 2024.
