All Quiet on the Western Front
Academy Award × 4
Paul Baumer and his friends Albert and Muller, egged on by romantic dreams of heroism, voluntarily enlist in the German army. Full of excitement and patriotic fervour, the boys enthusiastically march into a war they believe in. But once on the Western Front, they discover the soul-destroying horror of World War I.
What critics thought
Edward Berger's adaptation earns wide admiration for its overwhelming visual power and harrowing battle sequences, but the film sits at the center of a genuine critical argument: English-language critics largely embraced it as a timely antiwar statement, while German critics — for whom the Remarque novel is required reading — accused it of gutting the book's psychological core in favor of spectacle and Oscar bait. The sharpest disagreement is over what the film lost by swapping Paul's return home and his alienation from civilian life for a parallel armistice subplot, a trade that some see as narratively powerful and others see as transforming a profound psychological portrait into a simpler tale of virtuous soldiers betrayed by cynical commanders.
“The inclusion of this political subplot and the exclusion of Paul's return home transforms All Quiet on the Western Front from a psychological examination of the soldier's experience and a condemnation of war into a much simpler story of virtuous soldiers and cynical leaders who betrayed them.”
Jamelle Bouie·The New York Times
“visually very, very impressive, overwhelming, and gruelling”
Kermode and Mayo's Take
“you have to ask yourself whether director Berger has even read Remarque's novel”
Hubert Wetzel·Süddeutsche Zeitung
“it is difficult to match the power of the 1930 All Quiet on the Western Front's conclusion”
HistoryExtra
Genres
Drama, History, War
Cast & Crew
DirectorEdward Berger
StarringFelix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Aaron Hilmer, Moritz Klaus, Adrian Grünewald
ComposerVolker Bertelmann
All Quiet on the Western Front
Academy Award × 4
Paul Baumer and his friends Albert and Muller, egged on by romantic dreams of heroism, voluntarily enlist in the German army. Full of excitement and patriotic fervour, the boys enthusiastically march into a war they believe in. But once on the Western Front, they discover the soul-destroying horror of World War I.
What critics thought
Edward Berger's adaptation earns wide admiration for its overwhelming visual power and harrowing battle sequences, but the film sits at the center of a genuine critical argument: English-language critics largely embraced it as a timely antiwar statement, while German critics — for whom the Remarque novel is required reading — accused it of gutting the book's psychological core in favor of spectacle and Oscar bait. The sharpest disagreement is over what the film lost by swapping Paul's return home and his alienation from civilian life for a parallel armistice subplot, a trade that some see as narratively powerful and others see as transforming a profound psychological portrait into a simpler tale of virtuous soldiers betrayed by cynical commanders.
“The inclusion of this political subplot and the exclusion of Paul's return home transforms All Quiet on the Western Front from a psychological examination of the soldier's experience and a condemnation of war into a much simpler story of virtuous soldiers and cynical leaders who betrayed them.”
Jamelle Bouie·The New York Times
“visually very, very impressive, overwhelming, and gruelling”
Kermode and Mayo's Take
“you have to ask yourself whether director Berger has even read Remarque's novel”
Hubert Wetzel·Süddeutsche Zeitung
“it is difficult to match the power of the 1930 All Quiet on the Western Front's conclusion”
HistoryExtra
Genres
Drama, History, War
Cast & Crew
DirectorEdward Berger
StarringFelix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Aaron Hilmer, Moritz Klaus, Adrian Grünewald
ComposerVolker Bertelmann