Another war film came out recently and people are praising it more and more. So far I was touched on Saving Private Ryan, 1917, and a few more. This one was set on the timeline of the first world war, and picture the situation of German soldiers, which made me completely speechless.
All Quiet On The Western Front is an anti-war film based on a novel written by Erich Maria Remarque with the same title. This one is directed by Edward Berger and he did an excellent job. There are already two movies based on this novel with the same name in 1930 and 1979. They two performed very well among the audience and here we go again which is also very successful with its motifs.
There are lots of war movies to show how devastating war can be, maybe many of us have already watched this one too. So I won't move with the story much rather I would try to point out the opinions and thoughts I went through while watching this movie. At the very beginning, I was stunned on seeing how devoted those teenage boys are to volunteering for the great war. So a group of teenage join the war and we see their journey till the end.
Paul Baumer, who was at the center of our story but the supporting character did very good too. In the very beginning, I noticed a very painful tragic scenario where all the dead soldiers were buried and their clothes were taken to reuse for the new soldiers. Paul Baumer mistakenly gets one containing the tag of the previous soldier's name but he thought it was for someone sround him, they stated it didn’t fit that soldier so he got it, so simple. He didn’t even understand the horror or where he was heading too.
Soon he sees the real scenario of where he ended up. Actually, we know that the plot was set up during the ending of world war I, negotiations were ongoing, and they were fighting to acquire a few more grounds, losing millions of soldiers. In every battle you would just see them getting shot and falling on the ground, everyone keeps running with the hope that the bullets don't get him, on-screen you may be noticing someone running and on the next moment you see him fall, that's how it went before my eyes.
Battlefield is not the place for having good meals, I know that too, but those teen soldiers were fed up with eating the same thing over and over again, whenever they saw some good food jumped on them, there are a few scenes for that to realize. On the other hand, those who are on the edge of negotiations, making things complex are sitting in their well-furnished places with a table full of tempting foods. On every decision of theirs, delaying the negotiations causes thousands and millions of lives.
The last part of the movie, could be a spoiler so you may avoid it, when the negotiations were done and a time was set for it to act, the Germans wanted to have their last attack before that time in the last moment. All the soldiers were dreaming of returning home and they are again pushed towards the battle, which means a lot of them are gonna lose their lives again, and it did happen, many dreams were scattered at the last moment just to satisfy the fact that they would be welcomed as heroes after this final attack. Paul was quiet, losing everyone he seemed to be losing the aim of living, he was just walking like a dead soldier and jumped into the last attack.
The whole runtime of two and a half hour, I was just quietly sitting in front of my screen and kept seeing how it went, everything was top-notch and perfect. All the characters did their best to bring out the inner message for us, on how everything they dreamed of getting changed. Cinematography, sound design, themes, pacing, and everything else seemed perfect to me. Undoubtedly, it's going to be one of the best war movies in recent times. If you haven’t watched it already then go for it, you won't be disappointed.