A couple of nights ago, a socially distance Medusa suddenly appeared in my discord to simply say, Let’s watch a movie tonight and as work free and bored as I was, without any resistance, I just simply agreed. The mood to watch a war movie suddenly emerged out of nowhere and I informed her, whatever we saw that night, it has to be included in this particular genre and without a word, she agreed.
It was up to me to decide the movie for the night and even though the initial plan was to watch the ever so hyped movie called 1917, throughout the searching process the existence of this German film came into my knowledge and just from the trailer, anyone could tell it would be an awesome experience.
Even though, in the end we didn’t end up watching this movie for technical issues, later on the cinematography and the thrilling plotline made me jump right into it. And I have to say, the end result was not disappointing.
The story revolves around World War I and instead of focusing on the ally, it was made to portray the struggle and suffering of German soldiers. The thing that drew me most was the smaller details that the majority of the war movies don’t pay much attention to. We all rather see how the soldiers rushed towards the battlefield, the struggle of surviving while trying to find cover from the raging bullets, the war strategies, the win, the loss, but the fact that in that ranging war, when all the nations are struggling to scavenger the left out resources, it was those dead soldiers that provides war uniforms for the new recruit.
It was kind of surreal to watch, as the surviving soldiers completely detached from any kind of emotions, stripping down their fellow dead teammates to collect the much needed uniforms, washing the blood and then mending the bullet holes for the new fresh batch of recruits. The new recruits, being oblivious of the reality, accept the fate of those dead as they put on the hand down cloths.
The plot revolves around a boy named Paul, who being the naïve youth of eighteen, didn’t know about the reality of war. So when his parents refused to sign the agreement paper for him to be a frontline soldier, and becoming the laughing stock of his fellow buddies who did manage to get permission from their parents, took it upon himself to forge the sign and become the unfortunate addition to the war.
It was kind of sad to see how reality broke down the excitement of those teenagers in a day when the tragedy, deaths and suffering kicked out the illusion of honor and forced them to adapt maturity. The war was never for the common people, it was never about the struggling and dying men in the front line, rather it was always about the pride of a handful of old men in power. They never felt the struggle, never faced the loss, never experienced the death of battlefields. Instead, they would always hide behind concrete walls, eating luxurious food while reviewing the war report and making satisfactory or unsatisfactory remarks. And that’s something this movie managed to portray beautifully.
It is a tough reality shown there
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Yup. Surprisingly this movie brought up a more realistic and smaller details of war that has been neglected by others.
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Yeah the idea of the scarcity of resources resulting in pillaging the dead, especially your own sounds like a truly harrowing experience. While logical, I can't imagine that type of situation not sticking in your psyche for the rest of your life. I've seen a few people post about this movie so I'll have to move this higher on my must-see list!
It is dreadful to watch the people instead of respecting the dead, using their crops as the stoking piles of new recruits cloths. Some aspect of the movie will force you to think some of the unpleasant thoughts. Do watch it. You won't be disappointed.
I had no idea there was a new adaptation of the novel All quiet on the Western Front. This looks like it should be a good adaptation. I have seen both of the previous versions (1930 and 1979).
The novel, back when I was growing up, used to be required reading, at least where I went to school. I doubt that it still is required here in the States, which is unfortunate as it is good novel covering the horrors of war.
Thanks for brining this film to light. Adding it to my watch list.
I found out about this book adaptation after finishing the movie and it instantly made an entry in my reading list. The horror of reality and struggle shown into the movie already blown me away, and I can't wait to read the more details and gruesome version of it in the book as most of the time in book adapted movies, a good chunk of the original story get lost in the limited timeframe.
And Do watch it, I don't know how much the movie followed the original work, but in general it is a good movie.