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All Quiet on the Western Front (2022 film)

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All Quiet on the Western Front
Official release poster
Directed byEdward Berger
Screenplay by
Based onAll Quiet on the Western Front
by Erich Maria Remarque
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJames Friend
Edited bySven Budelmann
Music byVolker Bertelmann
Production
company
Amusement Park
Distributed byNetflix
Release dates
  • September 12, 2022 (2022-09-12) (TIFF)
  • October 28, 2022 (2022-10-28) (Netflix)
Running time
147 minutes[1]
CountryGermany
LanguagesGerman
French

All Quiet on the Western Front (German: Im Westen nichts Neues) is a 2022 German epic anti-war film based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque. Directed by Edward Berger, it stars Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Daniel Brühl, Sebastian Hülk, Aaron Hilmer, Edin Hasanovic and Devid Striesow. Set in the closing days of World War I, it follows the life of German soldier Paul Bäumer, who, after enlisting in the German Army with his friends, finds himself exposed to the realities of war, shattering his early hopes of becoming a hero.

All Quiet on the Western Front premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2022, and was released to streaming on Netflix on October 28, 2022.[2] In August 2022, the film was announced as Germany's submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards.[3]

The film received positive reviews from critics for faithfulness to the source material's anti-war message.[4]

Plot

In Spring 1917, three years into the First World War, 17-year-old Paul Bäumer enlists in the Imperial German Army alongside his school friends, Albert Kropp, Franz Müller, and Ludwig Behm. They listen to a patriotic speech by a school official and unknowingly receive uniforms from soldiers killed in a previous battle. After they are deployed in Northern France near La Malmaison, they are befriended by Stanislaus "Kat" Katczinsky, an older soldier. Their romantic view of the war is shattered by the realities of trench warfare on the Western Front, and Ludwig is killed by artillery on the first night.

On November 7, 1918, German official Matthias Erzberger, weary of mounting losses, meets with German High Command to persuade them to begin armistice talks with the Allied powers. Meanwhile, Paul and Kat steal a goose from a farm to share with Albert, Franz, and another veteran, Tjaden Stackfleet, with whom they have grown close behind the front in Champagne. Kat, who is illiterate, gets Paul to read him a letter from his wife and worries that he cannot reintegrate into peacetime society. Franz spends the night with a French woman and brings back her scarf as a souvenir.

On the morning of November 9, General Friedrichs drives Erzberger and the German delegation to a train bound for the Forest of Compiègne to negotiate a ceasefire. Paul and his friends go on a mission to find 60 missing recruits sent to reinforce their unit and discover that they were killed by gas after taking off their masks too soon. Friedrichs, who opposes the talks, orders an attack before French reinforcements arrive. That night, Erzberger's delegation reaches the Forest of Compiègne, and Paul's regiment is sent to the front to prepare to attack the French lines.

On the morning of November 10, Ferdinand Foch, the Supreme Allied Commander, gives 72 hours for the Germans to accept the Allied terms, with no room for negotiation. Meanwhile, the German attack takes the French front line after hand-to-hand fighting but is routed by a combined arms counterattack with Saint-Chamond tanks, airplanes, and flamethrowers. Franz is separated from the group, and Albert is killed trying to surrender. Trapped in a crater in no man's land with a French soldier, Paul stabs him and watches him die slowly, becoming remorseful and asking forgiveness to his dead body. Erzberger learns of Kaiser Wilhelm II's abdication and receives instructions in the evening from field marshal Paul von Hindenburg to accept the Allied terms. Paul returns to his unit and sees them celebrating the imminent end of the war. He finds a wounded Tjaden, who gives him Franz's scarf. Paul and Kat bring him food but Tjaden, distraught at being crippled, kills himself.

Around 5:00 AM on November 11, Erzberger's delegation signs the armistice set to take effect at 11 AM. After learning of the ceasefire, Paul and Kat steal from the farm one last time, but Kat is shot by the farmer's young son and dies as Paul carries him to the hospital. Friedrichs wants to end the war with a German victory and orders an attack to start at 10:45. A despondent, battle-hardened Paul kills many French soldiers before being speared through the chest by a bayonet seconds before 11:00 when the fighting stops, and the front falls silent. A short time later, a newly arrived German recruit that Paul had saved in the combat finds Paul's mud-caked body and retrieves Franz's scarf that was passed on to Paul from Tjaden.

Cast

Production

The film was announced in February 2020 with Edward Berger directing and Daniel Brühl as part of the ensemble cast.[6] Principal photography began in March 2021 in Prague, Czech Republic.[2][7]

Release

All Quiet on the Western Front premiered at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2022. It played exclusively at the Paris Theater in New York on October 7 before expanding to other theatres from October 14.[8]

It launched on Netflix worldwide on October 28.[9]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 90% of 105 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Both timely and timeless, All Quiet on the Western Front retains the power of its classic source material by focusing on the futility of war."[10] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[11]

Reubyn Coutinho, on Netflix Junkie, wrote, "It does not pull its punches with the screenplay having the potential to make you squirm...The film touches upon the loneliness, the catalyst of desperation, the fear of civilians in battle, and the chaos."[12] Ben Kenigsberg, writing for The New York Times, found the film to be less impressive than the 1930 version, but appreciated the pounding soundtrack. He also praised the addition of a parallel plot tracking the armistice, even if it diverged from the first person narrative of the novel. He found the tweaked fate of the characters to be narratively powerful.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ "All Quiet on the Western Front". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Netflix's 'All Quiet On The Western Front' Shoot Underway in Prague, New Cast Members Join". Variety. May 4, 2021. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  3. ^ Roxborough, Scott (August 24, 2022). "Oscars: Germany Picks 'All Quiet on the Western Front' for 2023 Race". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  4. ^ "In a German 'All Quiet on the Western Front,' History Has a Starring Role". New York Times.
  5. ^ "First Look Photos and Cast Revealed for Netflix's German Film 'All Quiet on the Western Front'". Nerds & Beyond. May 4, 2021. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  6. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (February 14, 2020). "'All Quiet On The Western Front': Timely German-Language Version Of WWI Classic Heads To EFM With Edward Berger, Daniel Bruhl & Rocket Science". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  7. ^ "'All Quiet on the Western Front': Shooting for German Netflix Film Directed by Edward Berger Has Begun". Netflix. May 4, 2021. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  8. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (October 12, 2022). "All Quiet on the Western Front review – anti-war nightmare of bloodshed and chaos". The Guardian. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  9. ^ Longmire, Becca (September 6, 2022). "Netflix Drops Teaser Trailer For 'All Quiet On The Western Front' Ahead Of TIFF World Premiere". ET Canada. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  10. ^ "All Quiet on the Western Front". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 28, 2022. Edit this at Wikidata
  11. ^ "All Quiet on the Western Front". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  12. ^ Coutinho, Reubyn (October 30, 2022). "All Quiet on The Western Front (2022) Review: Meticulously Framed Movie Captures the Barbaric Horrors of War". Netflix Junkie. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  13. ^ Kenigsberg, Ben (October 27, 2022). "'All Quiet on the Western Front' Review: The Spectacle of War". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
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