All Quiet on the Western Front (2022 )

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 years 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. 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. The film received positive reviews from critics for faithfulness to the source material’s anti-war message.

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 the first night.

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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 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 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.

Release.

ll 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. It launched on Netflix worldwide on October 28.

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Reception.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 91 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.4/10. 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.” Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews”. 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.” Ben Kenigsberg, writing for The New York Times, found the film to be less impressive than the 1930 version, but appreciated the pounding soundtrack.