David in TN’s Review of the 2022 version of All Quiet on the Western Front

By David in TN
thursday, march 9, 2023 at 3:51:00 p.m. est

Our friend Countenance asked me to write a review for his blog of the 2022 version of All Quiet on the Western Front. Below is my review:

“The latest version of All Quiet on the Western Front had been in the works for 15 years. It was to be in the English language as the first two were. Daniel Radcliffe was to star. The 1979 TV version had John Boy Walton, now it was supposed to be Harry Potter.

“The film was not made and it was taken up by netflix to be made with Germans. So there was finally to be a German version of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, the most famous anti-war work of all time.

“The 2022 film is some two-and-a-half hours long but moves swiftly. The uniforms, weapons, and kit are accurate.

“There is little of Remarque’s work in the movie, aside from character names. The writers tell a new story. The combat scenes are ‘realistic,’ but that usually means the deaths and violence are graphic. The combatants often leave the trenches to fight in the open.

“There is no training camp sequence with Himmelstoss, who makes a great villain. This was a key part of the 1930 and 1979 films. There is no home leave by Paul to visit his cancer-stricken mother, or listen to civilians with no idea what goes on. Paul and Albert Kropp don’t spend time in a hospital showing the trauma of being wounded.

“The scene where Paul stabs the French soldier is in daylight during a battle. In the others, it was during a night patrol. Paul’s face was caked in mud for a good part of the film.

“The film is mostly Paul Baumer and Kat. The scene with Kat’s death is not as good as the others. In this one, Kat is shot by a French farm boy. Paul carries him back to be told, ‘You could have saved yourself the trouble.’

“Remarque actually carried a friend back in real life, only to find he had been killed by a shell fragment, the same way as in his novel.

“There are several scenes showing the Armistice talks and the intransigence of the French, led by Marshal Foch. Finally, the Armistice is signed and announced. The soldiers are in a celebratory mood.”

“A fictional General from a balcony tells the men they are to attack fifteen minutes before the 11 a.m. deadline. In actuality, German soldiers at this stage would have mutinied. Historians say nothing like this happened.

“I do recommend the film, as it’s well done and turned out to be topical. Putin’s War is the first armed conflict on the European continent since 1945.”

I saw it in a theater on a big screen, which makes it better. The downside is sitting through some 20 minutes of Coming Attractions glorifying the Usual Suspects.