WARNING: Spoilers ahead. 

By Ned Bradshaw

“What is a soldier without war?”

Felix Kammerer as Paul Bäumer. Photo credit: Netflix.

All Quiet on the Western Front is a German anti-war movie that follows 17-year-old German soldier Paul Bäumer’s (played by Felix Kammerer) enlistment and deployment on the Western Front in the spring of 1917 during World War I. The film is loosely based on the famous novel of the same name, published by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I, in 1928. It is the fourth film version of the novel and was released on Netflix on October 28. 

Bäumer is accompanied by his friends Albert Kropp (Aaron Hilmer), Franz Müller (Moritz Klaus), and Ludwig Behm (Adrian Grünewald), all of whom are initially anxious and exuberant to fight on the Western Front. When they eventually enter the trenches in battle, Bäumer’s friends are gradually killed off, and he realizes the horrors of war, and his excitement quickly fades away. 

In the first scene, a young and frightened German soldier is charging into the Allied trenches when the screen cuts to black as he engages in a fight. The following scene shows the process of reusing deceased soldiers’ uniforms, which leads to the scene of Bäumer receiving his own uniform, not knowing it belonged to a fellow soldier now dead. The movie takes place from the spring of 1917 to November 1918, right up until the moment of the armistice on Nov. 11. During this time, the war is coming to an end, and Germany is struggling with soldiers, supplies, and morale. 

Soldiers in the trenches during World War I. Photo credit: Diego Sideburns.

Bäumer and his friends seem unaware of the conditions of the German army, so he, his friends, and countless eager army recruits are ambitious in the beginning, blind to the reality of war. When Bäumer arrives in the trenches, a full-scale attack breaks out, with artillery shells bombarding the line. He and his friends witness the gruesome and horrific deaths of their comrades while also fearing for their lives.

Far away from the frontlines, German diplomats discuss with French government officials a possible armistice or cease-fire. However, German General Friedrich (Devid Striesow) neglects Germany’s effort to negotiate peace. Friedrich believes that an armistice would stain Germany and dishonor its ancestors. He lacks empathy for his soldiers and sends them into battle for little gain.

During a battle, the German army is faced with ground-breaking and horrifying technology: tanks and flamethrowers. As the army retreats, they are decimated by automatic machine guns and flames. The Germans counter the nearly impenetrable tanks by shoving hand grenades inside to flush out the enemies but have trouble countering the flamethrowers, so they run.

British Mark IV Tank. Photo credit: Imperial War Museums.

While deployed, Bäumer and his comrades do anything to seek pleasure, whether it is stealing a chicken from a French farmer for stew or cutting out and keeping a poster of a woman. Although the movie focuses on the hardships of war and its costs, it indulges in the comradery among young boys and men, especially the friendship between Paul and veteran soldier Katczinsky (Albrecht Schuch).

Bäumer fights in the trenches and befriends fellow soldiers in exchange for his friends’ deaths. On Armistice Day, Friedrich orders one final attack, in which Bäumer will meet his tragic demise.

When I finished the movie, it made me think what it would be like to be in Bäumer’s position: Excited to fight in a war but then watch your friends die while living in hell until your eventual death. A sense of gratitude overcame me as I hoped I would never understand what these boys went through.

Aside from the plot, my favorite aspect of the film was the cinematography. The visuals are stunning, as they combine the beauty of untouched nature with the brutality of trench warfare. Upper School English teacher Vlastik Svab claims, “the film is visually stunning, with brutal depictions of trench warfare juxtaposed against long shots of nature and beautiful vistas. The style of the cinematography reminds me of Emmanuel Lubezki’s work in The Revenant and in Terrence Malick’s films.”

The novel that the film is based on has a significantly different storyline and theme. The film focuses on Bäumer’s ambition and blindness to the horrors of war leading to his death, while in the novel, Bäumer goes home during leave, shellshocked, not able to explain to his family back home the horrors he’s seen. 

Critics appreciate the overwhelming wave of war that the film portrays. Author Rob Schmitz says, “the machine of war looms over these German soldiers like an inescapable fate. Combatants die, and armies of sewing machines recycle their uniforms for the next victims. The soundtrack, an ominous three-note blast from an instrument called the harmonium, conjures approaching death.” The three-note riff that plays before a battle is a small detail that keeps the reader uneasy and tense.