“All Quiet on the Western Front”: The shock of the approaching horror of death
2023/10/14This book is the most famous anti-war novel in history
The author Remarque wrote it after personally experiencing World War I. It caused a sensation in German society at the time when it was published. However, it was banned and burned by the Nazi German government because of its anti-war content, and Remarque went into exile overseas. This book has also set off an upsurge of anti-war books in various parts of the world.
Erich Maria Remarque’s revolutionary novel All Quiet on the Western Front has been adapted three times in the almost full century since its publication in 1928. It was made into a movie once in 1930 and won an Oscar; then Delbert Mann also made it into a movie in the 1970s, and now it is adapted by director Edward through Netflix’s high budget. Download Youcine to watch movies.
While all three film adaptations have their own strengths and weaknesses, what’s most fascinating is their individual nuances and angles, because all three “All Quiet on the Western Front” films share the same story and the same themes. characters, but the way humans understand the First World War and its tragic consequences has gradually changed over time, and this is the difference that can be noticed watching these three All Quiet on the Western Front films.
The adaptation of the 1930 version of “All Quiet on the Western Front” is a story about anger and regret, based on an era that was still feeling the pain written in the novel (because it was not long after the end of World War I); the 1970 version It is a less bitter reimagining that maintains a sharp condemnation of the war while showing a hint of sympathy and understanding for the characters in the novel.
And now Youcine can watch the latest version
As we approach the centenary of the conflict that defined a generation, the director’s relentlessly violent and emotional take on All Quiet on the Western Front has only one purpose: “to completely deconstruct the concept of war, exposing all of its inherent flaws.” and ensuring that mankind will never make these fatal mistakes again” (this is indeed in line with Remarque’s own anti-war thinking).
This time Netflix director Edward “All Quiet on the Western Front” injects visceral intensity and visual poetry, faithfully adapting Remarque’s gloomy attitude and harsh criticism of the war through brutal images depicting the horrors of war, but the director’s design purpose The purpose is to allow the audience to draw their own emotional conclusions when watching the last moment, so the director is basically not the kind to draw a strong conclusion, but to show the truth and essence as much as possible, and then let the audience take a closer look Chewing and feeling and thinking.
“All Quiet on the Western Front”
What is most strongly presented is the idea of “war is hell”. In addition to showing the horror of war, the director chooses to use bleak reality and thought-provoking facts to place it in the hearts of the audience. This is a bit like the war brings not only the immediate occurrence, but It is the subsequent fermentation and stamina brewing. The whole strong feeling does not require a lot of bloody war scenes for the audience to feel.
Instead, away from the flooded trenches and the mutilated corpses of bright young men lured into their graves, the director cleverly uses the tranquility of nature to contrast the dichotomy of life and death with the horror on display, even as a generation dies , the creek continues to flow, the seasons continue to change, and the life of nature continues to be born. These visual effects are used to express a larger pattern of contrast between life and death.
Like Remarque’s novel
The fighting this time around in All Quiet on the Western Front also centers on Paul, a young German student who becomes embroiled in the nationalism of the war movement and fights for a one-way ticket to the front lines fighting the French.
Paul begins the film with a bright eye and a smile, eager to put the mantle of “veteran” and “hero” on his shoulders when he finally returns home, but what he doesn’t know is that his uniform has just been His clothes were stripped from a corpse, washed and reused, and his so-called path to glory was actually the thorny path to hell.
I feel that Paul in “All Quiet on the Western Front” is not an easy character to interpret and perform. In addition to such a physically demanding role, he also has to interpret the huge emotional cost of depicting the humiliation, degradation and pain of war. , the actor Felix Kammerer showed his soul to the audience with great precision.
He must always bring this narrative tension to the expression on his face, which is both aloof and brilliant in the face of endless tragedy, imbuing Paul with raw humanity. The characters around him not only set off Paul, but the character Paul also set off the characters around him.
In “All Quiet on the Western Front”
This tension between peace and the constant urge to push forward forms the emotional and structural backbone of the director’s storytelling, and unlike his previous adaptations of Remarque’s novel, the director has instilled further emphasis this time in All Quiet on the Western Front Historical elements of war shame.
This element features real-life historical figures who helped Germany forge the path to an armistice with France and were later assassinated for those efforts. There’s also a fictional career general who balks at the idea of a peace treaty and is so obsessed with the idea of patriotism that he’s forced to lead an army of beleaguered soldiers to their death rather than accept a ceasefire that awaits.
Both elements symbolize the toll of peace and war: “War-mongers always lead their soldiers to the abyss of death while they watch from their lofty hermitages, while peacekeepers fight for greater risking his life for a better future.” I really like this great satirical anti-war plot of “All Quiet on the Western Front”.
The First World War ended more than a century ago
It may be just a piece of history to modern people, but this history can vividly project our fears and hopes, even World War II. The key to the success of “All Quiet on the Western Front” lies in “truth” and “realism.”
“All Quiet on the Western Front” will immerse the audience in the bloody battle of World War I and try its best to truly reflect the experiences of soldiers on both sides of the conflict. The director’s approach will make people feel extremely real from beginning to end. I am watching it This movie feels as if I have taken a time machine and flown to the present moment. It is very shocking, very immersive and emotionally impactful.
There is “texture” in every frame and scene of All Quiet on the Western Front. I feel that there is almost nothing to criticize about All Quiet on the Western Front. This work is a wonderful and perfect adaptation of the novel, while maintaining all the important Keep the details the same while making enough shrewd changes to justify your existence.
For those who are truly interested in the ethical and moral implications of this period of history, it will be easy to find resonance in All Quiet on the Western Front, and for viewers who are not war movie fans themselves, I think viewers will also find “All Quiet on the Western Front” a favorite. “All Quiet on the Western Front” is one of the best war movies. In short, “All Quiet on the Western Front” is highly recommended!
