All Quiet On The Western Front: Movie Review + Analysis, The 3rd Academy Awards
At the 3rd Academy Awards, Louis B. Mayer said upon giving the Best Picture award to Universal Picture’s All Quiet on the Western Front and studio head Carl Laemmle “I might also add Mr. Laemmle, that many of the great writers in magazines have asked that this picture receives the Nobel Peace Prize of the year.” The anti-war message within the film, based on Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, felt important for audiences to take to heart almost a decade after World War I.
Director Lewis Milestone’s adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front took on the task of making the trench warfare of WWI seem real. Milestone and his screenwriters Maxwell Anderson, George Abbott, and Del Andrews took huge battles from the novel to recreate on screen. From long tracking shots across the trench lines to long takes of the soldiers in underground tunnels as they are being bombarded, it brings the audience into the haunting world of war.
The 3rd Best Picture Winner
Paul Baumer, played by Lew Ayres, is the main character out of the group of young German men turned soldiers. The first scene of the film is of Professor Kantorek pontificating to Paul’s classmates and fellow soon-to-be German soldiers. Kantorek says “You are the iron men of Germany.” and the boys are riled up over this and barely think before signing up to go to war. This opening setup the characters of Paul and his friends because of how ignorant they were to the horror’s of war. Their inexperience as soldiers is an underlying tone of the film’s first act. They are unable to think straight and suffer immense mental trauma almost immediately upon entering the war.
These trauma’s are most evident with the experiences they are going through in the film. I can imagine that for an audience in 1930, with little to no war experience, would find a film like All Quiet On The Western Front horrifying because it makes the gore of war real. Milestone leaves a lasting image of a soldier running from bombs and grabbing on to a line of barb wire as he is bombed. All that is left are his hands hanging on to the barbed wire. That image happens early in the film and it becomes obvious how the German soldiers are left having to relive that kind of moment over-and-over again.
Ayres’ acting in the lead is mostly subdued because there is a larger focus on the war itself, leaving little time to get to know the characters more. Whether this was intentional or not, it adds to the idea that these soldiers are expendable and not knowing much about them makes it easier to toss them into war.
Ayres’ finest acting moment though is when Paul kills a French soldier in a pit on the battlefield. This leaves Paul and the dead man, played by Raymond Griffith, to sit in the pit all night. Paul is left to look at the man he killed and tell him how sorry he is that he had to kill him. It takes the breaking of Paul’s soul and self-being to kill, something that an “Iron Man” would do without thinking.
We do get to know other characters such as Stanislaus Katczinsky, played by Louis Wolheim. Wolheim’s performance would be one of his last as he would die a year later in 1931, a year after the film was released. Wolheim’s gruff but kind-hearted nature creates a reprieve for the characters and audiences to breathe in between battles. His knowledge and experience comforts the German soldiers while he also guides them through discussions over the war itself and what really matters to a person’s life when they are faced with war.
Before touching upon the rest of the characters as a whole, the technical aspects of the film is what makes it stand above the previous Best Picture winners. While Wings (1927) was a cinematic experience with aerial shots and air warfare during WWI, it did not have the gory nature that Milestone uses in All Quiet On The Western Front. The cinematography gets right into the characters face and POV that you feel like you are experiencing the war itself. The choreography and tactical planning to pull off these epic war scenes was not a small feat for 1930 filmmaking. Many camera choices and stunt coordination feels modern to today’s standards. The film almost feels like a prototype that Steven Spielberg would use to create Saving Private Ryan (1998).
The rest of the characters within Paul’s group slowly start to die off one-by-one. Whether they die on the battlefield or the German army hospitals after, they all succumb to the war. One character in particular Franz Kemmerich, played by Ben Alexander, is completely taken aback when he realizes his leg was amputated. These grotesque limb wounds affect a number of the soldiers who have to adjust to this new form of life. Something that was not mentioned to them when they so willingly left for war.
One of the last images of the film is of Paul reaching out of his trench for a butterfly. As he inches from holding it, he is shot by an enemy sniper. The film ends with a wide shot of a graveyard as the young German soldiers that Paul was a part of pass by looking back at the audience. They acknowledge the end of their part in the war and the end of the film. Their story was over.
That haunting image leaves you as the audience feeling sad and hopelessly wishing these boys could live again. The anti-war message is what ultimately captured audiences and led to the Best Picture award. No film had left an impression like that and it went beyond what film was able to do at that point.
Overall, All Quiet On The Western Front, is a film that took a leap forward. It set precedents for war movies to come. It set a high standard for future Best Picture winners, many which don’t achieve that kind of success. It’s a landmark film with cinematography and action that sticks with you. The characters themselves feel real and their tragedies even more real. Would highly recommend watching this film if you are on a chase for finding out which older Hollywood films are the best.
Where to watch the All Quiet On The Western Front?
You can watch All Quiet On The Western Front on Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video to rent or buy.
Is All Quiet On The Western Front a true story?
The film is based on the 1929 novel by Erich Maria Remarque. It is not based on a true story, but it takes inspiration from Remarque’s experiences in World War I as well as fellow soldiers.
Is All Quiet On The Western Front anti-war?
The simplest answer is, yes. While Remarque’s intention was to not be as political, his readers and fans interpreted many of the themes and events of the novel as anti-war. This led to Nazi party in Germany to ban his book and outlaw the film from being shown because of it’s anti-war themes.
What Year Does All Quiet On The Western Front take place?
The film does not give an indication as to what year it starts in. However, we can deduce that since the film takes place at the beginning of World War I it most likely starts in 1914. The film does end in 1918 when Paul dies, when the actual war ends as well.