Movie Masterworks

“We live in the trenches out there. We fight. We try not to be killed, but sometimes we are. That’s all.”

Synopsis: Unlike most “message” films which date themselves almost immediately, Lewis Milestone’s low-key unpolished and deeply-felt screen adaptation of the Erich Maria Remarque anti-war novel has lost little of its original impact. Years after its release it was still being banned in countries mobilizing for war. The plot follows a group of young German recruits in World War I through their passage from idealism to disillusionment. As the central character Paul Baumer (Lew Ayers) declares, “We live in the trenches and we fight. We try not to be killed - that’s all.” ‘All Quiet’ is an anthology of now famous scenes: Ayres trapped in a shell crater with a man he has killed; the first meeting of the recruits and the veterans; infantrymen being mowed down to machine-gun visual rhythms; a moonlight swim with French farm girls; Ayre’s pacifist speech to his astonished schoolmates; and the final shot of the soldier’s hand reaching for a fatal butterfly.

Critique: All Quiet on the Western Front is the most famous anti-war film ever made. Adapted from Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, it focuses on a group of German teenagers who excitedly sign up to fight for their country in World War One after hearing their teacher speak enthusiastically for the cause. The boys’ enthusiasm however soon vanishes when they come face to face with the reality of warfare. Bombings, gas attacks and hand-to-hand combat destroy any romantic views that might linger in their minds. On the Western front, death is almost obligatory.

An acknowledged masterwork, this film has over the years retained almost all of its potency. It works particularly well on the human level, transcending cultures and generations with its all-powerful pacifist message. Lewis Milestone’s direction is very effective and the photography is simply unforgettable. The battle scenes are gruesomely realistic; nothing is glossed over.

A profoundly moving picture, All Quiet is required viewing for every single human being, especially those who still cling to the belief: “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” (It is sweet and meet to die for one’s country. Sweet! and decorous!)

Edinburgh University Film Society
Review by Stephen Townsend
Taken from EUFS Programme 1992-93

My thoughts: I watched this movie again soon after my brother went to fight in Iraq. It prompted me to ask myself, “Should I really support a war that could kill my brother, and will kill many others, for the sake of imperialism? The message of this movie is still as relevant today as it was in 1930. Sadly, it just proves we haven’t learned anything since.