Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Moritz Klaus, Aaron Hilmer, Adrian Grünewald, Thibault de Montalembert, Edin Hasanovic, Devid Striesow and Daniel Brühl
A domestic adaptation of the German wartime book of the same name. This time, we experience the horrors of World War One through the eyes of young German soldiers on the frontline...
1917. World War One ravages Europe in the battle between German and Allied forces. Young German Paul Bäumer (Kammerer) and his friends Albert (Hilmer), Franz (Klaus) and Ludwig (Grünewald) enlist with the drive to serve their country and become heroes of the battle.
It doesn't take long however for Paul and his friends to experience the true nature of war and the horror of the European frontline. Trench warfare dominates the battle, and the see first hand the horror of war, and the losses it serves on both sides of conflict.
Yet the German friends vow to serve until the end, taking part in numerous missions to help advance the war effort, while political powers behind the scenes try to find a peaceful resolution. But war is cruel, and the friends will never be the same again...
Most famous as an American adaptation of the 1928 German book 'Im Westen nichts Neues' by Erich Maria Remarque, we finally get an authentic re-telling from the German side, thanks to producer and director Edward Berger. A full cast of German stars and crew behind the scenes make this fully immersive, harrowing and powerful in equal measure. This is no small thanks to actually having an international film with a German cast - no American or English stars with accents here.
The horror of war is never lost when a film such as this comes along. We've seen the genre explored many times before, but whether the production be grand or small, the message is never lost. Here, however, it's wonderfully refreshing to see that message from the German perspective during World War One. Often those unseen "villains" of war movies, now we are starkly reminded these young men are cut from the same cloth as the Allied forces. Young men who want to serve their country; revelling in the propaganda of glory, making a difference and coming back alive with honour and stories to tell. MIllions upon millions of these young men never made it home.
The trench warfare is barbaric, brutal but somehow humane when we see it through the eyes of young Felix Kammerer and his friends Moritz Klaus and Aaron Himler. They are scared; fighting a war they don't understand and just want to get home.
These youths are spurred on by their devotion to each other and the high powers above them, all who fight the war in offices and estates away from the front line. We see both war efforts here, and the toll it takes on all who make the difficult decisions. Yet we also see the efforts to raise moral, and seeing how these young men keep themselves sane whilst serving. Even Daniel Brühl lends his acting talent to the back-burning political story, and also as producer, showing a true passion for showing the German side to a story often seen through just Western eyes.
The bombastic, bold and imposing score from Volker Bertelmann keep us on the edge of our seat, reminding us that is war and we are watching a military force in action. Even in the times of solace and reflection and hope, the undercurrent of despair and pain echoes through the strings and woodwind instruments. Couple this with the gorgeous cinematography from James Friend who captures the desolate, cold and somehow beautiful countryside and towns that the war rages across, it's a stunning experience.
Our leads and supporting cast give powerful performances, and you can see how the production around them pushes each actor to immerse themselves in the story and action. It serves up the human story more than just action and battles. The German officers are faced with daunting explorations of abandoned hamlets looking for resources, or being lookouts at night time.
These missions give us time with the youths and let us see their inexperience and desire to do good. It also adds to the haunting atmosphere and tension, never knowing if and when something will happen out of the blue. Explosions are ominous in the distance, and you know it's a creeping fear coming their way. Close quarter battles are short and sharp; debris, bodies and bullets ripping across a dank screen of mud, blood or smoke. A stand-out trench battle involving Allied tanks is up there with the best of wartime action sequences.
The attention to detail and immersion from Berger and the crew is brilliant and brutal, and as the credits roll the message has been perfectly told in the 2hr 15min run-tine.
It's a story about humanity and horror; how war was just as much a nightmare for German soldiers as it was for the Allied troops. You can feel the cold, the fear, the tension - a powerful war film that is one of the best to come from Germany (and the industry as a whole) in recent years.
'All Quiet On The Western Front' is an Amusement Park production
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