Review of All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) by Kylie P — 19 Jun 2009

All Quiet on the Western Front is as powerful as it is because it broaches and utilizes many controversial aspects. Others might criticize the film's datedness, attributing its perceived quaintness and time capsule quality to the fact that it predates the atrocities of even World War II and the future beyond. Yet, it is precisely this quality that makes the film intensely more resonant than any other element, a quality that lends a spookiness to the proceedings because modern viewers know what history produced. Consider the stroke of genius in telling the story from the German perspective; after all, they led the Axis powers into World War I and later produced one of history's greatest tyrants, but the soldiers that fought for their side were naive young men just like those in any other army that fought in the Great War or other wars before or since. The acting ensemble was also superb; they were a bit "theatrical" (what does one expect for 1930), but they were also unadulterated in their performances and portrayls of the fear, anguish, guilt, and other emotions brought on in a war.

In fact, it's the realism of this piece that is its single most impressive element. The battle scenes are actually quite intense and so creatively filmed. Most impressive was the cinematography and inventive uses of lighting and sound to make the atmosphere of battle so real, so palpable. This film should stand up as a testament of pioneering filmmaking.

Now, granted, the film isn't perfect. Aside from its eighty years of age, it's nearly three hours long and drags tangibly in spots. Some of the acting and written dialogue is really very cheesy too, but this is a film from the early days of talkies, so some forgiveness should be owed the picture.

The ending is perfection, though. It was another brilliant stroke of genius on the director's part and all at once encapsulated the themes of the story in the loss of innocence and contrast of the beauty of life to the ugliness brought on by war (and resulting death). The ending should rank amongst the best film endings in history.