All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
Time: 2h 28mins
Director: Edward Berger
Quick Summary: A young German soldier's terrifying experiences and distress on the Western Front during World War I.
Depressing, realistic, tense and incredibly moving. Such a stunning film about the harsh reality of World War I.
So I did find this incredibly slow and difficult to get into at first for the first 40 minutes. It felt a little bit all over the place and wasn't really sure how to find its feet for a while. The first characters that were introduced as well I just didn't have time to like them as they didn't really get any character development, or get anything to feel sorry for them. But once it hit the halfway mark, I was fully invested.
This does not glamourise war at all, in fact, this is pretty much an Anti-war statement more than anything. It shows the harsh and brutal reality of what soldiers went through. It rips away the propaganda and romanticism that were shown to the naive younger generation during the time and shoves them straight into pure hell. They're constantly thrown straight into the pit of war that chews them right up, only to spit them out and make them go through it all over again. This is one of the most brutal depictions, but more importantly most truthful depictions of war.
There is minimal score aside from ambience or what has become incredibly iconic to this, this sound that repeats throughout the film. Three blaring horns that go fully through you. It hits deep in the chest, which works incredibly well for this since it amplifies that feeling of dread you get while watching this.
Now really, there isn't much of a story. It's just war. But that's the point. You watch as you follow the main lead through this hell. His spirit is broken multiple times as reality sinks in, despair, regaining humanity and living with his actions, regret, and momentary hope. It's harsh, even when people die, this treats it as it was. Just another day in the war. You feel the terror they feel.
The cinematography is stunning and visually pleasing to watch. Everything is dull and dark. There are a lot of long landscape shots which capture everything. From the quiet forests to the hectic war zones. In some of the quieter scenes, that's all this film needed to express things. Even if there was no dialogue, you knew exactly what feelings were being felt, or what was happening.
Honestly, this is a good film that portrays what war is actually like and knows how to hit hard. The performances were good and eventually, it developed the right characters throughout the film so that certain events really hit the emotional chords. There were a few scenes that certainly caused some upset, or shock with me but that is only because we get a few moments of calm and hope given to these characters that created a really nice balance to the brutality of this film.
If you like war films, I highly recommend this. If you're new to war films, I highly recommend this. A brilliant film, even with it's slow start.
9/10
"What is a soldier without war?"
"My son killed in the war. He doesn't feel any honour."
"I'm afraid of what's about to come.
Don't be."
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