"All Quiet On The Western Front"

Title: "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Director: Lewis Milestone
Producer: Carl Laemmie Jr.
Editing: Edgar Adams
Composer: David Brokeman
Starring:
- Louis Wolheim as Stanislaus Katczinsky
- Lew Ayres as Paul Baumer

Plot and Critical Review: If you and I went to the cinema and saw "All Quiet..." without understanding when the film was made and to what end we'd probably walk out satisfied buy saying "nothing new." We'd be right. But we are intelligent people with the knowledge that "All Quiet on the Western Front" is one of the movies that causes people to say "nothing new" when they go and see films like "The Thin Red Line", "Black Hawk Down", and "Saving Private Ryan." This film was the first from Universal Studio's to win Best Picture and was the first anti-war war film to be awarded that great prize. It was one of the first films to employ vast quantities of extras (at least 2,000 used here) and shoot combat "in the trenches" instead of from a distance on a tripod. To this day it remains exalted in many "Top 100" lists and is internationally acclaimed as a film which is set in the foundation of all motion picture making. Although it is deserving of many paragraphs of technical praise there is also a telling and timeless plot which sustains the emotion of the piece; making it a truly timeless classic.

"This story is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war..."

Those steady words hang on-screen at the very beginning of the film. At once the intention of the work is made clear to us and, for those of us who understand the personal and political direction of the piece, we know that we are in for something unique. The move follows a group of German boys (young men at best, the oldest being no older than 18) who, when stirred by their professor, enlist in the army and are sent off to do battle in the first World War. Here's a portion of what that professor said that so enlivened those boys:

"[to class] You are the life of the Fatherland, you boys - you are the iron men of Germany. You are the gay heroes who will repulse the enemy when you are called to do so. It is not for me to suggest that any of you should stand up and offer to defend his country. But I wonder if such a thing is going through your heads. I know that in one of the schools, the boys have risen up in the classroom and enlisted in a mass. If such a thing should happen here, you would not blame me for a feeling of pride. Perhaps some will say that you should not be allowed to go yet - that you have homes, mothers, fathers, that you should not be torn away by your fathers so forgetful of their fatherland...by your mothers so weak that they cannot send a son to defend the land which gave them birth. And after all, is a little experience such a bad thing for a boy? Is the honor of wearing a uniform something from which we should run? And if our young ladies glory in those who wear it, is that anything to be ashamed of?...To be foremost in battle is a virtue not to be despised. I believe it will be a quick war. There will be few losses. But if losses there must be, then let us remember the Latin phrase which must have come to the lips of many a Roman when he stood in battle in a foreign land:...Sweet and fitting it is to die for the Fatherland...Now our country calls. The Fatherland needs leaders. Personal ambition must be thrown aside in the one great sacrifice for our country. Here is a glorious beginning to your lives. The field of honor calls you."

One might easily compare this speech to that of George C. Scott portraying General George Patton at the beginning of "Patton." It is stirring, inspirational, and powerful. Off they run, full of life and joy. Off they run straight into the arms of Himmelstoss, their training instructor. In a montage that no doubt inspired Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" the young men are transformed into soldiers, true servants of the Fatherland. They come to hate Himmelstoss but begin to truly love and cherish one another. They are brothers, now, and ready to do battle. They're sent to the front where they are thought of as little more than replacement soldiers; young and foolish. And then there is war.

Scenes graphically ahead of their time display the brutality of war; the bitterness of defeat and the anguish of lost. Images of men being gunned down and severed hands dangling from barbed wire are still in my mind. Somehow the absence of artificial blood and the complete absence of color give the battle sequences a new feel; a more chilling feel. In an age when acting was paramount and special effects a new adventure the human response was expected to be the primary vehicle of communication. In this film it does not fail.

My Rating: 8/10

The "Reel Revelation": "Onward!"

In almost every war film there is at least one moment in which the protagonist (or another character of importance) asks the great war-time question, "Why am I fighting?" or "What are we fighting for?" In most movies an attempt is made to satisfy the query but there are times when the question is never answered. When considering the sacrifice our own country has made in armed conflict, we are quick to ask the same question(s) and, if we don't receive a satisfactory question, we do what all curious creatures do...ask more questions. Are all wars pointless? Why must a man die so another man can live in freedom? They called the first World War "Great"...why?

All of those questions cannot be answered here, i'm afraid. I am young, a fool, and will not presume to the any answers to satisfy such pondering. But still, we must go on, we must move forward, we must press onward, even in the face of such loss and confusion.

Let us not forget that we too are soldiers in a war "Greater" than any that has ever been waged; and this war has been raging upon the Earth and in the Heavens for quite some time. We are enlisted in the army of God, sent out to do great battle upon the Earth. You can look at his however you please. Perhaps you don't like the idea of being a "soldier" (or more accurately a combatant), and that's alright. Some of you may take great pride in being entrusted with weapons of might and power, trained in skillful warfare, and sent out upon the field of battle to vanquish the enemy. No matter how we perceive it, we are in the middle of a great conflict against great forces. Our enemy, the Devil, is always at work. He does not rest. He does not sleep and he does not retreat. He is a real threat. But our weapons are stronger than any of his own, and our army greater, more mighty, more powerful. And the Captain of our Host is Jesus, the Son of God. If we stand beside him in battle, what do we have to fear?

Lent is a season of humility, contemplation, and devotion to God. But still the battle rages within. Let us draw near to the heart of Christ, and to the power of God in the Holy Spirit. Let us take up our arms (whatever they may be) and go out each day to do battle against the shifting shadows of sin in this world. The victory is ours already; but we must hold our ground until this temporal conflict is at an end.

See you tomorrow - E.T.