All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) - Review & Analysis of the Film

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) is one of the most influential war films about World War 1 that has ever been created. The film is based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque who is a German veteran of the war. The movie does a great job for its time in depicting what life was like during the war and how the war was actually fought during its many battles. It is a movie that should be watched by all people so that they can fully understand what soldier life is really like during war. People's beliefs on war may very well change after watching the film or reading the novel. The movie is focused on depicting the horrors of battles and how the soldiers were shunned away from their routine German civilian life when serving in the war. The film was directed by Lewis Milestone and has won Oscar awards for its brilliance in depicting the scenes of war.

As the film begins the German school boys are nearly coaxed into listing to fight in the war by their teacher and are soon off to fight. The movie does a great a job with pacing the steps leading from normal life to enlisting to skirmishing in the trenches. The film depicts what life was like in war very well including scenes of warfare in the trenches, living and coping with rats, going without food, forgetting about civilian life, and most likely being shell-shocked after the war.

The acting in the movie is actually quite advanced for the film's production date. It stared Louis Wolheim, Lew Ayres, John Wray, Arnold Lucy and Ben Alexander to fulfill the major roles of the film. It won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1930, and an Academy Award for Directing in the same year (Wikipedia). It was the first film in history that was an all-talking non-musical to receive a Best Picture Oscar. These are all quite the achievements and awards for a movie that was based around a sour subject in many people's minds. A television version was also produced in 1979 that was produced in full color. The surprising thing is that many people believe that the film in 1930 was actually better and is perceived to have a morelasting effect of trench warfarethan the film's recreation nearly 40 years later.

The film cost Universal Productions $1,200,000 which is a tidy sum of money for being created in the 1930s (Wikipedia). It cost that much because of how much immense detail they put into the storyline, dialog, and their actors. It is hard to fully appreciate or understand everything that is contained in the film because it can seem that the film is outdated. The best approach when watching the film is to have an open-mind and an imagination as if you are watching the film at its sneak preview in 1930. This way you will be able to have a full appreciation and understand of the movie's message and a deep understand of what people perceived war to be during that time. Surprisingly it is nearly the same as war in the 21^st century with the exception of our many technological advances. Their investment was a wise one considering the fact that if we talk about the film this much then you have to consider how popular it was when it was made and the years directly following its debut.

Shockingly the directors and production team barred no details from making their way inside the film. There are many hospital scenes in the movie as well as a few deaths from fighting. Some scenes suggest amputations taking place which make you cringe and squirm right in your seat. Many scenes also show how horrendous the trench fighting really was with the constant sounds of machine gun shells hitting the ground and explosions of torpedoes that did not discriminate against any race on the battlefield. If anyone thinks war is a fun and exciting activity to participate in they may very well form second thoughts after watching this film. (Which is also what the film's meaning of production is all about; it was produced to contain an anti-war message.)

To my astonishment the film makers were still able to tie in comedy with the action and drama pieces of the film. The scene that depicts the most comedy is when three German soldiers swim across the river to the French shore while carrying bread and sausages to three French farm girls. It also shows that soldiers in war are just like everyday people in our World and want to have fun like everyone else. It shows that if they never got a break from the daily routine of war than they may have been driven legally insane! (Many soldiers that survived the war were perceived to be shocked by the war and lives were forever ruined by their experiences.) At the end of the film Baumer is reaching for a butterfly with his left hand. When he is shot a second or two later, they show his right hand! Whether or not this was an intended twist for the film's conclusion, it is something that makes you remember the film and keeps it in your mind even after watching it just once. Also little quirks like this are what makes people remember the film, which also ensures that they stick the important details of war in their mind as well.

The film was received in many different ways, some were open to it and some were very closed off to it. It was the first film to be banned in Australia which was done from 1928 to 1941. This was one of the many films that have been banned in Australia by the Chief Censor Creswell O'Reilly. Governments did not want their citizens to be educated about what the war really entailed (Wikipedia). They wanted to keep their nation in a state of mind that allowed them to use them for war whenever they deemed it would be necessary. At the other side of the spectrum, the film has been selected by the United States National Film Registry for preservation. This proves that the film is of up most significance in the eyes of our country. Now all of the prior bans of the film have been lifted and every person has a chance to see the powerful and horrifying film.

The film is based off an earlier novel authored by Erich Maria Remarque, which was also received in a similar manner as the film. Adolph Hitler was furious when the book was released thus he had ordered the book to be banned and destroyed in Germany. It would remain banned for the entire Nazi dominance. His banning shows how much power the film was thought to have on the influence of young potential soldiers' minds and is most likely the main cause for its banning.

The film has even been noted by many reviewers as one of if not the best war films ever produced. Many reviewers recommend that the film be seen by all teenage boys in all countries to educate them on what war really can be like. I personally recommend that teenage boys as well as girls see this film during their high school history classes. It would supplement their history class with actual experiences from the war instead of bland text that they may read from their text books. With their new found experiences they may give more credit to what people went through during the war after watching the film.

All Quiet on the Western Front does a marvelous job depicting what soldier and civilian life was like during the war. It is one of the most powerful anti-war films ever created in the history of war. The film is quite advanced for its time of production and is watched by many different demographics even in the 21^st century. It is a film that portrays war life in a straightforward manner by showing hospital scenes with amputations, people dieing in battle, families wanting their son back at home, and general civilian life. It is important that the film was created because it may very well open the option of peace to the world as a more viable option. Every living person on this planet should go and watch the film and I believe the majority of viewers will develop general opinions of the film that correlates with my thoughts and opinion. All Quiet on the Western Front is a mind-blowing piece of work that fully describes the life of soldiers and civilians during the First World War.