The main objective of my paper is to compare the visual and literary adaptations of All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque and explore why it is considered an anti-war work.
Here the focus does not necessarily lie on the historical accuracy of both the novel and the film, although I will briefly comment on that. Instead, I will delve into the elements used by the author, as well as the movie directors, writers, and producers, to show how the soldiers were chewed up by the ruthlessness of war and how meaningless the sacrifice of the individual often times was. To accomplish this, I will examine the differences as well as the similarities between the movie and the book.
So far, there has not been specific research on the movie, simply because it is relatively new. However, there is a large amount of secondary literature and articles about the novel and the psychological underpinnings of anti-war media.
Ultimately my paper strives to merge already existing knowledge obtained from various sources with my own interpretation of the work and present a comprehensive analysis.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Biography of the Author
3. Storyline
3.1 Plot Summary
3.2 Differences and Similarities in the Screenplay Adaptation
4. Scenical Analysis Based on Three Different Criteria Typical for Anti-war Media
4.1 The Machinery of War
4.1.1 The Machinery of War as Depicted in the Novel
4.1.2 The Machinery of War as Depicted in the Film
4.2 The Toll on the Young Soldiers’ Mental Health
4.2.1 The Toll on the Young Soldiers‘ Mental Health as Depicted in the Novel
4.2.2 The Toll on the Young Soldiers’ Mental Health as Depicted in the Film
4.3 The Brutality of Battle
4.3.1 The Brutality of Battle as Depicted in the Novel
4.3.2 The Brutality of Battle as Depicted in the Film
5. Conclusion
Appendix
Bibliography
1. Introduction
“Il n’existe pas de film anti-guerre“ 1,2, is a quote often attributed to the late filmmaker Francois Truffaut. And even though this statement can be understood in various ways, it is generally accepted that Truffaut implied that when films depict the excitement and adventure of warfare, along with the bonds formed between soldiers, they inevitably sanitize and glamorize war3.
Why then have I chosen to characterize All Quiet on the Western Front as a representative example of anti-war film and literature within this paper? To dissolve this just-created paradox, one has to (re-)define the denotation of the term ‘anti-war film‘ first. For Dennis Rothermel, a Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at California State University, who has deep expertise in the field of anti-war cinema, they must give the audience a multifaced perspective on the grim realities of warfare. “The random infliction of violent death, abject terror,“4 as well as “heinousness as a norm of behavior“5, are considered essential elements for an anti-war film by him. In many films, this translates into a costly, painful, and horrific presentation. The important point is that they are still being seen as important and necessary.
In the film‘s underlying novel, which is predominantly considered anti-war, the author Erich Maria Remarque managed to change the image and how the rest of the world perceived war after showing them battle and life at the front from a new perspective, creating one of the first anti-war classics.6 Although the film and the book follow different stylistic approaches, criteria typical of the anti-war genre can be identified in both works.
My work aims to present and analyze the underlying common criteria of the genre and to showcase their stylistic and content-related implementation in the novel versus the film. Furthermore, I aim to explain the aspects responsible for the significant divergence in the interpretations of this work, emphasizing its profound anti-war message and its effect on the reader and/or viewer.
2. Biography of the Author
Erich Maria Remarque (org. Erich Paul Kramer) was born on June 22, 1898, in Osnabruck, Germany, into a lower-middle-class family. After attending a private Catholic high school he enrolled in a teacher training school.
Following military training, he experienced his first front-line action on June 27th, 1917, after being drafted into the German army on November 16th, 1916. Only two weeks later, on July 30th, 1917, he was wounded and admitted to a field hospital. Remarque was able to remain in Germany for over a year before being transferred back to the Western Front. When he arrived on November 12th, 1918, he was lucky enough to get there after the armistice had already gone into full effect on November 11th, the day prior.7
Despite missing the war's final weeks, his experiences in 1917 had left their marks on the young man and inspired his renowned novel All Quiet on the Western Front, first published in the Vossische Zeitung, a German newspaper.
The constant threat of enemy fire, the appalling living conditions, and the soldiers' life-long trauma are all recurring themes. People were fascinated by his story. Only shortly after its release, the book was translated into over 26 languages, and within months nearly half a million copies were sold in Germany alone. In December of 1930, the American movie adaptation was screened in a German movie theater for the first time. After having the screening license withdrawn only shortly after, All Quiet on the Western Front was completely banned with Hitler’s rise to power in 1933.8 9, Remarque was forced to leave Germany and move to Switzerland, and later the United States, to avoid the Nazis. He went on to write several more novels and screenplays, many of which dealt with war and its effects on society.
Apart from being a fantastic author, he was also an avid advocate for peace and human rights. His ultimate goal was “to describe history as accurately as possible, without a presentation of possible solutions. Not nations nor religion mattered to him, but the freedom and the dignity of any individual human being.“10
3. Storyline
This chapter aims to give the reader a brief overview of the plot in the original novel11 as well as to illustrate which scenes have been modified, added, or removed for the latest screenplay adaptation.
3.1 Plot Summary
In the 1929 novel, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque the First World War is described from the perspective of the young soldier Paul Baumer. He and his classmates volunteer for military service at the front at the urging of their teacher Kantorek. Paul's classmates and friends are introduced by name in the course of the war: Albert Kropp, Leer, Muller, Franz Kemmerich, Joseph Behm, and Wolf.
The group completes ten weeks of training, during which they are harassed by Sergeant HimmelstoB. Wolf dies of pneumonia and Behm is the first to fall in the war. Both of them only appear in Baumer’s memories. Paul and his comrades are part of the second company under the company commander Lieutenant Bertinck. In the troop they befriend Tjaden, Haie Westhus, Detering and the experienced soldier Stanislaus Katczinsky (Kat).
The actual plot begins when Paul's company returns from the front to the barracks camp and receives double rations because almost half of the soldiers have fallen at the front. Paul visits his wounded friend Kemmerich in the military hospital, who gives him his boots for Muller before he dies.
The soldiers are sent near the front to dig trenches and witness the death throes of wounded horses and a gas attack. On the way back, they are caught in a heavy artillery attack and take shelter in a cemetery, before having to return to the front for an offensive. Described are the weapons, the killing, the handling of recruits who suffer from front-line fever, and the decomposing of corpses that cannot be carried away or buried.
Shortly afterward they seek a brief moment of distraction in a love affair with French women who visit them secretly at night.
Paul is given home leave, during which he learns that his mother is seriously ill. He feels a stranger in his homeland and returns to the front. After the leave, Baumer has to attend another course at the Heidelager, which is located right next to a prisoner-of-war camp. Baumer seeks contact with the Russian prisoners, many of whom are suffering from hunger, and shares food and cigarettes with them.
During a patrol, Paul gets lost in a funnel on the enemy side and stabs a French soldier, which he subsequently regrets, as he realizes that the enemy could have been his brother.
The troop is given the task of guarding a deserted village where Paul and Kropp are wounded and sent to the military hospital. Paul is given recuperation leave but has to return to the front only a few weeks later.
In the autumn of 1918, almost all his friends had died and Paul hopes for an imminent armistice, which he heard about through rumors spread in the army.
Only a month before the end of the war, in October 1918, he is fatally shot. The war ends calmly and quietly, and the army report announces that there is "nothing [...] new on the western front"12, the original title of the book.
3.2 Differences and Similarities in the Screenplay Adaptation
Contrary to the book, which opens in a classroom setting where Kantorek, the fervently nationalistic teacher urges Paul and his classmates to join the war effort, the movie opens with a gripping montage that gives the viewer a first impression of the ongoing conflict on the Western Front. This scene displays the stark contrast between the horrors prominent at the front and the promises of glory and pride made by Kantorek who we get a brief impression of in a shortly following scene. Further on in the novel, he evolves into a moral antagonist, emblematic of how the young soldiers are oftentimes treated by the German intelligentsia. Unlike the book, the film places a greater emphasis on the remorseless manipulation of authority figures connected to war itself. This is showcased through the detachment of high-ranking officers, like General Friedrichs, from the grim environment at the front.
Due to the fact that the movie centers on Paul’s immediate experience in the trenches, the eightday home leave, during which he returns to his village and family, is omitted from the film. Throughout his stay, Paul realizes that the people around him have become strangers to him and that his mother is suffering from cancer. In a particularly moving scene, Remarque portrays him in his childhood bedroom as the loss of innocence and the irrevocable transformation caused by the trauma of war manifest themselves. In this moment Paul realizes that war has changed his identity as well as his aspirations and realizes there was no way of reclaiming either.
About an hour into the movie a new character, Matthias Erzberger a real-life German politician, is introduced. This subplot was previously not included in the story. In Netflix’s adaptation, he attempts to negotiate a ceasefire with the French General Staff, who is being less than willing to compromise. Here Edward Berger, the director of All Quiet on the Western Front, illustrates the German army collapsing in 1918 and the pointlessness of the war continuing even though the outcome will remain the same no matter who ‘wins’ the final battles. In the novel, the armistice is not mentioned until the final pages and is only spoken of through army rumor.
When comparing both forms of media one can also see a divergence in the timing. Contrary to the novel’s timeline which is more spread out, the film compresses its timeline to focus on the latter stages of war. Some scenes are modified or omitted to fit into this timeline while still maintaining the intensity and horror of war. For example, the shocking graveyard shelling during which Paul and his friends are forced to take cover amongst decomposing remains and coffins.
In the novel, Paul’s death occurs suddenly in the month preceding the armistice. A quiet departure from the tumultuous frontlines. In the movie, his demise is stylized and dramatized to a greater extent. Only seconds before the armistice comes into effect he is stabbed in the back by a French soldier, dying as the ones around him are celebrating the end of war. As Alex Ross suggests it would be plausible, that with this scene “Berger want[ed] to remind audiences of the cowardly lies told by the defeated German generals as they tried to shift blame onto left-wing politicians“13 and reference the ‘stab-in-the-back‘ myth.
In addition to the above-mentioned, there have been a few more minor changes made, which I will not be discussing in detail since they do not influence the course of the story.
4. Scenical Analysis Based on Three Different Criteria Typical for Anti-war Media
In the following chapter, I am going to analyze and compare the literary adaptation with the visual adaptation based on different criteria typical for Anti-war media14. The subchapters all refer to key themes from the novel and the movie and are sorted in the chronological order of the movie scenes. The main objective of this chapter is to delve into the elements used by the author, as well as the movie directors, writers, and producers to visualize the bleak reality of the World War 1.
Even though both anti-war movies and anti-war novels share the same goal of discouraging war and promoting peace, they use different artistic mediums to achieve this aim.
Movies are prone to rely on visual and auditory elements to evoke a strong emotional response in the viewer, fostering a desire for peace. Novels lean on storytelling and narrative techniques for deeply exploring the psyche of the protagonists, intending to encourage the reader to critically reflect on the subject of war.15
For this reason, the movie scenes I have selected do not correspond to the ones I chose from the novel and are exemplary for the underlying criteria. To give a better overview of other scenes dealing with the same criteria I attached a table in the appendix.
4.1 The Machinery of War
In an interview Edward Berger stated that “the machinery of war and how [the soldiers] are chewed up in it [is] the big theme of the movie“16. It shows the vast and impersonal system behind battle and how the war is not necessarily confined to the trenches but extends to the offices of corporals and generals. To them, the soldiers are not individuals but rather small pawns in a giant game of chess, only serving one purpose and that is to fight the “enemy“. Consequently, the stark futility of the whole endeavor is highlighted.
4.1.1 The Machinery of War as depicted in the Novel
“You’ll all go, won’t you lads?“17 urges Kantorek, the headmaster of Paul and his friends during lengthy classes, pressuring the whole class of 20 teenagers to volunteer for the war. At that time the group of eighteen-year-olds still believed that figures like Kantorek genuinely cared for and guided them into adult life, into the future.18 However, they had to realize soon after that they had been betrayed by the older generation preaching to them about the glory of war. “While they (Kantorek and those like him) went on writing and making speeches, [Paul and his friends] saw field hospitals and dying men.“19 Kantorek‘s concern wasn't for his pupils but for winning the war, much like the Kaiser, as Kat reasoned during a discussion about the war's purpose: "all top-grade emperors need at least one war, otherwise they don’t get famous."20 Here the soldiers have to recognize once again, that the reason ordinary men have to fight each other in brutal battles is their governments and not the hatred towards the French or the patriotism for their fatherland they were indoctrinated with. In the book, Kantorek represents the power elites of the time. He serves as their extended arm and is responsible for the constant supply and maintenance of the Machinery. Through the manipulation of young students, he manages to excite enough euphoria in them to participate enthusiastically in the war.
At the beginning of the novel B Company, which Paul and his friends are part of, counted 150 men. Through the metaphor of shifting seasons from summer to autumn, Remarque skillfully illustrates the continual decline in the number of soldiers, ultimately leaving only 32 men behind.21 These numbers highlight how both countries were burning through soldiers. Sacrificing hundreds of men for gains as insignificant as capturing 100 yards that they'd lose again the next day.22
Just how futile every day seems to be is evident in the fact that the fighting would start almost every day at the same time “on the dot“23, similar to following a strict routine. Some days solely consist of machine gun fire in the direction of the enemy’s trench, rendering any offensive impossible. On other days, “attacks alternate with counter-attacks, and the dead pile up between the trenches in no man’s land.“24 Men are sourced and replaced as if they were simply ammunition, losing any sense of identity and individualism, slowly being stipped of any humanity remaining inside of them.
4.1.2 The Machinery of War as depicted in the Film
The opening scenes (00:02:08 - 00:08:24) of the movie promptly introduce the viewer to the battlefield. By beginning the movie with its inevitable end, the audience gets to witness the never-ending cycle every soldier at the front goes through. Each soldier’s death results in the repetition of fate for another one. Though these particular opening scenes are not included in the book and draw inspiration from smaller battles in the novel, they set the mood for the entire movie and serve as a prelude to Paul’s fate. The first scene begins high up in the sky using a blend of an establishing shot and an overhead shot. The camera descends gradually through the clouds towards the ground, revealing that what initially appeared to be an abstract painting are deceased soldiers strewn across the frozen ground after a recent battle. Similar to the landing of a bird, the camera glides over the corpses nearing the battlefield. The sounds of nature and the unhurried and smooth movements of the camera create an unusual sense of peace and tranquility. A nearby explosion sets an abrupt ending to the serenity and the viewer is thrust directly into a fierce fight in the German trenches, going one step back in the cycle.
By utilizing eye-level shots, the spectator gets the feeling of following the main character, Heinrich, navigating the chaotic trench and witnessing the death of a comrade. After he has to climb out of the trench and into the battle, the tracking shot ensures that the audience does not miss any real-time developments, such as countless soldiers getting shot around him. This illustrates how everybody at the front is just thrown into battle with no time to adapt and made use of like cannon fodder. When Heinrich has to hide behind a tree trunk the camera follows, crouching down with him, providing a close-up of his upper body. The entire experience of a grenade exploding, the thunderous sound, and the need to take cover, is furthermore supported by sound effects, with the sounds being muffled due to the explosion. Moments later Heinrich rises, starts running, and kills a French soldier using his spade as he goes. Only seconds later he is shot and the screen turns black. The viewer does not just witness Heinrich’s death, they experience it alongside him.
This scene is followed up by a montage of sobering symmetry, employed through establishing shots, overhead shots, and close-ups. It shows the logistics of how the uniform of the person who is thought to be the main character, the hero, is stripped off the dead body. After having served its one and only purpose it is discarded in a mass grave, in the same way one would get rid of a broken weapon. The uniform is sent to be washed and recycled to be delivered to the next recruit, who one day will share the universal fate and end up lying next to their predecessor. The shots, static and from diverse angles, preserve a sense of detachment, except during the moment the seamstress fixes the uniform. As the camera zooms in, the steady turning of the sewing machine becomes increasingly audible, morphing into the cadence of a machine gun before seamlessly transitioning into the hum of a dispatching car transporting the recycled uniforms. That way the cyclic nature of war is not only reflected in the recycling of garments but also in the pronounced sound effects of this scene. Every small step is planned and coordinated to perfection to keep this well-oiled machinery going, chewing up soldiers, money, and resources on the way. But as Kantorek, the headmaster of Paul and his friends, states in a scene following shortly after “modern war is like a game of chess. It is never about an individual soldier [and the] only care is for the entirety of the body.“25
4.2 The Toll on the Young Soldiers‘ Mental Health
War does not always end after an armistice is signed. Often soldiers carry the battles they fought home with them. Long after the last shot was fired the battle continues, sometimes a lifetime long. The war having left scars not visible to the human eye, but present nonetheless. Rendering a ‘normal‘ life impossible. This war trauma is a central theme in All Quiet on the Western Front, with moments of reflection not only in the book but also in the film.
4.2.1 The Toll on the Young Soldiers‘ Mental Health as depicted in the Novel
About a third into the book, the group of friends begins discussing their post-war plans, during a slow afternoon in the barracks. Contemplating whether or not they should return to school for further studies, after having realized that their prior education had not prepared them for the harsh realities of war. To them, nothing seems serious or important anymore after experiencing life at the front at only eighteen years old. The older soldiers could return to their previous occupations, while Paul and his friends, having never worked a day in their lives, were faced by an unpredictable future, inducing anxiety.
To cope with their uncertainty and despair, they fantasize about a peaceful future where they accomplish extraodinary things, where it would be all worthwhile in the end. Additionally, they have to face the fact that they cannot simply ‘forget‘ about the war; its impact would stay with them for the rest of their lives. Remarque conveys this inescapable sense of hopelessness by comparing “rifle fire“ and “hand grenades“ to something as casually removable as socks.26 Yet, it is not just their fate, it is the fate of an entire generation, which becomes evident by Paul’s use of the first person plural. A generation ruined by war, that amid their transformative years was forced into battle. They “were eighteen years old, and [they] had just begun to love the world and to love being in it; but [they] had to shoot at it, [with] the first shell to land [going] straight for [their] hearts.“27 Lost in the remnants of this world, they start to seek refugee in war itself, “fleeing from [them]selves, from [their] lives.“28 To experience the horrors of war “ha[d] ruined [them] for everything“29 and there was no turning back.
After the war, they will not only return physically scarred but with an enduring mark on their minds. About 20% of them (the number of unreported cases is difficult to determine) will suffer from Shell Shock, a term used to describe a form of PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) experienced by soldiers after WW1. It was a reaction to the intensity of the bombardment and fighting, with the symptoms including insomnia, claustrophobia, flashbacks, an inability to speak, walk or remember, developing violent tendencies, and experiencing feelings of social isolation or alienation.30
4.2.2 The Toll on the Young Soldiers‘ Mental Health as depicted in the Film
During the ‘Feuertaufe‘31, the first battle of Paul and his friends, the soldiers find themselves seeking cover in a bunker amid heavy shelling (00:24:40 - 00:28:00). As it is the first attack the young recruits are facing, they have to cope with the fundamental irony that battle is worse than expected. The directors drew direct inspiration from the book, with the only difference being that the shelling originally did not only last around 30 minutes but multiple days. The scene aims to give the viewer a rough idea of how it must have felt to be trapped in a bunker feeling as if you “were sitting in your own grave, just waiting for someone to bury [you]“32, as Paul describes it in the novel.
The scene commences outside during Paul and Franz’s night shift, when suddenly a shell hits near their trench, prompting all the soldiers to rush into the bunker. After that, it is as if it were raining shells. The scene maintains dark and cool tones, with the only light coming from the moon. As Paul starts running the camera follows him with a shaky tracking shot, capturing only his upper body, giving the watcher the experience of following him through the trenches. The mood is further intensified by the dramatic music playing in the background, occasionally interrupted by the explosions.
Even though the music ceases as soon as Paul enters the bunker, the shelling persists, now sounding like a very heavy thunderstorm. The cramped space is filled with soldiers sitting shoulder to shoulder, bathed in the warm glow of lamps that cast dramatic shadows across their faces, intensifying the raw emotions captured in close-up shots. Next to Paul, Kremmerich starts crying out of fear and desperation - yearning for his mother and home, saying out loud what everybody is thinking. The older soldiers manage to remain more composed and explain the situation to the young recruits. One young soldier, suffering from claustrophobia, wants to leave but is held up by an older soldier warning him of certain death outside. Somehow, the young soldier manages to escape, only to be killed by a shell in front of the bunker seconds later; triggering an outbreak of panic. The soldiers‘ fearful screams blend with the sound of the shelling and the collapsing bunker as everyone rushes out, while instructions are shouted. On the right, a soldier repeatedly hits his head against the wall, being overwhelmed with panic and fear. The camera cuts frequently, simulating the desperate search for an escape route, while being filled with tension. As the bunker finally collapses, the camera remains inside, the view gradually being obscured to the point of complete darkness. Light only reemerges when Paul wakes up.
The thunderous sound of shells hitting near the bunker, the earth shaking under the impact. Being in a small, confined space with 20 other men, knowing the bunker could collapse any moment. It is easy to imagine why soldiers got claustrophobic or went straight-up insane in these situations. The small size of the bunker seems to create an environment in which fear blossoms and terror propagates easily, manifesting in desperate acts. With no chance to process their emotions due to their suffering from permanent stress, soldiers will remember moments like these for the rest of their lives.
4.3 The Brutality of Battle
Neither Remarque nor Berger spare the reader and/or the viewer from the unimaginable violence and existential adversity addressed in the work. Both of them graphically depict weapons of horrific variety, which most of the time caused terrible and haunting patterns of injury. Often not bringing immediate death with them, but long lonely days of suffering.
4.3.1 The Brutality of Battle as depicted in the Novel
On their way back to the trucks, after being on wiring duty all night, Paul and the rest of his unit are caught in a heavy shell fire. As they are no longer near any trenches, they must take refuge in the nearby cemetery's mass graves. The shells are ripping the coffins apart around them, forcing the soldiers to confront the horrors inside. With the enumeration “the wood disappears, splintered, shattered, smashed“33 the vast scale of the destruction becomes evident. Because of the severe shelling, the soldiers are unable to move without putting their lives in danger, and they desperately try to protect themselves with the dead bodies and coffins lying about them. Remarque uses the metaphor of a “storm tossed sea“ to illustrate the mercilessness and uncertainty of the attack. “It rocks and rages [and] dark things, darker than the night itself, rush upon [them] in great waves“34, plunging the soldiers into overwhelming fear due to the uncontrollable situation.
The horror continues to increase when they are now, in addition to the shells, also attacked with poisonous gas. Not every recruit realizes soon enough and the ones that were not told in time die quickly. When facing a gas attack, the psychological horror created by the uncertainty of whether or not the gas mask is airtight needs to be taken into account, since the first few minutes are crucial in determining the chance of survival. Paul describes the dying process he had witnessed in field hospitals before as “choking for days on end as [one] spew[s] up their burned out lungs.“35 As the shell fire picks up again “it’s as if it’s not the guns that are roaring; it’s as if the very earth is raging.“36 One coffin smashes down onto the arm of a young soldier, rendering him immediately unconscious due to the excruciating pain. Paul, Kat, and Albert then attempt to remove the coffin by opening it up and disposing the corpse, before breaking it apart. As they are still wearing their gas masks all of them are exhausted since their “lungs get strained [from] only hav[ing] stagnant, overheated, used-up air to breathe.“37 But eventually they are able to remove the masks and breathe freely again. In the aftermath of the shelling, they discover another young recruit whose hip joint has been damaged and who, if he survived the transfer to the field hospital, would never be able to walk again. But the results of a ‘regular‘ battle can be equally distressing. Soldiers are forced to “see men go on living with the top of their skull missing, [...] soldiers [...] running [...] on their splintering stumps to the next shell hole, [...] soldiers with their mouths missing, with lower jaws missing, with their faces missing“38 and worse.
Remarque excels in graphic and mercilessly haunting storytelling. Through Paul, the narrator, primarily adopting a first-person perspective, readers feel as though they are personally experiencing everything as him. This is particularly evident in the currents of thought about tactical action, such as when Paul engages in internal dialogue, sternly instructing himself that he “mustn’t faint“.39
By describing even small details with astonishing clarity, the reader has no choice but to follow him into this dark world of war, gaining the ability to get a small grasp of the vast horrors of war. He accomplishes this by frequently using juxtapositions when discussing the progression of battle or the artillery deployed. A great example can be found in chapter six: “Continuous fire, defensive fire, curtain fire, trench mortars, gas, tanks, machine-guns, hand-grenades [.] We watch how time disappears before our eyes [.] we run, we throw, we shoot, we kill, [.] we are weak and dulled, and the only thing that keeps us going is that there are even weaker, even more dulled, even more helpless men than us who look at us wide-eyed, and take us for gods who can sometimes outrun death himself.“40
4.3.2 The Brutality of Battle as depicted in the Film
One of the most harrowing scenes of the entire movie occurs when Paul has to witness his friend Albert being brutally killed by a group of French soldiers (01:17:14 - 01:20:20). The scene aims to illustrate the vast scale of battle and the merciless killing.
It begins with Paul regaining consciousness in the middle of the battlefield. The viewer sees a close-up of his face, almost as if lying opposite to him. Except for Paul’s breath, all background noises are muffled and barely audible. The view then shifts to from directly above, showing him sprawled out in the mud, utterly helpless and vulnerable. As he begins to slowly sit up, the camera tilts, mirroring the dizzy feeling Paul must be experiencing. While the battle sounds gradually intensify, he remains seated in the mud, seemingly overwhelmed by what is happening around him. The camera then cuts to Albert seeking cover behind a tank, desperately trying to defend himself. As he runs, he gets caught up in a group of French soldiers. Kneeling to beg for forgiveness and pleading not to be shot, the camera cuts back to Paul, who has to witnesses him, one of his closest friends, being burned alive by a flamethrower and shot in the back twice. While Albert is still alive, the camera frequently alternates between close-ups of Paul's face and Albert from Paul's point of view, capturing Paul's emotions. Kat notices Paul is still sitting in the mud, completely paralyzed as the French advance, and urges him to return to the trenches. As they leave the battlefield, sad music plays in the background. Inside the trench, the camera films close-ups of Paul gulping down the dirty water otherwise used to cool down the machine gun Kat is firing. While he is crying and grieving about having lost his comrade, they are instructed to pack up the machine gun and ammunition and retreat. The camera follows Paul in a shaky tracking shot as he tries to take everything with him. Giving him not a single second for reflection to properly mourn his friend and process his emotions.
The scene ends with an impressive overhead shot of the battlefield. No man’s land is dark and gray, with scattered fires burning, men running for cover, and small explosions mixed with the screaming of men blending with the main soundtrack, evoking a profound sense of discomfort. This last part of the scene vividly illustrates the massive scale of destruction and death after a single battle.
5. Conclusion
Contrary to what some people may believe after first reading or watching All Quiet on the Western Front, the story is not a pacifist diatribe - it is never pious and it never preaches.
Despite the book being claimed as one of the most influential anti-war works41, some critics contend that films “can only be as anti-war as their viewers already are“42, while potentially glamorizing or imbuing it with meaning, as a result of their inherent inclination to “provide semblances of answers in the form of narrative structure and emotional experience“43. Despite the fact that I hold the belief that the art of filmmaking hinges largely on one's proficiency as a director, it is imperative to recognize, that “great political film making can do more than help its audience to understand the political landscape differently“, it will “get under its audiences‘ skin and force it to feel, its own mistakes“44, ultimately reshaping their self-awareness.
In the case of Edward Berger's adaptation, I am genuinely impressed by how masterfully he translated Remarque's singular objective of conveying his wartime experiences with the precision of journalistic clarity onto the cinematic canvas. As well as Remarque he does so not with the intention of creating the ultimate anti-war work, but simply telling the story of the young soldier Paul Baumer who fought and fell in WW1. Which is why from my perspective, the latest adaptation undeniably qualifies as an anti-war film, excelling in portraying the deterrent effect through the underlying criteria such as the machinery of war, the impact on soldiers' mental health, and the brutality of battle with exceptional skill.
Yet, if you look closely you may even discover an intriguing psychological and anthropological approach hidden away in the story, or rather, this piece of history: People have always been pretty much the same. Remarque‘s narrative does not only teach us about the violence, hopelessness, horror, and death connected to war but is also an outstanding reflection on humanity. It makes the consumer value life more, think about the pursuit of peace, and remember the importance of compassion and empathy.
Ultimately All Quiet on the Western Front is a warning to the world. It reminds us of what we risk if we do not learn from history, yet it becomes evident that we are currently struggling to pay attention to its lessons. For millennia, humankind has been making the same mistakes over and over again. Trying to satisfy an insatiable desire for more - more wealth, more territory, more power. Despite our claims of advancement as a civilization, at our core, we remain remarkably unchanged. The stage for our struggles may have expanded, our weaponry become more dangerous and the casualties only higher.
Remarque was aware of that, and he wanted to share it with the rest of the world. And he did so by not denouncing war, but simply showing its irrationality in astonishing detail.
Appendix
The Plot in Context to WW1
The First World War started on July 28, 1914, lasted until November 11, 1918, and was one of the deadliest conflicts in human history, with an estimated 8.5 million soldiers dying in combat. It was fought between two major alliances: The Central Powers, which were formed by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire, and the Allied Powers, which included France, Britain, and Russia. After the signing of the armistice in November 1918, Germany was ultimately defeated.
The First World War is often referred to "as a war fought in trenches."45 Trench warfare is characterized by the construction of elaborate networks of trenches and fortifications along the front lines and was a defining feature of warfare on the Western Front. They stretched from the English Channel all the way to the Swiss Alps. Most of the time, they were constructed with sandbags, wooden planks, woven sticks, tangled barbed wire, or even just stinking mud. In the novel, Remarque describes "the trench [as] a world of its own, populated by grotesque creatures that have no other place to go. Rats swarm in the darkness, and lice infest [their] clothing. The mud is everywhere, oozing into [their] boots and weighing [them] down".46 Most of the time, soldiers did not leave their trenches to fight face to face with their enemy, that way, the only thing that was sometimes ‘conquered‘ from the enemy was food or alcohol, which was the reason for a lot of casualties. The life expectancy in Verdun, France was no more than two months.
The First World War is considered the first major war taking place after the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, which becomes obvious when you take a closer look at the introduction of new technologies that made this war particularly deadly, especially in the beginning when „military [...] leaders were slow to adapt their old-fashioned strategies and tactics to the new weapons of 1914."47 New ‘weapons‘ included poison gas, first used by the Germans in 1915, which was loaded into artillery shells and then shot into the enemy's trenches. Machine guns, tanks, and submarines were also extensively used and caused large casualties on both sides.
No soldier returned from war the same as he left. Soldiers who fought in the war were almost always severely psychologically affected. Many soldiers felt disillusioned and alienated from civilian society, as well as guilty and traumatized from what they witnessed and had done themselves on the battlefield.48 The term ‘shellshocked‘, which originates from the time ultimately after WW1, describes the type of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress-Disorder) the soldiers experienced.49
Table of Selected Anti-war Criteria
Abb. in Leseprobe nicht enthalten
Selected scenes
Bibliography
Primary Literature:
Remarque, E. M. Translated by Murdoch, B. (1996). All Quiet on the Western Front: NOW AN OSCAR AND BAFTA WINNING FILM. Random House UK Ltd.
Remarque, E. M. (2014). Im Westen nichts Neues. Kiepenheuer & Witsch.
Other Primary Sources:
Berger, E. (2022). Im Westen nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front). Netflix.
Secondary Literature:
Anonymous. (n.d.). Book Burning. US Holocaust Memorial Museum. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/book- burning?parent=en%2F11059. Access from 04/19/23.
Anonymous. (n.d.). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. National Institute of Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder- ptsd#part 6127. Access from 10/03/23.
Anonymous. (n.d.). Welchen Einfluss hatten Erlebnisse Remarques auf die Entstehung von Im Westen nichts Neues undseine anderen Romane? Erich Maria Remarque - Friedenszentrum. https://www.remarque.uni-osnabrueck.de . Access from 04/20/23.
Anonymous. (n.d.). WWI: Technology and the weapons of war. NCpedia. https://www.ncpedia.org/wwi-technology-and-weapons-war. Access from 04/20/23.
Brandt, M. (2017). From shell-shock to PTSD, a century of invisible war trauma. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/from-shell-shock-to-ptsd-a-century-of- invisible-war-trauma-74911. Access from 04/20/23.
Brook, T. (2014). Is there such thing as an ‘anti-war film‘?. BBC Culture. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20140710-can-a-film-be-truly-anti-war. Access from 09/04/2023. Access from 09/24/23.
De Baecque, A. Toubiana, S. (2001). Franqois Truffaut. Gallimard. pp. 163f.
Farrell, J. (2020). Erich Maria Remarque’s anti-war novel ‘All Quiet on the Western Front.’ People’s World. https://peoplesworld.org/article/erich-maria-remarques-anti- war-novel-all-quiet-on-the-western-front/. Access from 10/29/23.
Hochschild , A. (2012). To End All Wars - a story of loyalty and rebellion, 1914-1918. Boston & New York: Mariner Books, Houghton, Mifflin Harcourt. pp. xv, 242, 348.
Monnet, A. (2016). Is there such Thing as an Antiwar Film? A Companion to the War Film. pp. 404 - 421.
Ross, A. (2023). Loud noises on the western front. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/loud-noises-on-the-western-front. Access from 09/30/23.
Salisbury, M. (n.d.). Edward Berger breaks down four key scenes from ‘All Quiet On The Western Front’. Screen. https://www.screendaily.com/features/edward-berger-breaks- down-four-key-scenes-from-all-quiet-on-the-western-front/5178907.article. Access from 09/29/23.
Spieler, G. (2022). Important Ways Storytelling Is Different in Books vs. Movies. Medium. https://medium.com/writers-blokke/important-ways-storytelling-is-different-in-books-vs-movies-c5fa67974d73. Access from 11/05/23.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica at al. (1998, July 20). Trench warfare | Definition, History, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/trench- warfare. Access from 05/20/23. Access from 09/04/2023.
[...]
1 De Baecque, A. Toubiana, S. (2001). Francois Truffaut. Gallimard. pp. 163f.
2 English: “There is no such thing as an anti-war film“
3 Ebert, R. (1986). Review of Platoon. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/platoon-1986. Access from 10/04/23.
4 Brook, T. (2014). Is there such thing as an ‘anti-war film‘?. BBC Culture. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20140710-can-a-film-be-truly-anti-war. Access from 09/24/23.
5 Ibid.
6 Cf. Farrell, J.(2020). Erich Maria Remarque’s anti-war novel ‘All Quiet on the Western Front‘. People’s world. https://peoplesworld.org/article/erich-maria-remarques-anti-war-novel-all-quiet-on-the-westem-front/. Access from 10/29/23.
7 Cf. Appendix: The Plot in Context to WW1.
8 The Nazis felt that the film’s unfavorable view of war ran contrary to the ideology they were promoting. The calculated banning of books was part of their propaganda program which helped them tremendously in gaining popularity and support from the people.
9 Cf. Anonymous. (n.d.). Book Burning. US Holocaust Memorial Museum. https://encydopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/book-burning?parent=en%2F11059. Access from 04/19/23.
10 Cf. Anonymous. (n.d.). Welchen Einfluss hatten Erlebnisse Remarques auf die Entstehung von Im Westen nichts Neues und seine anderen Romane?. Erich Maria Remarque - Friedenszentrum . https://www.remarque.uni-osnabrueck.de . Access from 04/20/23.
11 Both the book and its film adaptation, Im Westen Nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front), were initially published in German. In opting for the English translation, which closely mirrors the original, I aim to enhance the coherence of this paper.
12 Remarque, E. M. (2010). All Quiet on the Western Front: NOW AN OSCAR AND BAFTA WINNING FILM. Random House. pp. 200.
13 Ross, A. (2023). Loud Noises on the Western Front - A new adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front dilutes the power of Erich Maria Remarque’s antiwar novel. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/loud-noises-on-the-westem-front Access from 08/06/23.
14 Monnet, A. (2016). Is there such Thing as an Antiwar Film? A Companion to the War Film. pp. 404 - 421.
15 Spieler, G. (2022). Important Ways Storytelling Is different in Books vs. Movies. Medium. https://medium.com/writers-blokke/important-ways-storyteUing-is-different-in-books-vs-movies-c5fa67974d73. Access from 11/05/23.
16 Salisbury, M. (2023). Edward Berger breaks down four key scenes from ‘All Quiet On The Western Front.’ Screen. https://www.screendaily.com/features/edward-berger-breaks-down-four-key-scenes-from-aU- quiet-on-the-western-front/5178907.article. Access from 09/29/23.
17 Remarque, E. M. (2010). All Quiet on the Western Front: NOW AN OSCAR AND BAFTA WINNING FILM. Random House. pp. 9.
18 Cf. Ibid. pp. 8f.
19 Ibid. pp. 9.
20 Ibid. pp. 141.
21 Remarque, E. M. (2010). All Quiet on the Western Front: NOW AN OSCAR AND BAFTA WINNING FILM. Random House. pp. 94.
22 Ibid.
23 Ibid. pp. 37.
24 Ibid . pp. 86.
25 Berger, E. (2022). Im Westen nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front). Netflix.
26 Remarque, E. M. (2010). All Quiet on the Western Front: NOW AN OSCAR AND BAFTA WINNING FILM. Random House. pp. 61.
27 Ibid.
28 Ibid.
29 Ibid.
30 Anonymous. (n.d.). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. National Institute of Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gOv/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd#part 6127. Access from 10/03/23.
31 English: “Baptism of fire“
32 Remarque, E. M. (2010). All Quiet on the Western Front: NOW AN OSCAR AND BAFTA WINNING FILM. Random House. pp. 76.
33 Remarque, E. M. (2010). All Quiet on the Western Front: NOW AN OSCAR AND BAFTA WINNING FILM. Random House. pp. 46.
34 Ibid.
35 Remarque, E. M. (2010). All Quiet on the Western Front: NOW AN OSCAR AND BAFTA WINNING FILM. Random House. pp. 47.
36 Ibid. pp. 48.
37 Ibid.
38 Ibid . pp. 92.
39 Ibid. pp. 46.
40 Remarque, E. M. (2010). All Quiet on the Western Front: NOW AN OSCAR AND BAFTA WINNING FILM. Random House. pp. 92.
41 Cf. Farrell, J.(2020). Erich Maria Remarque’s anti-war novel ‘All Quiet on the Western Front‘. People’s world. https://peoplesworld.org/artide/erich-maria-remarques-anti-war-novel-all-quiet-on-the-westem-front/. Access from 10/29/23.
42 Monnet, A. (2016). Is there such Thing as an Antiwar Film? A Companion to the War Film. pp. 404 - 421.
43 Ibid.
44 Horne, T. (2010). Goliath in the Valley of Elah. War, Literature and the Arts 22. pp. 252.
45 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica at al. (1998, July 20). Trench warfare | Definition, History, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/trench-warfare. Access from 05/20/23.
46 Remarque, E. M. (2010). All Quiet on the Western Front: NOW AN OSCAR AND BAFTA WINNING FILM. Random House. pp. 29.
47 Anonymous. (n.d.). WWI: Technology and the weapons of war. https://www.ncpedia.org/wwi-technology-and- weapons-war. NCpedia. Access from 04/20/23.
48 Hochschild, A. (2012). To End All Wars - a story of loyalty and rebellion, 1914-1918. Boston & New York: Mariner Books, Houghton, Mifflin Harcourt. pp. xv, 242, 348.
49 Brandt, M. (2017). From shell-shock to PTSD, a century of invisible war trauma. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/from-shell-shock-to-ptsd-a-century-of-invisible-war-trauma-74911. Access from 04/20/23.
- Quote paper
- Anonymous,, 2023, "All Quiet on the Western Front". A Comparison of Literary and Visual Adaptation of an Anti-War Work, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/1502674