Im Westen nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front)
2022
**½
Director: Edward Berger
Cast: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Daniel Brühl, Sebastian Hülk, Aaron Hilmer, Moritz Klaus, Adrian Grünewald, Edin Hasanovic, Thibault de Montalembert
In spring 1917, 17-year-old Paul Bäumer and three of his classmates volunteer for the Imperial German Army. However, the first night in the trenches is enough to shatter their idealistic view of the Great War. This war drama is based on Erich Maria Remarque's 1929 novel, which was previously filmed in 1930 and 1979. This German adaptation drops almost all of the character backstories, takes some liberties with the actual history, and focuses mostly on the gory trench warfare. The battle scenes are harrowingly realistic and the anti-war message is clear, but the film doesn't really offer anything I haven't seen in other recent releases set in this period, such as 1917, Tolkien, and War Horse. Nevertheless, the film won four Academy Awards, which include best cinematography, production design, and score.
