• Home
  • Film Classes
  • Short Films
    • Love is a function of Death
    • usa.DT
    • Banality of Evil
    • 2 Yahoos and a bottle of Rum
    • The Here Between
    • Pale Side of Darkness
    • The Restroom
    • MetA-Romantic
  • Photography
    • 21 Final Candidates for the 7 Wonders of the World >
      • Pyramids of Giza
      • Chichen Itza
      • Machu Picchu
      • Roman Colosseum
      • Neuschwanstein Castle
      • Statue of Liberty
      • Stonehenge
      • Hagia Sophia
      • Acropolis
      • Eiffel Tower
      • Alhambra
      • Christ Redeemer
    • 7 Natural Wonders of the World >
      • Paricutin Volcano
      • Grand Canyon
      • Northern Lights
      • The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
      • Iguazu Falls
    • Natural Wonders of the U.S.A >
      • The Wave
      • The Racetrack
      • Yellowstone
      • Slot Canyons and more
      • Arches National Park
      • Bryce Canyon
      • Carlsbad Caverns
      • Badlands National Park
      • Canyonlands
    • Abandoned Places
    • Nature +
    • Faces
    • Interesting Places in USA
    • Interesting Places in Europe
  • Film Blog
    • Film Theory >
      • Women in Film Noir
      • Why do we have movie theaters?
      • Film Noir-Movement or Genre
      • How to understand box-office figures
    • Classic Films >
      • Touch of Evil
      • Citizen Kane - Overview
      • Citizen Kane - Firing of Leland
      • Citizen Kane - Declaration of Principles
      • I Am Cuba
      • Grand Illusion
      • Numbers and Language in "A Clockwork Orange"
      • JFK
      • Tout va b!en
      • Rear Window
      • "Vertigo" versus "A Man Escaped"
      • Meaning of 2001: A Space Odyssey
      • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
      • Network
      • Casablanca
    • Recent Films >
      • "The Matrix," freedom and Alice in Wonderland
      • Sweet and Lowdown
      • Taxi Driver
      • The Weather Underground
      • Lone Star
      • Cotton Club
      • From "Gimme Shelter" to "Spinal Tap"
      • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
      • Requiem for a Dream
      • The Elephant Man
      • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
      • Natural Born Killers
    • 21 Century >
      • Gravity
      • Blue is the warmest color
      • Spike Lee and the missing link in his "essential films" list
      • Kon-Tiki
      • The Place Beyond the Pines
      • Searching for Sugar Man
      • Killing them Softly
      • Silver Linings Playbook
      • Drive
      • Midnight in Paris
  • Best Films
    • The Best Films Ever Made
    • Best Noir Films
    • Best Neo-Noir Films
    • Best Comedy Films
    • Best Documentary Films
    • Best Western Films
    • Best Animation Films
    • Best Cinematography
    • Best Science-Fiction films
    • Best Screenwriters
    • Amazing Films
    • Best Film Directors
    • Best Experimental Films
    • Film Genres >
      • Gangster Films
      • Western Films
      • Science Fiction (Sci-Fi) Films
      • Woman's Film
      • Comedy Films
      • Nonfiction Films
      • Animated Films
      • Experimental Films
    • The Motion Picture Production Code
    • Film Quotes
  • Orson Welles
    • Rare pictures from "Citizen Kane"
    • Rare pictures from "The Magnificent Ambersons"
    • Rare Orson Welles pictures, awards and drawings
    • Rare pictures from "The Stranger," "Lady from Shanghai," "Hearts of Darkness," "It's all True," "Macbeth," and "Othello"
    • Rare pictures from Orson Welles Magic Show, Radio career and Theater productions
  • Cinema History
  • Contact
ilianFilm
ilianFIlm

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

11/26/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Empathy – we are all 1) advertising it, 2) striving for it, 3) acknowledge its importance in world of polarization. All quiet on the Western front is a book that I read in my teen years. It is written by Erich Maria Remarque, a writer that I admired. His book Three Comrades was a friend of mine in the cold winter evening hours for years. All Quiet on the Western front was published in 1928 and depicted the struggle of German soldiers during the First World War. Two years later the book was adapted to the big screen. The film was directed by Lewis Milestone and I saw it during my film school years. It was a good film and the Academy recognized it as such by giving it an Oscar for best picture and best director.
The atrocities of the Second World War erased all the empathy for the German soldier regardless of the time period. How could we empathize with mass killings? We can’t. Rightfully so. The question is are we ready? Are we ready to see the world of war from the enemies point of view? Are we ready to empathize with their struggles? Are we ready to empathize with their emotions and their desire to survive? Are we ready to empathize with the propaganda they have been fed to fight? Are we ready to see the similarities of their and our worlds?

The political aspect of the World Wars and it’s implications are not the topic that 1) I want to explore, nor 2) I’m in a position to do. This review will focus on the artistic aspect of the new adaptation of the above mentioned novel.
Directed by Edward Berger, All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) is a very well made film. The battle scenes are superbly staged and choreographed and show the absurdity of survival. The First World War called by many The Great War is a war of political ambitions. Political ambitions aiming to restore the greatness of a nation, political ambitions aiming to retain the motherland, political ambitions aiming to revitalize the young generation and their ambition to leave their mark. The political ambitions and their futile and ultimately deadly aspects are superbly depicted in the newest film adaptation.
The cinematography captures not only the moments of despair, but elongates them into eternity of duress. The long tracking shots (especially during attacks) combined with the atmospheric lighting and fog place the viewer in that environment. One can feel the cold and wet mud that becomes a solders paradise or last resting place. The cinematography is greatly enhanced by the believable special effects and realistic make-up. The special effects are not over the top and they are not incorporated to showcase the bravura of the next generation software. The make-up especially effective by depicting superbly the ultimate impotency of the grandiose invasion ideas. Those three cinematic elements are further emphasized by the dark low pitch monotonous music that captures the lives of quiet desperation in the face of untimely but omnipotent death. A music that I could still hear several hours after the film end credits. The directing juxtaposes those brutal scenes with quiet moments. Quiet moments that further comment on the difference between soldiers and generals. The scenes of the soldiers stealing poultry and cooking it is contrasted by the gluttony and shallowness of commanding officer who is unwilling to accept defeat. The pride of a general that is more important than the lives of thousands. The pride of politicians that begets destruction, the pride of diplomats that are impotent to prevent the worst before it happens.
The sound and the editing are intertwined into a cohesive narrative that make All Quiet on the Western Front to be arguably one of the best film of 2022. The film is not made for the faint of heart, but it should be seen by all (politicians, military and diplomats included) because it oozes out the farcical aspect of honor. As the artist says – wars should be fought by politician themselves hitting each other with socks filled with manure.
4 / 5
Directed by Edward Berger
Starring: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Aaron Hilmer.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    People who critique moving pictures fall into 3 general classes:

    1.
    Reviewers - are generally journalists who describe the contents and general tone of a movie, with only incidental emphasis on aesthetic evaluation. 

    2.
    Critics - are also journalists for the most part, but their emphasis is more on evaluation than on mere content description. 

    3.
    Theorists - are usually professional academics, often the authors of books on how movies can be studied on a more philosophical level.

    Author

    I'm a film critic and I like to write about films that are exceptional and stand above the rest. 

    Categories

    All
    2011
    2012
    2013
    2014
    Classic
    Recent
    Theory

    RSS Feed

    "The role of the critic is to help people see what is in the work, what is in it that shouldn't be, what is not in it that could be. He is a good critic if he helps people understand more about the work that they could see for themselves; he is a great critic, if by his understandings and feeling for the work, by his passion, he can excite people so that they want to experience more of the art that is there, waiting to be seized. He is not necessarily bad critic if he makes errors in judgement. He is a bad critic if he does not awaken the curiosity, enlarge the interests and understanding of his audience. The art of the critic is to transmit his knowledge of and enthusiasm for art to others." ( Pauline Kael )
Photography
Film Canon
Contact

All materials Copyright © 2022 ilianFIlm - All rights reserved.
No commercial reproduction, adaptation, distribution or transmission of any part or parts of this website or any
information contained therein by any means whatsoever is permitted without prior written permission.



© 2022 ilianFilm.com All Rights Reserved