All Quiet on the Western Front
2022 · Directed by Edward Berger
Original language: German
- war
- drama
The story
Paul Baumer and his friends Albert and Muller, egged on by romantic dreams of heroism, voluntarily enlist in the German army. Full of excitement and patriotic fervour, the boys enthusiastically march into a war they believe in. But once on the Western Front, they discover the soul-destroying horror of World War I.
What it’s like
Muddy greys, sodden browns and bruised dawn light dominate this German-language war film, shot with a restless, close camera that stays low in the trenches and drifts through smoke and mud while the sound design swells with artillery thuds, shrill whistles and sudden silences. Its score is sparse and mournful, built on strings that rise and then vanish, so the quiet between explosions feels as heavy as the noise. The vibe is bleak, grimy and numbing, with long stretches of dread and a grinding, relentless rhythm rather than release. Violence is frequent and graphic: bodies are torn apart in close-up, there are gas attacks, bayonet fights and a long, brutal tank assault, and the cruelty of the trenches lands hard. Emotionally it follows young men whose enthusiasm drains away into exhaustion and disillusion, a slow erosion rather than a tidy arc. It suits viewers who want a serious, visceral account of the First World War and can handle sustained gore and despair, not an easy or comforting night in.
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