All Quiet on the Western Front (2022 film)

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022 film)
File:All quiet on the western front (2022 film).jpg
Official release poster
Directed by Edward Berger
Produced by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Malte Grunert
  • Daniel Dreifuss
  • Edward Berger
  • Daniel Brühl
  • Lesley Paterson
  • Ian Stokell
  • Thorsten Schumacher
Screenplay by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Based on All Quiet on the Western Front
by Erich Maria Remarque
Starring <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Music by Volker Bertelmann
Cinematography James Friend
Edited by Sven Budelmann
Production
company
Amusement Park
Distributed by Netflix
Release dates
 <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • September 12, 2022 (2022-09-12) (TIFF)
  • October 28, 2022 (2022-10-28) (Netflix)
Running time
 147 minutes[1]
Country Germany
United States
Language German
French

All Quiet on the Western Front (German: Im Westen nichts Neues) is a 2022 epic anti-war film based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque. Directed by Edward Berger, it stars Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Daniel Brühl, Sebastian Hülk, Aaron Hilmer, Edin Hasanovic and Devid Striesow. Set in the closing days of World War I, it follows the life of an idealistic young German soldier named Paul Bäumer. After enlisting in the German Army with his friends, Bäumer finds himself exposed to the realities of war, shattering his early hopes of becoming a hero as he does his best to survive. The film adds a parallel storyline not found in the book, which follows the armistice negotiations to end the war.

All Quiet on the Western Front premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2022, and was released to streaming on Netflix on October 28, 2022.[2] In August 2022, the film was announced as Germany's submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards,[3] and made the December shortlist.[4]

The film received positive reviews from critics for faithfulness to the source material's anti-war message.[5] It was also named one of the top five international films of 2022 by the National Board of Review.[6]

Plot

In 1917, three years into the First World War, 17-year-old Paul Bäumer enlists in the Imperial German Army alongside his school friends, Albert Kropp, Franz Müller, and Ludwig Behm. They listen to a patriotic speech by a school official and unknowingly receive uniforms from soldiers killed in a previous battle. After they are deployed in Northern France near La Malmaison, they are befriended by Stanislaus "Kat" Katczinsky, an older soldier. Their romantic view of the war is shattered by the realities of trench warfare on the Western Front, and Ludwig is killed by artillery on the first night.

On November 7, 1918, German official Matthias Erzberger, weary of mounting losses, meets with German High Command to persuade them to begin armistice talks with the Allied powers. Meanwhile, Paul and Kat steal a goose from a farm to share with Albert, Franz, and another veteran, Tjaden Stackfleet, with whom they have grown close behind the front in Champagne. Kat, who is illiterate, gets Paul to read him a letter from his wife and worries that he cannot reintegrate into peacetime society. Franz spends the night with a French woman and brings back her scarf as a souvenir.

On the morning of November 9, General Friedrichs drives Erzberger and the German delegation to a train bound for the Forest of Compiègne to negotiate a ceasefire. Paul and his friends go on a mission to find 60 missing recruits sent to reinforce their unit and discover that they were killed by gas after taking off their masks too soon. Friedrichs, who opposes the talks, orders an attack before French reinforcements arrive. That night, Erzberger's delegation reaches the Forest of Compiègne, and Paul's regiment is sent to the front to prepare to attack the French lines.

On the morning of November 10, Ferdinand Foch, the Supreme Allied Commander, gives 72 hours for the Germans to accept the Allied terms, with no room for negotiation. Meanwhile, the German attack takes the French front line after hand-to-hand fighting but is routed by a combined arms counterattack with Saint-Chamond tanks, aeroplanes, and flamethrowers. Franz is separated from the group, and Albert is killed trying to surrender. Trapped in a crater in no man's land with a French soldier, Paul stabs him and watches him die slowly, becoming remorseful and asking forgiveness to his dead body. Erzberger learns of Kaiser Wilhelm II's abdication and receives instructions in the evening from field marshal Paul von Hindenburg to accept the Allied terms. Paul returns to his unit and sees them celebrating the imminent end of the war. He finds a wounded Tjaden, who gives him Franz's scarf. Paul and Kat bring him food but Tjaden, distraught at being crippled, fatally stabs himself in the throat using a fork Paul and Kat brought with the food.

Around 5:00 AM on November 11, Erzberger's delegation signs the armistice set to take effect at 11 AM. After learning of the ceasefire, Paul and Kat steal from the farm one last time, but Kat is shot by the farmer's young son and dies as Paul carries him to the hospital. Friedrichs wants to end the war with a German victory and orders an attack to start at 10:45. A despondent, battle-hardened Paul kills many French soldiers before being speared through the chest by a bayonet seconds before 11:00 when the fighting stops, and the front falls silent. A short time later, a newly arrived German recruit that Paul had saved in the combat finds Paul's mud-caked body and picks up Franz's scarf.

Cast

Production

The film was announced in February 2020 with Edward Berger directing and Daniel Brühl as part of the ensemble cast.[8] Principal photography began in March 2021 in Prague, Czech Republic.[2][9]

Release

All Quiet on the Western Front premiered at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2022. It played exclusively at the Paris Theater in New York on October 7 before expanding to other theatres from October 14.[10]

It launched on Netflix worldwide on October 28.[11]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 128 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Both timely and timeless, All Quiet on the Western Front retains the power of its classic source material by focusing on the futility of war."[12] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[13]

Reubyn Coutinho, on Netflix Junkie, wrote, "It does not pull its punches with the screenplay having the potential to make you squirm...The film touches upon the loneliness, the catalyst of desperation, the fear of civilians in battle, and the chaos."[14] Ben Kenigsberg, writing for The New York Times, found the film to be less impressive than the 1930 version, but appreciated the pounding soundtrack. He also praised the addition of a parallel plot tracking the armistice, even if it diverged from the first person narrative of the novel. He found the tweaked fate of the characters to be narratively powerful.[15]

However, Jamelle Bouie in the New York Times said that the 2022 version missed the essence of the novel, which is not just antiwar, but also the alienation and terrible toll even on those who come home. "Remarque is not as interested in the war as geopolitics as he is in the war as human absurdity made manifest." In a sequence of the 1930 film, omitted from the 2022 film, Paul comes home on leave and can't relate to former teachers and other adults. "You still think it's beautiful and sweet to die for your country, don't you?" says Paul. "The first bombardment taught us better." According to Bouie, "The inclusion of this political subplot and the exclusion of Paul's return home transforms 'All Quiet on the Western Front' from a psychological examination of the soldier's experience and a condemnation of war into a much simpler story of virtuous soldiers and cynical leaders who betrayed them."[16]

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
National Board of Review 8 December 2022 Top Five Foreign Language Films All Quiet on the Western Front Won [17]
Best Adapted Screenplay Ian Stokell, Edward Berger and Lesley Paterson Won
European Film Awards 10 December 2022 Best Makeup and Hairstyling Heike Merker Won [18]
Best Visual Effects Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller and Markus Frank Won
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association 12 December 2022 Best International/Foreign Language Film All Quiet on the Western Front Nominated [19]
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association 18 December 2022 Best International Film Nominated [20]
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association 19 December 2022 Best Foreign Language Film 4th place [21]
Alliance of Women Film Journalists 5 January 2023 Best Screenplay, Adapted Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, Ian Stokell Nominated [22]
Best Non-English Language Film All Quiet on the Western Front Nominated
San Diego Film Critics Society 6 January 2023 Best Director Edward Berger Nominated [23]
Best Adapted Screenplay Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell Won
Best International Film All Quiet on the Western Front Won
San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle 9 January 2023 Best International Feature Film Nominated [24]
Golden Globe Awards 10 January 2023 Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language Nominated [25]
Georgia Film Critics Association 13 January 2023 Best International Film Pending [26]
Critics' Choice Movie Awards 15 January 2023 Best Foreign Language Film Pending [27]
Seattle Film Critics Society 17 January 2023 Best Film Not in the English Language Pending [28]
Houston Film Critics Society 18 February 2023 Best Foreign Language Feature Pending [29]
Art Directors Guild Awards 18 February 2023 Excellence in Production Design for a Period Film Christian M. Goldbeck Pending [30]
Hollywood Critics Association Awards 24 February 2023 Best International Film All Quiet on the Western Front Pending [31]
Golden Reel Awards 26 February 2023 Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Foreign Language Feature Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Alexander Buck, Benjamin Hörbe, Alexander Buck, Thomas Kalbér, Moritz Hoffmeister, Kuen Il Song, Carsten Richter, Daniel Weis Pending [32]
Cinema Audio Society Awards 4 March 2023 Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Motion Picture – Live Action Viktor Prášil, Lars Ginzel, Stefan Korte, Daniel Kresco, Jan Meyerdierks, Hanse Warns Pending [33]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Template:All Quiet on the Western Front

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=All_Quiet_on_the_Western_Front_(2022_film)&oldid=726693163"