Inevitable Comparison to the Great American WWI Movie Filmed the same Year, All Quiet on the Western Front, the Lewis Milestone Film is Decidedly Better on just about Every Level. But that Movie is One of the Greatest Ever Made and Director Pabst Version is a Fine Film but not the Complete Composite and Lacks the Grand Scope of the Other.
It is Very Interesting for American Audiences though, as it was Made in Germany and from the Defeated Countries Point of View and In Fact it was Labeled Defeatist by the Right Wing there and was Criticized for it. But it is more a Film about the Devastation of War on All Soldiers and Their Respective Countries. Not from a Nationalistic Point of View Per Se.
It is a Bleak and Bombastic Movie as One would Expect from the Fine Filmmaker. The Realism is Striking and it is a Down and Dirty Account of a Very Dirty War. What with Trench Warfare and Chemical Bombs.
Pabst doesn't Shy Away from any of that and is in Fact Part of the Gut-Wrenching "Charm" and Message of this Movie that was Banned as soon as Hitler came to Power (what wasn't?).
Worth a Watch for Film and Military Historians and should be Given a Go even from those not Friendly to Subtitles. The Dialog is Sparse and there is much Social Concern and the Civilian Drama Works as Well as the Military Melodrama.
It is Very Interesting for American Audiences though, as it was Made in Germany and from the Defeated Countries Point of View and In Fact it was Labeled Defeatist by the Right Wing there and was Criticized for it. But it is more a Film about the Devastation of War on All Soldiers and Their Respective Countries. Not from a Nationalistic Point of View Per Se.
It is a Bleak and Bombastic Movie as One would Expect from the Fine Filmmaker. The Realism is Striking and it is a Down and Dirty Account of a Very Dirty War. What with Trench Warfare and Chemical Bombs.
Pabst doesn't Shy Away from any of that and is in Fact Part of the Gut-Wrenching "Charm" and Message of this Movie that was Banned as soon as Hitler came to Power (what wasn't?).
Worth a Watch for Film and Military Historians and should be Given a Go even from those not Friendly to Subtitles. The Dialog is Sparse and there is much Social Concern and the Civilian Drama Works as Well as the Military Melodrama.