Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT [Toronto International Film Festival 2022]
The telling of war stories is bathed in the idea of what they represent but also the reflection of those that lived them. Like "1917", a new German adaptation of "All Quiet On The Western Front" focuses on the journey of one soldier as he watches his aspects of patriotism, life and the essence of understanding float through his circle of vision into a puddle of mud. Felix Kammerer plays Paul Baumer, all wide-eyed and bushy-tailed as he heads towards the front with his friends during World War I. Nationalism begets a sense of unknowing and of course the reason the war started is not focused on. The key is more how the aspect of the life changes the mind as well as the heart. But one of the aspects that the battle scenes really specify out, especially with Baumer, is the shift of emotion from murderous rage to ill begotten guilt. The irony of war is that the bigwigs always seem to skirt away in a way without truly understanding the point. Here Daniel Bruhl's minister shows his regrets but cannot explain anything against the Kaiser's wishes.
The rail car where the ceasefire was signed of course became a symbol of the Nazis conquering in World War II. The movie paints many undeniable images bathed in fire. This is a movie of brutality if only for survival and sometimes in the following of orders. It is also a movie of friendships. The most telling is of Baumer and Kat, a man not well educated but endearing of spirit even in the hardest of times. Of course the integration of many characters from the book is important. But it is the little details here, whether it is reading a letter from a wife to a friend on the john or hijacking a goose to eat or passing around a sweet smelling scarf from a girl who happened to be passing by...it is these moments in time that make a different in the memories of war.
Director Edward Berger finds these details. He may linger sometimes longer than needed and certain scenes could have been compacted with more power but that is just a directorial choice. The final shot would have been so powerful but he thought there needed to be one more than what was. That is only thing in some epics (and this one was made by Netflix) is that tightening and tweaking, even in a film as accomplished and immersive is this, is needed. Kammerer has a hard job in not completely overplaying certain scenes but also making his performance subtle enough that both the irony and the dread and sorrow peeks through. The dark hues reflect the colors of blood and of course this idea resounds in the stillness when everything is quiet which reflects in the resonance of what the original material infers. A-
By Tim Wassberg
