Just finished watching this latest version of the classic All Quiet on the Western Front. While the acting, and action were top notch, the movie misses the point of the story. Not that "war is bad" that is an easy thing to grasp onto. But that the glorification of war drives men to war. For that we need to see the protagonist and his friends before the war and at the start of the war. We really need to get to know these young men and why they would have been excited about war. Instead the movie starts unfathomably in 1917, when the horrors of the war would be well known-not only with the casualties but the starvation and deprivation on the home front caused by the Allied blockade. Young men at this point would not be excited to go to war. That is the first disconnect the viewer experiences.
This version attempts to contrast the foot soldiers with the generals, but jams most of the story within a few days of the armistice. Around an hour into the movie and the story is 3 days from end of the war. That is a huge leap especially given how much action has to occur over the next 3 days and 1 and 1/2 hour of movie. The second disconnect occurs. The viewer is lost in regards to a time. The movie should be wrapping up.
The substitution of the home front for the generals was a logical choice-the film maker gets to compare the lot of the leaders with the lot of the foot soldiers. And the theme of the "stab in the back" gets alot of play. But the problem is the "stab in the back" relates to the seeds of WW2, not the war that was just ending. I suppose the message is war is inevitable, but I think that muddies the themes unnecessarily.
The basic issue the movie has is that it is about more than the experiences of the young man facing war. That change dulled the impact of the moving scenes like Paul and Frenchman and the hospital and Kat's death. Oh and Kat's death was beyond bad-not the acting. The point of his death is that it is futile and a waste of a good man-Paul's father figure-his good angel. And the war killed him. Not the son of a farmer he robbed. UGH. That death completely changes Kat's story.
It is not all bad, there was a great deal of emotion in the battle scenes-true terror like when the tanks attacked. But still the action seemed more heroic than should be appropriate for AQotWF. Especially when compared to the deaths which did seem wasteful.
Overall, excellent cinematography, acting, action scenes, setting, historical accuracy, direction. My problem is with the script, it changed the themes to the detriment of the heart of the AQotWF story. I can understand what they tried and for the most part they succeeded, but still it was a poor choice to make.
This version attempts to contrast the foot soldiers with the generals, but jams most of the story within a few days of the armistice. Around an hour into the movie and the story is 3 days from end of the war. That is a huge leap especially given how much action has to occur over the next 3 days and 1 and 1/2 hour of movie. The second disconnect occurs. The viewer is lost in regards to a time. The movie should be wrapping up.
The substitution of the home front for the generals was a logical choice-the film maker gets to compare the lot of the leaders with the lot of the foot soldiers. And the theme of the "stab in the back" gets alot of play. But the problem is the "stab in the back" relates to the seeds of WW2, not the war that was just ending. I suppose the message is war is inevitable, but I think that muddies the themes unnecessarily.
The basic issue the movie has is that it is about more than the experiences of the young man facing war. That change dulled the impact of the moving scenes like Paul and Frenchman and the hospital and Kat's death. Oh and Kat's death was beyond bad-not the acting. The point of his death is that it is futile and a waste of a good man-Paul's father figure-his good angel. And the war killed him. Not the son of a farmer he robbed. UGH. That death completely changes Kat's story.
It is not all bad, there was a great deal of emotion in the battle scenes-true terror like when the tanks attacked. But still the action seemed more heroic than should be appropriate for AQotWF. Especially when compared to the deaths which did seem wasteful.
Overall, excellent cinematography, acting, action scenes, setting, historical accuracy, direction. My problem is with the script, it changed the themes to the detriment of the heart of the AQotWF story. I can understand what they tried and for the most part they succeeded, but still it was a poor choice to make.