Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer) is a teenager, and he's desperate to sign up to serve his country. He's been sold a lie – promises of glory and heroism by the ...
All Quiet on the Western Front is a harsh reminder of the sheer inhumanity of war. All Quiet on the Western Front is just as bleak as you might imagine, with an unflinching examination of the horrors of war. All Quiet on the Western Front is a grim, harrowing march towards an inevitable conclusion that’s held together by a minuscule thread of humanity. All Quiet on the Western Front is a stark reminder of the humanity lost to war on both sides of the trenches. All Quiet on the Western Front is a brutal, bloody, and frighteningly realistic interpretation of the original 1929 novel. But we’re constantly reminded how much distance there is between the military leaders and the boys in the trenches, and it serves as a striking counterpoint to any heroic notion that the war is for the good of the homeland.
Paul Schrader once told me that if he weren't a filmmaker then he'd probably be writing a movie blog with a couple of capsules and full-length reviews ...
Back to Schrader, he premiered his latest, “Master Gardener,” at Venice in September and that was followed by a NYFF bow. His movie opinions are fantastic and indeed Kael-esque in their frankness. Well, that’s kind of what Schrader’s been doing on Facebook.