By: Andrew Wing

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 (Inglourious Basterds, Captain America: Civil War), Sebastian Hülk (Red Sparrow, Hanna), 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 (Kammerer). 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. 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 and made the December shortlist. It was also named one of the top five international films of 2022 by the National Board of Review.

THE GOOD

Heading into 2022, I was well aware that Netflix was making a remake of the 1930 Academy Award-winning film and the 1979 television film All Quiet on the Western Front. However, after it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and got amazing reviews, it certainly moved its way up my most anticipated list. On top of that, it was Germany’s submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film for the upcoming 95th Academy Awards, and every year I unsuccessfully try to watch all of the films that get shortlisted, and I’m glad to say I finally checked this out! But was it good enough to take home the Oscar for Best International Feature Film? Keep reading to find out!

It most certainly is good enough! Not only is it good enough to win in that category, but this film is so good it might get a Best Picture nomination! I am a fan of both kinds of war movies, both war and anti-war like this one is, as dark and terrifying as they may be, and so is the Academy, and I really think this movie is nearly as good as 1917, the Sam Mendes film that almost won Best Picture back in 2020. Seriously though, this movie is incredible, and call me crazy, but I thought it was better than the 1930 film adaptation that actually won Best Picture.

The director Edward Berger just knocked it out of the park here. I felt like the main purpose of this film was to immerse us in World War I and make it feel real and alive again, and he 100% achieved that. I mean this was some really powerful visceral filmmaking from Berger here that puts us right in the mud with these soldiers and takes us on this very spectacular and enthralling, yet deeply terrifying experience with them. And as an anti-war film, I really don’t think Berger could’ve given us anything better because he makes war look so not fun and miserable, so much so that watching this film will entice anybody to never enter into a draft. All in all, Berger is very deserving of a Best Director nomination and he’s got an outside chance.

Continuing with the filmmaking, Berger and his team of people working on all the technical elements of the film made this movie a technical masterpiece. The movie was stylish, and while it wasn’t super different from the stuff we’ve seen in war films of the past, it was still told in such an immersive way and was more than faithful to the source material’s anti-war message. For real though, this movie is so technically well done. James Friend’s cinematography is so beautiful and is some of the best cinematography I’ve seen in a long time, Volker Bertelmann’s score was big and bombastic, the camera work is extraordinarily smooth, the production design is just absolutely insane, the visual effects are blended perfectly into the environments, the makeup is super impressive and character-driven, and the sound design is just on another level, especially for a war movie.

Aside from all of the aspects that went into the filmmaking, the performances we got from the entire cast were superb. First and foremost though was the performance from Felix Kammerer as the main character Paul Bäumer. He was really amazing in this movie and because of all the subtleties in his performance like his facial expressions and his eyes, I felt deeply connected to his character. It’s also a credit to the writing, but there were some scenes in this movie where we get some intimate moments between Paul and the other soldiers, and that made me care a lot and become emotionally invested. He was just perfect in this role and this looked like such a grueling part to play but he was so committed to it, so much so that it felt like we were really watching this young soldier in World War I.

Continuing with the performances, Helmut Zemo himself from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Daniel Brühl, was really good here as a German politician who is seeking to end the war. All of the scenes he was in felt important and I think a lot of that was simply because of Brühl’s acting talents. Albrecht Schuch was also pretty great in All Quiet on the Western Front too as he played Stanislaus "Kat" Katczinsky, an older soldier whom Paul befriends. Schuch has some of the most emotional moments in the film and he just crushed them, and it’s not surprising that he was the only actor from the film to earn a BAFTA nomination.

THE BAD

If you can’t tell yet, I was a huge fan of All Quiet on the Western Front. That said, it certainly won’t be for everybody. With it being an anti-war film that definitely gets its anti-war position across, there is a lot of violence in the film so be warned. It’s just a tough movie to watch if I’m being completely honest. It’s a German film spoken entirely in a foreign language, and more than that, it’s pretty long too at 147 minutes, and as much as I loved this movie, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t drag at some points when we weren’t in combat.

THE VERDICT

I was completely blown away by Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front, which is the third adaptation of the 1929 novel of the same name. The film is the current leader for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, and it should be because this film is a technical masterpiece that is carried by a remarkable lead performance from Felix Kammerer.

At the end of the day, If you liked 1917, you will really like this film as they are quite similar. With both films, you get an immersive experience where the camera work is meant to make you feel like you were there, you get great performances, and you get some unforgettable scenes that show you the soul-destroying horror that was World War I.