By Florian Barnett-Trier, Badis Azouni, Kamaal Jhumra, and Emin Abasov (Y12)
All Quiet on the Western Front, directed by Edward Berger in 2022 and based on Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, is a German anti-war film depicting the extreme physical and mental trauma of WWI German soldiers. The plot revolves around the main character, Paul Bäumer, whose patriotic idealism leads him to enlist in the German army. His idealism is quickly shattered when confronted with the true, unfiltered horrors of war. The story is known for its stark and realistic portrayals of the savagery of conflict. By the end of the movie, Paul has been robbed of his innocent, sensitive, poetry-writing youth and is now a disillusioned, emotionally detached soldier.
The film is set during the years of World War I, a war that killed around 17 million people and left many more physically or mentally damaged. At the beginning of the movie, we see how powerful words can be. Paul and his classmates are convinced by their teachers’ speeches that war is a great way to prove oneself. This is important to understand the message of the film: it criticizes the generation for sending young men to die for their country.
Even before Paul encounters any of the fighting, his idealism begins to fall apart. Just training, being screamed at, and endlessly marching (keep in mind, vehicles aren’t as readily available in this time period, so walking was the main way of transport) begins to expose the reality of the military experience that is not emphasised by military recruiters. Furthermore, food, water and sleeping conditions are shown to be insufficient, with the movie clearly depicting hungry, tired soldiers. By emphasising the hardships of lower relative consequence first, the film ensures the audience isn’t cheering for a hero; they are pitying a victim.
The narrative also underlines the dehumanization that is part of the war. In perhaps one of the more disturbing scenes, we see the uniforms of fallen men being cleaned, repaired, and issued out to new recruits like Paul. Berger’s script also focuses on the disconnect between the high-ranking officials who are negotiating over fine dining arrangements and those who are starving and dying just miles away.
The technical aspects of the film are crucial in delivering the heavy and touching emotional impact of the film. The cinematography by James Friend juxtaposes the terrifying scale of the war with wide high-angle camera shots, with the claustrophobic, tight trenches that the men must fight in. The cold colours connote a certain heaviness and hopelessness, from the cold blues and browns, and grey from the bayonets.
The sound and music by Volker Bertelmann are also very effective in changing the way the audience feels. The music is known for its theme, which is jarring and mechanical, just like the war. Sometimes there is complete silence, which makes the quiet moments feel very tense. When the gunfire and artillery start again, it feels like an attack on the audience.
The movie strongly links back to our community in a couple of ways. One of the main messages of All Quiet on the Western Front is the terrible effect of nationalism on the youth. In the film, Paul and his classmates are being encouraged to join the war because of the patriotic influence the teachers apply to them. For the students, it creates a vision of how people from other countries are enemies and nothing like them, therefore they deserve to be slaughtered, and in reward, they gain more land, which pushes Paul and his friends to participate in that fight, for the “greater sake”. At La chataigneraire, students are interacting with plenty of people from various countries that historically fought each other. Ecolint is an international school, where the community is being taught the international mindset, avoiding the “us against the others” mindset. Therefore, students are able to see each other as individuals rather than national enemies.
One of the other key concepts of the movie is to show the viewers the pressure of the authority figures. In the movie, the students join the military due to the way the teachers were glorifying war and pressuring them into being a part of it, which shapes their future and overall life decisions. Ecolint allows the community to think critically instead of blindly accepting the will of a higher authority. The teachers in La Chat influence career choices, values, and perspectives, instead of manipulating young people into the choices they want, which gives the students freedom of choice, shaping their identity into thinking freely, yet questioning ideas and developing their own opinions.
Lastly, All Quiet on the Western Front depicts the cruelty of the war and how it destroys generations. All the scenes of how Paul’s friends were dying on the field one by one, going through so much both physical and mental pain, realising how terrible it is to kill a person, and instantly regretting his decision about participating in the war. Many international schools, such as Ecolint, were created due to the impact of world wars, with a goal of creating peace amongst the international communities through education. The movie also refers to how national schools are failing to promote peace to the younger generations, throughout many years, therefore leading to huge conflicts between countries and resulting in horrific manslaughters between the borders of neighbouring countries.
Ecolint is an international school organisation that has a big goal of maintaining peace, offering students freedom of choice, and understanding each nation as an individual, creating a peaceful and clear-thinking community. Our project allows us to portray how some movies can reflect back on the goal of our school, creating a better opportunity for the next generation, therefore impacting international relations throughout the world.