April 6 . . .
On this date in 1917, the U.S. formally declared war on Germany and entered into World War I. It was supposed to be the ‘war to end all wars.’
Observe the sober anniversary with one of the greatest antiwar films ever made, Lewis Milestone’s unforgettable ‘All Quiet On the Western Front’ (1930), based on the classic novel by Erich Maria Remarque. At the instigation of their gung-ho schoolteacher, seven German youths enlist in the army and go to the battlefields of WWI, their imaginations fired with visions of patriotism and glory. Stuck in the trenches and experiencing the horrors of war firsthand, they quickly see there’s no glory in it.
An emotionally wrenching film that has lost none of its power in the ensuing decades, ‘All Quiet On The Western Front’ is at once lyrical and gritty, graphic and shocking. Lew Ayres excelled with the performance of his lifetime as the naïve enlistee through whose eyes we, the audience, come to see the horrors of war. A masterpiece of film not only as an art form, but as a potent weapon – the kind of weapon that can give the word propaganda a good name. (The film was actually banned in the U.S. during WWII to discourage pacifism.)
1 comment:
Until reading your plot summary, I thought that I had seen this movie. Now, I realize that I have been using the plot for "The Longest Day" for BOTH movies (loved Richard Burton's final moments)! Gotta see this one, too!
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