Just watched AQOTWF at the Showroom, Sheffield. This film pulls no punches whatsoever.
It's depiction of trench warfare is staggering. The terrible living conditions the soldiers were forced to endure, the randomness of death and the unimaginable fear of going "over the top."
I never thought the beach scene from Private Ryan could be matched, but the battle scenes in this film certainly come close. Superb action sequences.
I liked the linear narrative of the story too. So many directors use flashbacks, but this film "eases" you into the lives of the main characters really well. We first meet the young soldiers at the recruitment station and journey with them all the way the Western Front, the tension increasing as their initial, patriotic enthusiasm ebbs away, only to be replaced with terror and confusion.
The whole movie is in German and French. An excellent decision. This is not about the British Army at all, so to have hired English speaking actors would have been entirely inappropriate.
This is an outstanding film and deserves to be recognised accordingly. It is not, however, any easy watch. The violence takes some stomaching and the ultimate fate of all the main characters is upsetting. Nobody wins and there are no heroes.
The only reason I didn't give this masterpiece a 10 is because of the annoying "rock chords" that were played randomly throughout the film.
Go and see All Quiet on the Western Front. You won't be disappointed.
It's depiction of trench warfare is staggering. The terrible living conditions the soldiers were forced to endure, the randomness of death and the unimaginable fear of going "over the top."
I never thought the beach scene from Private Ryan could be matched, but the battle scenes in this film certainly come close. Superb action sequences.
I liked the linear narrative of the story too. So many directors use flashbacks, but this film "eases" you into the lives of the main characters really well. We first meet the young soldiers at the recruitment station and journey with them all the way the Western Front, the tension increasing as their initial, patriotic enthusiasm ebbs away, only to be replaced with terror and confusion.
The whole movie is in German and French. An excellent decision. This is not about the British Army at all, so to have hired English speaking actors would have been entirely inappropriate.
This is an outstanding film and deserves to be recognised accordingly. It is not, however, any easy watch. The violence takes some stomaching and the ultimate fate of all the main characters is upsetting. Nobody wins and there are no heroes.
The only reason I didn't give this masterpiece a 10 is because of the annoying "rock chords" that were played randomly throughout the film.
Go and see All Quiet on the Western Front. You won't be disappointed.