War isn't a game. We know this, yet cinema usually treats it like one anyway, dressing up the carnage in slow-motion heroics and soaring orchestral scores that make us feel like dying for a flag is somehow poetic. Then there’s the All Quiet on the Western Front film. Specifically, the 2022 Edward Berger adaptation that hit Netflix and proceeded to traumatize everyone who hit "play" thinking they were getting a standard action flick.
It’s brutal. It’s cold. Honestly, it’s probably the most honest depiction of industrial slaughter ever put to digital sensor.
But why did it work so well? And why did we need a third version of Erich Maria Remarque's 1929 novel? To understand that, you have to look at how this movie differs from the 1930 Oscar winner and the 1979 TV movie. While the previous versions focused heavily on the "lost generation" sentimentality, the 2022 version leans into the sheer, mechanical indifference of the First World War. It’s not just about boys dying; it’s about a machine that eats boys and spits out mud.
The 2022 Adaptation vs. The Source Material
If you’re a purist, the 2022 All Quiet on the Western Front film might have annoyed you at first. Why? Because it deviates. Heavily.
The book is almost entirely internal. Paul Bäumer’s narration is a philosophical descent into nihilism. Berger’s film, however, introduces a parallel plotline involving Matthias Erzberger, played by the always-excellent Daniel Brühl. This wasn't in the book. Erzberger was a real historical figure—the politician who desperately tried to negotiate the armistice while the German High Command sat in literal velvet chairs, eating fine meats and sipping wine.
Some critics argued this distracted from Paul’s story. I’d argue it’s the most important change they could have made.
By showing the bureaucrats arguing over the placement of a pen while thousands of teenagers are being vaporized by artillery a few miles away, the film highlights the absurdity of the conflict. It creates a ticking clock. We know the war ends at 11:00 AM on November 11. Watching Paul struggle to survive until 10:59 is a special kind of cinematic torture that the book—written without the benefit of a 100-year historical lens—couldn't quite capture in the same way.
The Sound of Death: Why the Score Matters
You noticed the three notes. Everyone did.
BUM-BUM-BUM.
Volker Bertelmann (Hauschka) won an Oscar for this score, and it’s basically just a harmonium fed through a distorted amplifier. It sounds like a dying machine. It sounds like the industrial revolution screaming. Most war movies use violins to make you cry. This All Quiet on the Western Front film uses industrial noise to make you vibrate with anxiety.
The sound design is a character itself.
In the scene where the French tanks first appear through the fog, the sound isn't "cool" like a Michael Bay movie. It’s terrifying. It’s a low-frequency rumble that feels like it’s shaking your teeth. This reflects the reality of 1917—soldiers who had never seen an automobile were suddenly being hunted by steel monsters that could crush a man like a soda can.
A Quick Comparison of the Three Versions
- 1930 Version: Directed by Lewis Milestone. It used actual WWI veterans as extras. The bayonet charge scenes are still horrifying today because the fear on those faces wasn't entirely acted. It’s the definitive "anti-war" classic of early cinema.
- 1979 Version: Starring Richard Thomas (yes, John-Boy from The Waltons). It’s surprisingly good and focuses more on the camaraderie between the soldiers. It feels more like a traditional drama.
- 2022 Version: The technical powerhouse. It strips away the "home on leave" chapters from the book to keep the viewer trapped in the trenches. It’s claustrophobic.
The Mud, The Blood, and the Uniforms
There is a sequence at the beginning of the 2022 All Quiet on the Western Front film that is arguably the most effective opening in modern cinema. We see a soldier named Heinrich die in a frantic charge. Then, we follow his uniform.
We see the blood-stained tunic being stripped off his corpse. We see it tossed into a pile. We see it washed in giant vats of gray water by weary women. We see the bullet holes being patched by seamstresses. And finally, we see it handed to Paul Bäumer, a fresh-faced recruit.
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Paul notices a name tag still in the collar. He tells the officer there must be a mistake—this uniform belongs to someone else. The officer just rips the tag off, drops it on the floor, and tells him it was probably just "too small" for the last guy.
That is the entire movie in five minutes.
It’s about the recycling of human lives. The German Empire didn't see Paul as a human; they saw him as a biological component meant to fill a piece of wool. This focus on the material reality of war—the cold, the wet, the filth—removes any lingering sense of "glory."
Why "German-Language" Was the Only Way to Go
For decades, we’ve watched English-speaking actors put on fake accents to play Germans. It always feels a bit like a high school play. Edward Berger insisted on making this the first German-language adaptation of the book produced in Germany.
It changes the energy completely.
Hearing the harsh, guttural barks of the officers in their native tongue adds a layer of authenticity that the 1930 and 1979 versions lacked. It also forces international audiences to grapple with the fact that these "villains" of WWI were just kids. Paul, Kat, Albert, and Franz aren't monsters. They’re terrified boys who were lied to by their teachers and their parents.
In one of the film's most famous scenes, Paul is trapped in a shell crater with a French soldier he has just stabbed. As the man slowly dies, Paul tries to save him. He finds a photo of the man's wife and child. In German, he begs for forgiveness.
"Comrade," he says. "I did not want to kill you."
It’s a crushing moment. It’s the realization that the "enemy" is just another version of yourself, wearing a different colored coat.
Practical Insights: How to Watch and Understand
If you’re planning on watching (or re-watching) the All Quiet on the Western Front film, don't treat it like background noise. It’s a dense piece of work. Here is how to actually get the most out of the experience:
- Watch it in the original German. Subtitles are your friend. The performances, especially Felix Kammerer as Paul, are tied so closely to the cadence of the language that the dubbing ruins the pacing.
- Pay attention to the colors. The film moves from the vibrant greens of the German countryside to a monochromatic gray and blue palette once they reach the front. The color literally drains out of their lives.
- Look at the food. Notice how the generals eat compared to the soldiers. The soldiers are lucky to find a stray goose or a piece of moldy bread. The generals drink wine out of crystal. This isn't subtle, but it's historically accurate.
- Research the "Stab-in-the-Back" myth. The film’s ending, where a general orders a final attack minutes before the armistice, hints at the political resentment that eventually led to World War II. It shows that the end of one war was simply the beginning of the next.
Final Perspective on the Western Front
The 2022 All Quiet on the Western Front film doesn't have a happy ending because the war didn't have a happy ending. Even the survivors were "destroyed by the war, though they might have escaped its shells," as Remarque wrote.
If you want to understand the modern world, you have to understand the trenches. This film is the closest most of us will—thankfully—ever get to that hell. It’s a demanding watch, but an essential one.
Next Steps for the Viewer:
- Read the original novel. Remarque's prose contains internal monologues that no film can fully capture, particularly Paul's feelings of alienation when he briefly returns home.
- Compare the "Crater Scene." Watch the 1930 version of the shell-hole scene and compare it to the 2022 version. It’s a fascinating study in how acting styles have evolved over a century.
- Visit a Digital Archive. Check out the Imperial War Museum records for the 1918 Armistice to see the real-time orders that mirror the film's climax.