All Quiet on the Western Front (Cinematic Siblings)

All Quiet on the Western Front

USA 1930 | Lewis Milestone | vostFR | 136’ | digital | Cast : Louis Wolheim, Lewis Ayres, John Wray, Arnold Lucy, Ben Alexander | D’après : le roman de Erich Maria Remarque ►Best Picture and Best Director, Oscars 1930

With a mind aflame with patriotic fervour and the glory of war, young idealist Paul Bäumer and his flag-waving classmates enlist in the German Army at the outset of World War I. The unripe, chest-thumping men set foot on the muddy battlefield, dreaming of performing heroic feats. Instead, only the horrors of war await the inexperienced brothers-in-arms. As the battle-scarred soldiers end up serving as cannon fodder, they are forced to witness the merciless extermination of their comrades.

« Displaying technical brilliance – in particular the stupendous tracking shots over trenches where lines of infantry stand in wait – this doesn't skimp on the misery either. It hammers home a distressingly realistic vision of the inanity of war. This deserves a place alongside Renoir's La Grande Illusion and Kubrick's Paths Of Glory as one of the most effective pacifist arguments ever committed to celluloid. » (BBC).