The story, for those unfamiliar with it, follows a German scholar named Paul Baumer into the World War I trenches on the western front. He joins up with his friends from town and meets up with his guardian angel, Kat, in the fight. As the War continues, he sees how horrible it really is.
This has always been one of my favorite books and I've read it multiple times. It is a solid anti-war writing and does so in a way that doesn't glorify it in any manner. The film follows suit and it is incredibly harsh and brutal. They don't sugar coat the fighting and it is great that they go this route as it shows how dirty war really is, both figuratively and literally.
As a historian, I thought they did a great job of capturing what life really might have been like in the trenches. The self-preservation. The filth. The starvation. The need to turn off emotion. All of these things added up. Oh, and the enemy threat, of course.
There are two scenes, mid-film, which really give the down and dirty. One is more to do with combat on a large scale and one is at the personal level. Whatever way it plays, this film is a difficult one to watch as it is so gritty and honest.
Overall it was one of the best films on war that I've seen. It dug deep and hit on an emotional level. It flowed well and the 2 1/2 hours flew by.
Yes, I'll definitely recommend this one and it is one of my favorites from 2022, for sure.
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