‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ Trailer Starring Daniel Brühl Shows the Horrors of WWI Trench Warfare
A new adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front arrives on Netflix next week – at a time when we need its message about the real, human toll of war.
All Quiet on the Western Front is a masterpiece that examines the dangers of blind nationalism and the effect war has on soldiers’ lives long after the fighting is done. After the book’s publication in 1929, it was banned across Europe and burned by the Nazis for its anti-war message. For the same reason, it was held up by pacifists and activists who were against the start of WWII raging across Europe. It is a novel that’s continued to be relevant in the decades following its publication. Even now.
“I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another.” – Paul Bäumer in All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front Details
Felix Kammerer stars as Paul Bäumer, and Daniel Brühl is playing an unnamed German diplomat negotiating Germany’s surrender in the last days of the war. The cast also includes Albrecht Schuch, Moritz Klaus, Aaron Hilmer, Edin Hasanovic, Adrian Grünewald, Devid Striesow, Andreas Döhler, Sebastian Hülk, Alexander Schuster, Luc Feit, Michael Wittenborn, Michael Stange, André Marcon, Tobias Langhoff, and Anton von Lucke.
Director Edward Berger has won the German Film Award for his work. Cinematographer James Friend has won multiple BAFTAs and other awards. It opened to high praise at TIFF and Germany has chosen it as their official contender for next year’s Academy Awards.
The gripping story of a young German soldier on the Western Front of World War I. Paul and his comrades experience first-hand how the initial euphoria of war turns into desperation and fear as they fight for their lives, and each other, in the trenches. The film from director Edward Berger is based on the world-renowned bestseller of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque.
All Quiet on the Western Front debuts on Netflix on October 28.
