Adapted originally by Olympic athlete Lesley Paterson, with Ian Stokell, with input from the director; from Erich Maria Remarque novel, based on his own experiences (he also provided the source for Sirk's A Time to Love and a Time To Die and Borzage's Three Comrades; also The Other Love, Bobby Deerfield and Arch of Triumph. And 1937 James Whale The Road Back, 1941 So Ends Our Night.)
Good cast: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Aaron Hilmer, Edin Hasanovic, Anton van Lucke, Daniel Bruhl, Devid Streisow.
Very timely, with the war in Ukraine just one year in.
A visceral experience. Right from the off, long takes put you in the midst of the action (the opening is a bravura single take sequence), very ably photographed by James Friend and his team. Most of the action takes place just before the end of the war. In fact it wasn't well received by critics in Germany, who objected to the way the novel has been adapted and in its historical inaccuracies - the 'last push' attack, for example, which was invented for the film. Perhaps most effective when he stabs a French soldier, then, disgusted, tries to help him. Other nice ironies (recycling of uniforms, where sewing machines sound like machine guns; farm where goose stolen) abound, though somehow doesn't quite deliver emotionally.
Technically it's very accomplished. Christian Goldbeck is the production designer. Filmed in the Czech Republic. Won many, many, many BAFTAs, though the one for Best Adapted Screenplay is something of a joke, when you consider how many crucial omissions were made and how much questionable additional material has been added.
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