Netflix "All Quiet on the Western Front" 2022

[NutmegCT]

Just wondered if BCFrs saw the movie.

Some incredible battle scenes and gritty realism throughout, and, similar to the original book and movie, a youth's loss of innocence is made painfully visible.

 

[Erica]

Is pretty interesting as well.

Erica

 

[NutmegCT]

Thanks Erica. What did you think of the movie itself?

 

[waltesefalcon]

Tom, I saw it when it first came out. I thought it was a pretty good adaptation. It conveyed the original message well and was a visual feast in the process.

 

[NutmegCT]

Visual (and aural) feast for sure. I think the 1930, the 1979, and the 2022 movie adaptations all had their strong points. For me, the 2022 was the strongest - altho' all three took liberties with Remarque's narrative.

Brings Trumbo's "Johnny Got His Gun" (book and movie) to mind, eh?

 

[Erica]

Thanks Erica. What did you think of the movie itself?

I read the book a couple years ago in Freshman English (which is sort of funny since it was translated into [Australian] English) and I consider it one of the best works I have ever read. With any great book, it is difficult to translate prose into a great film. The 2022 version resisted the temptation to use the impact of graphic representation to overwhelm the narrative. Beautiful is the wrong word to use to describe such a poignant film. But, to my mind, it was powerful while in my mind still conveying the terror, both banally timeless and uniquely modern, felt by Remarque and his compatriots.

Erica

 

[mikephillips]

Tough to translate into a couple hours of film too, so much can be lost trying to make scenes make sense yet get the number of characters and timeframe to fit runtimes.

I've read books I enjoyed but didn't like the film because of that.

 

[NutmegCT]

Thanks Mike. I had similar feelings after I read Doctor Zhivago back in the 1960s, then saw the movie. Not just "apples to oranges" - more like "apples to carburetors".

I remember Fred Allen (?) once saying that when people had radios, they used their imagination for what the scene looked like. Then along came television, and the imagination was squelched.