All Quiet on the Western Front

I've seen it said the hardest kind of movie to discuss is the movie that doesn't leave an impression, that doesn't inspire love or hate, but merely a shrug. To that, I call and raise another kind of movie: the movie that is so raw, real, and unapologetic in the handling of its uncomfortable subject, it feels like it was designed to be appreciated more than enjoyed, experienced instead of loved. You've seen movies like it. Kids, Requiem For A Dream, Schindler's List ... these movies don't shy away examining from the ugliest sides of humanity, but in the process, dispose of any sense of entertainment one might find in a movie. They're like emotional snuff films. All Quiet On The Western Front sits in that company, and is unafraid to say so. Literally from the first frame after the opening credits, the movie shows the audience text about how the movie is "neither an accusation nor a confession", and that "death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it". What follows is two hours of the most unflinching, uncompromising look at the realities of war, state propaganda, the manipulative mindlessness of nationalism, and the callousness of the commanders who view war as lines on a map and assume the boys are always taken care of. From there, All Quiet backs up its opening promise (threat?). A jingoistic teacher whipping his underage students into a bloodthirsty frenzy with talk of the glory of dying for the fatherland. The meek, friendly mailman who enlists, gets a CO rank, and becomes a ruthless, whip-cracking, abusive tyrant becomes who's going to stop him. The students, whisked away to the front lines, finding out the "glory" is mud, blood, not getting to eat for a couple of days at a time, and leaving your buddy's corpse to rot in no man's land. Signing up for war and not even knowing who you're fighting or why, only that it's your duty to kill the other guy. The old men back home who warsplain to the returned soldier that the army always takes care of its soldiers in the battlefield. The hell of being a survivor and going home and being so battle-hardened, home feels like hell and only the battlefield feels natural. All Quiet is unafraid to explore any and every aspect of war's terrible costs, burdens, and realities, and not hold back any of it. Its mission is to break the spell that every other war movie casts. It says there are only two outcomes of war: death for those who don't make it back, and something worse for those who do. When main character Paul goes home to see his old teacher, the one who whipped him into a frenzy and convinced him to sign up in the first place, he admonishes the teacher for not knowing anything about what war was really like, and tells the boys not to enlist. He's cursed as a coward and a fool ... and then he ends his leave earlier than necessary, because the war has broken him. There is nothing pleasant about All Quiet. It is relentlessly dark and uncomfortable. It has no interest in sugar-coating anything. It may say it isn't an accusation, but it sure as hell is an indictment. It is engrossing and hard to stomach, so it's definitely not the first thing you'll dial up for the sake of entertainment. But it is as harsh and real and truthful as Schindler's List, and I'd say just as necessary to watch.