A century later, All Quiet on the Western Front remains sadly relevant

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Erich Maria Remarque was born at the end of the 19th century, fought for Germany during the First World War, and went on to write one of the great anti-war novels of all time, All Quiet on the Western Front, in 1928.

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Edward Berger, director of the first German adaptation of the book, says the tipping point in his decision to make the film came from the reaction of a teenage girl born at the start the 21st century.

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He’s at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the movie had its world premiere last month ahead of a limited theatrical release and then a home on Netflix. It’s also Germany’s submission for best international feature at the next Oscars. Berger says he’d been approached by friend and producer Malte Grunert about taking part in the project.

“I always talk to my family when I do something,” he says. “And my kids always get up, and they’re utterly not interested in what I do. So I ask my wife: All Quiet on the Western Front, what do you think? And my daughter, who was 17 at the time, sort of turned around. ‘All Quiet on the Western Front? If you have the chance to do that, you have to do it. I just read it in school. And I cried so many times. It’s my favourite book.’

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“And so that was the decisive factor in a way. You know, you wouldn’t think that a 17-year-old girl today, 100 years after the release of the book, is that interested in that topic. But on the contrary!”

Felix Kammerer stars as Paul Baumer, the central character through whom we witness the senseless violence of war. He’s incredible, and an unknown. I ask Berger what else he’s done.

“Nothing,” the director says. “It’s his first movie. He’s never been in front of a camera before.” The 26-year-old had previously been part of the ensemble at Vienna’s Burgtheater.

“It’s very well established but if you’re part of the ensemble that doesn’t mean you’re widely seen,” says Berger. “Luckily, the producer’s wife works there. She sent me a picture. This was actually the first picture I saw of any actor we considered for this role.”

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Berger liked the look of him immediately. “This is the guy,” he says. “I mean, I knew it, but you just want to make sure there isn’t anyone out there that is even better. And also, he didn’t quite know how to do everything yet. Theatre acting is very different from film acting, but he so wants to learn and so wants to breathe it in.” On set, in front of the cameras, he adjusted immediately. “Fabulous actor.” 

The film diverges somewhat from the novel, changes that Berger chalks up to our privileged view of history. The book and its most famous adaptation, an American film made in 1930, both predate the Second World War, a conflict closed tied to its predecessor. So in this version we see Daniel Bruhl as Matthias Erzberger, the German representative who signed the armistice that brought the war to a close.

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“It felt important to me to include that outlook in the movie,” says Berger, “because the Second World War started right there in those negotiations. Erzberger was killed two years after by nationalists because they felt he betrayed the country. The generals still felt like we would have won it. Or at least this was a myth they created, that we would have won it if this guy hadn’t betrayed us. And so from the beginning of the signing of the peace treaty, the army, the nationalists, they planned a revenge on this humiliation, and they used that to arouse the masses, again, in the Second World War.”

Speaking of wars and the cycles of history, does Berger see any parallels with the current conflict in Ukraine?

“I mean, we started the movie before the Russian war,” he says. “But when we started it, I felt there was a language that was creeping in, in America, in England, the anti-EU movements in Hungary and southern France, the rise of the right all over the world.”

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Demagogues and propaganda are part of that movement, he asserts. The film includes a scene of soldiers given a rousing speech before they ship out, the young men excited as though for a class trip or spring break, a brief adventure from which they would return triumphant.

“It’s probably not that different with the young Russians today,” he says. “They think: Let’s go, let’s get that country and let’s come back as heroes. Because their news teaches them something that the Kaiser 100 years ago told these young kids, that we are under attack, we are under threat, we need to defend ourselves. So there are probably, unfortunately, parallels all the time, not just with Russia now.

All Quiet on the Western Front opens Oct. 12 at the Lightbox in Toronto, Oct. 14 in Vancouver, in more cities Oct. 21, and on Netflix Oct. 28.

Article content

Erich Maria Remarque was born at the end of the 19th century, fought for Germany during the First World War, and went on to write one of the great anti-war novels of all time, All Quiet on the Western Front, in 1928.

Article content

Edward Berger, director of the first German adaptation of the book, says the tipping point in his decision to make the film came from the reaction of a teenage girl born at the start the 21st century.

Article content

He’s at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the movie had its world premiere last month ahead of a limited theatrical release and then a home on Netflix. It’s also Germany’s submission for best international feature at the next Oscars. Berger says he’d been approached by friend and producer Malte Grunert about taking part in the project.

“I always talk to my family when I do something,” he says. “And my kids always get up, and they’re utterly not interested in what I do. So I ask my wife: All Quiet on the Western Front, what do you think? And my daughter, who was 17 at the time, sort of turned around. ‘All Quiet on the Western Front? If you have the chance to do that, you have to do it. I just read it in school. And I cried so many times. It’s my favourite book.’

Article content

“And so that was the decisive factor in a way. You know, you wouldn’t think that a 17-year-old girl today, 100 years after the release of the book, is that interested in that topic. But on the contrary!”

Felix Kammerer stars as Paul Baumer, the central character through whom we witness the senseless violence of war. He’s incredible, and an unknown. I ask Berger what else he’s done.

“Nothing,” the director says. “It’s his first movie. He’s never been in front of a camera before.” The 26-year-old had previously been part of the ensemble at Vienna’s Burgtheater.

“It’s very well established but if you’re part of the ensemble that doesn’t mean you’re widely seen,” says Berger. “Luckily, the producer’s wife works there. She sent me a picture. This was actually the first picture I saw of any actor we considered for this role.”

Article content

Berger liked the look of him immediately. “This is the guy,” he says. “I mean, I knew it, but you just want to make sure there isn’t anyone out there that is even better. And also, he didn’t quite know how to do everything yet. Theatre acting is very different from film acting, but he so wants to learn and so wants to breathe it in.” On set, in front of the cameras, he adjusted immediately. “Fabulous actor.” 

The film diverges somewhat from the novel, changes that Berger chalks up to our privileged view of history. The book and its most famous adaptation, an American film made in 1930, both predate the Second World War, a conflict closed tied to its predecessor. So in this version we see Daniel Bruhl as Matthias Erzberger, the German representative who signed the armistice that brought the war to a close.

Article content

“It felt important to me to include that outlook in the movie,” says Berger, “because the Second World War started right there in those negotiations. Erzberger was killed two years after by nationalists because they felt he betrayed the country. The generals still felt like we would have won it. Or at least this was a myth they created, that we would have won it if this guy hadn’t betrayed us. And so from the beginning of the signing of the peace treaty, the army, the nationalists, they planned a revenge on this humiliation, and they used that to arouse the masses, again, in the Second World War.”

Speaking of wars and the cycles of history, does Berger see any parallels with the current conflict in Ukraine?

“I mean, we started the movie before the Russian war,” he says. “But when we started it, I felt there was a language that was creeping in, in America, in England, the anti-EU movements in Hungary and southern France, the rise of the right all over the world.”

Article content

Demagogues and propaganda are part of that movement, he asserts. The film includes a scene of soldiers given a rousing speech before they ship out, the young men excited as though for a class trip or spring break, a brief adventure from which they would return triumphant.

“It’s probably not that different with the young Russians today,” he says. “They think: Let’s go, let’s get that country and let’s come back as heroes. Because their news teaches them something that the Kaiser 100 years ago told these young kids, that we are under attack, we are under threat, we need to defend ourselves. So there are probably, unfortunately, parallels all the time, not just with Russia now.

All Quiet on the Western Front opens Oct. 12 at the Lightbox in Toronto, Oct. 14 in Vancouver, in more cities Oct. 21, and on Netflix Oct. 28.