All Quiet On The Western Front

I let Kassy choose the first movie in our new apartment to watch. Following an excellent dinner of chicken, corn, and veggies, I was fully expecting Sophie's Choice or Terms of Endearment (Not that there's anything wrong with those. I'll get there.) Instead, I was pretty surprised when she choose AQOTWF, a war movie from the 1930's. I was actually kind of in the mood for a more recent movie, but she chose like a champ. The film is the most realistic view of war that I've seen since Saving Private Ryan. I was really shocked at the violence in the film. Severed limbs are shown, and there is bloodshed throughout. The movie is the earliest I've seen to tackle a subject that is cliche nowadays, the soldier who's ideology is changed from the experience of war. The film takes place during World War 1 and the soldier is Paul. He is roused into enlisting in the army by his school teacher and he and his classmates are off to war in no time. Paul and his buddies are scared and naive at first, but as the time passes and his friends thin out, and the food becomes scarce, Paul begins to view the war from a new light. None of his fellow soldiers can recall what the war is even being fought for anymore and when Paul fatally injures an enemy, he has time to bond with the enemy as he dies, realizing that they aren't that different. Paul returns home for a while on leave following an injury, only to learn that he doesn't quite feel at home anymore. It's a theme that was well used in last year's Best Picture winner, The Hurt Locker. What sets this film apart from some of the other films that take a stance against war is that Paul is fighting in the German army. The German's were the U.S.'s enemies in both world wars and for an American film to tell this story from their point of view and be sympathetic to them was pretty revolutionary at the time. Films such as Tora!, Tora!, Tora! and Letters From Iwo Jima would later use a similar viewpoint. The film is amazing throughout and I actually cried a bit. It is definitely a film you should show when you have your "We should just blow them to hell" relatives/co-workers/neighbors over. Maybe it will enlighten them a bit. Great choice Kassy! You are choosing from now on.