[Quick Summary: A young German soldier faces the reality and horrors of WWI.]
I've never read this book, nor seen the films, so I was interested to hear (here):
1) This book, published in 1929, was only adapted twice for the screen: a movie (1930) and tv movie (1979).2) It took the writers 16 years to get this to the screen!
3) The writers identified three themes they wanted to bring out: betrayal, futility of war, historical context.
I liked how the writers get me into this story in the first ten pages, and lands me at p. 10 with all the themes at play. How did they do it?
First, we're following Heinich Gerber through exploding battle field and dies before opening credits.
Then we're following our protagonist Paul who is recruited at school, then goes through enlisting.
Then this scene below appears (p. 10) as the culmination of p. 1-9:
INT. SCHOOL/AUDITORIUM - DAY
...Paul gapes at him, dumbstruck. The officer shrugs, hands him a uniform off the pile and notes the size in a list.
ARMY RECRUITER (CONT'D): Here. Your father can be proud of you.
PAUL: Yes, he can.
ARMY RECRUITER: Are you okay?
PAUL: Mmhm. I just wanna get going.
Paul takes his uniform and is just leaving, when he sees the name tag sewn into the collar.
He quickly returns to the desk, where the recruiter is already busy with the next RECRUIT.
PAUL (CONT'D): Excuse me, Sir, this uniform already belongs to someone.
The officer takes the uniform jacket from Paul and tears off the name tag. Then he hands it back. [Historical context. There is an entire infrastructure behind recycling supplies in warfare.]
ARMY RECRUITER: Didn't fit him right. Happens all the time. [Betrayal. This is a lie.]
PAUL: Thank you, Sir.
Paul heads off, relieved. The name tag remains behind on the floor: HEINRICH GERBER. [Futility of war. He's repeating the cycle Heinrich just went through.]
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: If you can identify the themes of the book that you want, look for symbols that will help amplify it, ex. the jacket here.
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
by Ian Stokell, Lesley Paterson, Edward Berger
Based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque
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