Released on Netflix in 2022 ‘All quiet on Western Front’ is a movie about war and its impacts on the common people in general. The movie follows the timeline of First World War which break out in 1914 and is based on the 1930 novel of the same name.
The movie follows the story of Paul Baumer, an idealistic youth and his friends who join the war for the glory and the thrill of the war. However when they reach the battlefield( the Western Front) they get to know the realities of the war and most of the time they struggle to survive.
One of the key things portrayed in the movie is the difference in the perspective about the war among the different sections of the society. The political propaganda about the war makes the common people see war as a way for fame and glory and become national hero. On the other hand those who are fighting the war understand the realities of it and far them its a needless exercise.
There is a very powerful line in the movie which influenced me particularly;
“Give a man power……..man is a beast”.
The movie ends with peace, however the peace seems temporary!
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