From what I can find, All Quiet on the Western Front was the first movie based on a book to win Best Picture. It was the only the third film to win the coveted award so that speaks pretty highly for films that come from books. Not all of them are great but sometimes they really hit the nail on the head.
The movie was the second war film to win Best Picture. War films usually do well with awards. It probably is because war is something that everyone has dealt with in some way.
This particular film follows young, German soldiers during World War I. The beginning of the film shows their teacher being "patriotic" by getting high school aged boys to enlist in the military. This patriotic teacher of course would not himself join to fight but it was perfectly acceptable to brainwash young minds.
*Spoiler Alert* I had seen clips of the scene where the man reaches out his hand then draws it back quickly, at least that is what I thought when the clip was out of context. After viewing the film, I realized he was reaching for a butterfly and was not jumping back as a reflex. In fact, he had been killed trying to get the butterfly that reminded him of days gone by with his sister. What a terrible, tragic ending. Overall, this was a great movie. War movies usually are good and this one may be one of the best. For being made in the early days of cinema, I was really impressed.
0 comments:
Post a Comment