All Quiet on the Western Front Movie Synopsis and Analysis
The protagonist of this story is Paul Baumer. He is first seen in, “All Quiet on the Western Front” as a young student who daydreams about war.
The first setting is of Germany in the beginning of the war. Schools were spreading propaganda, hoping to recruit young soldiers to fight the war, “for father Germany.” The professor with glasses that taught Paul’s class was very enthusiastic in his lectures of serving the nation. He said things like “your nation has served you well; now it is time for you to serve your nation!” Things like this inspired the schoolboys to become soldiers in the new German army. While the professor talked about how courageous heroes they could be if they joined the army, the young boys went off daydreaming about being victorious heroes in the war. It would be unfortunately otherwise after they start fighting in the war. One theme of the story in “All Quiet on the Western Front” is that reality is different from fantasy.
The professor did such a good job glorifying the German Army and their cause that the entire class went out to the recruiting office to sign up to fight while singing the German national anthem. There was much commotion out in the streets and people were parading with the soldiers. The young boys were enthusiastic even when they were in boot camp. But, the drill sergeant made them into soldiers eventually. At first the boys loved their uniforms, but they didn’t know how to be soldiers. Kemmerick, the local postman, was their drill sergeant. He made the new recruits train in boot camp. He made them do many hard and arduous tasks that they boys did not like. So, the boys got revenge on Kemmerick every once in a while to get back at all the drilling they had to undergo. Later in the movie, they see Kemmerick in the front lines as well.
Anyways, so Kemmerick did his job, even though it was hard on the boys. In the end, the boys became men and soldiers. Himmelstoss was also a main character in this part of the movie. He was one of the Germans there. When the new recruits landed on the front lines they were hit with a sudden reality check. Now that they were there, they found that it was a hard life they were going to live. They found out soon enough that living conditions were hard and that food was scarce. They weren’t as well supplied as they had fantasized. They saw each other die on the battlefield. Many were shell shocked. However, they found comfort as some experienced soldiers shared their wisdom with them. One soldier that helped them a lot and was a good leader was Kat.
But, as the years went by, more and more of their friends died off. They were fighting with trench warfare and thus they were cooped in trenches all the time. One of the friends went crazy and ran out and got shot. In consequence he injured his legs. He was sent to the hospital. Paul saw his friend die. His friends tried to get the nice boots of the dead friend because “it wouldn’t be of any use to him now.” In the end, Paul got the shoes but felt awfully guilty about it. As the years passed, they became experienced soldiers too. The boots were lost eventually, but were recycled as the wearers were killed and other people picked them up.
Paul and his friends got military leave every once in a while to go eat and sleep and rest. Trench warfare was very hard on the young men. In one episode his friends were served two servings of food because one party did not make it back. In one episode the 2nd regiment lost so many men that only 3 of the original were left. This just went to say that war killed many people. World War I was a mechanized war and the new war technologies decimated human flesh and thus there were great casualties on all sides. Many people were killed everyday. People fought and camped out in trenches, but every once in a while people charged the trenches to try to advance. Each charge brought about of course many casualties.
In one charge, Paul met the drill sergeant again. The drill sergeant was not used to battle and panicked, but Paul helped him. Later in the rush, Paul passed out and found himself stuck in a trench. The French then tried to advance on the German post, and one French commander fell into the same trench as Paul’s. Paul stabbed him in defense. Later on, as he was wounded, Paul tried to help the Frenchman. This meant that Paul didn’t really want to kill anyone. He didn’t believe that killing should be necessary if it could be avoided. This showed that Paul was really a nice guy inside. Afterwards he contemplated the purpose of war and thought it was bad and pointless. In the end the Frenchman died and Paul returned to the German lines.
In the end of the movie, Paul returns back to his home during his leave after he got injured and was resuscitated. He goes to meet his mom, who now has cancer. He also goes to see his sister. Too bad that would be the last time he saw his family. He also went to go visit his old school, the one where years before he was attending. He found the same professor there trying to brainwash new recruits to join the German army. Paul gave a speech to the class that war was a terrible thing. At first he couldn’t bring himself to say anything good. All he could say that it was horrible and his professor was a liar who didn’t know what he was talking about, glorifying war and all that. In the end, he went back to war early and didn’t take all his time on leave. Paul didn’t feel comfortable in his past home. As one American author described, the WWI generation is a “lost generation.” Paul had been in the trenches so long he forgot how to live a civilian life. He went back to war, his friend Kat
was killed by airplane, which was a new technology at the time, and then he was shot by a sniper while seeking solace from a nearby butterfly.
In the end of the movie, all the marching soldiers were shown with their graves. This was before they had started off into the war, which turned out to be a horrendous experience. Then the title “All Quiet on the Western Front” showed to say that all the friends had died in this war. In analysis of this movie, it can be learned that war is nothing to be glorified. In truth, it is really a bad thing. Many people lose their lives to war. The movie “All Quiet on the Western Front” tries to illustrate this point and it does so very well. Friends went into war with high hopes but in the end were killed off one by one by the horrific war. They also discussed philosophical questions such as why there had to be war. It can be concluded that many soldiers don’t understand the real purpose for war and such human sacrifice. As seen in the German soldiers and friends of Paul, many didn’t really want to fight in such conditions where there was no food and they had to live in crowded trenches for months at a time. World War I was truly a devastating historical event. Let’s hope that another World War will not come anytime soon in our future, our generation. That is what “All Quiet on the Western Front” was trying to say. War is a seemingly meaningless conflict and can be done without.
