‘All Quiet On the Western Front’ Panned by German Critics

Edward Berger’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” might have received nine Oscar nominations, not to mention 14 nods from BAFTA, making it the most heralded German film of all time with both of these awards bodies. But in its country of origin, Berger’s WWI epic has not impressed critics, at all.

The Guardian’s Philip Oltermann is reporting that the Oscar-nominated film was the victim of a “critical drubbing” in Germany. Critics are complaining of its “horny for an Oscar” spectacle, and military historians for its “black-and-white” historical inaccuracies.

Süddeutsche’s critic Hubert Wetzel wrote, “you have to ask yourself whether director Berger has even read Remarque’s novel”. The novel itself is said to be very important in Germany, Hitler had banned it before it eventually became “a set text at many schools across modern Germany.”

Oltermann goes on to source numerous other prominent German critics who panned the film as Oscar-bait and a failed literary adaptation. Which all begs me to ask the question: will Germans even be rooting for this film to win come Oscar night? We have plenty of German readers, maybe they can chime in with their thoughts on Berger’s remake.

“All Quiet on the Western Front” was very well-received in the United States, it has an 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and 76 on Metacritic.

Back in September, I saw the film at TIFF and had posted this reaction about the film:

“Although overlong, Edward Berger’s very loose remake, and adaptation of “All Quiet in the Western Front”, features some of the most harrowing war sequences of the 21st century.”

“Almost 3/4 of this film is absolutely visceral. You feel the dirt, the stench, the pain. There are stretches that bring the viewer right to the thick of the peace negotiations between Germany and France. I didn’t mind those stretches at all, they give us a better understanding of the “masters of war” playing their dangerous game of chess.”

“No, “All Quiet on the Western Front” doesn’t reinvent the war movie. There’s gloss. There’s familiarity. But that doesn’t really deter from the overall impact of the whole thing. The action is elaborately staged, the editing beautifully fluid. This should be seen on the biggest screen possible and the fact that it’ll be streaming on Netflix in a week or so means most audiences won’t be experiencing Berger’s film to its full extent.”