The movie All Quiet on the Western Front is… depressing. But it is, like many sad but great movies, beautiful as well. The relationships among the characters is a huge part of what made this movie exceptional; they are able to laugh and smile together even in the brief periods between advances, enjoying each other’s company even though they know that they could very well die in the next moment.
It
hits me hard when, despite the strong bonds among the characters, they so easily
accept each other’s deaths as they happen. It is incredibly sad to watch a
character the boys have grown up with get shot and killed; even more so when
his companions leave him on the battlefield and move on. I am not saying that
this makes them horrible—or even that it is surprising. It is completely
necessary for soldiers to be able to know when to save their own lives and
others’ and know when someone is beyond help. I also know that it is unfair to
judge someone based on their actions when faced with life, death, suffering, and
desperation.
However,
that does not change the fact that it still strikes a chord of astonishment and
even disgust when Kemmerich’s boots are passed from person to person after each
one’s death, or when a soldier is shot and trodden upon by his fleeing allies.
That is part of what makes All Quiet on the Western Front so amazing; it shows the dark side of people unashamedly and makes the viewers realize that, in the same situation, they may not act so differently. It also shows the complicated relationship between right and wrong. Kemmerich’s mother begs Paul for the truth about her son’s death. Is it right for him to lie and told her that her son did not suffer, or is it her right and Kemmerich’s to protect the truth of his final moments? Is it more wrong that Paul leaves an enemy soldier he has stabbed to die slowly beside him, or that he tries to help him and thus betrays his comrades? These questions are unaddressed by the characters themselves, which is another part of the story that I really enjoy. It leaves the viewer (or the reader) to decide the morals of war for themselves; it shows the truth of war without trying to judge it or its participants. It leaves that up to us.