All Quiet on the Western Front

 More beauty and squalor, and more subtitles

4 friends from a German military school- join up and serve in a regiment in the last few days of the First World War. While Generals and Politicians try to end the war

The War here is Franco German affair. We don't see any British or Americans, or Russians.

Everything looks beautiful. The red caps of the military academy student The forests of France in the rear of the trenches.  The snow of midwinter. The dress uniforms of the French and Germans

When it is not beautiful, it is foul- the corpses. Wet, and damp. We see someone go mad after bombardment. One of the leads has to collect the dog tags of the dead. 

It is like Master and Commander a film almost without women. Wives and Mothers are mentioned. One of the lads has a liaison with a French woman. A poster is used as a pin up

There is an interesting use of food- We see the Politicians eating well- eggs and toast before their negotiation with the French in the railway carriage. A goose is stolen as a treat.  The final attack on the French is paused to steal bread and meat. 

History remains a burden. We - the viewer knows what is coming. The whisper of the Bolsheviks, the plans for a goose and candles at Christmas. 

A fine film