The gripping war film Dunkirk was directed by Christopher Nolan primarily as a breathless fight for survival, which places the feeling of being in the thick of the horror of war above the mechanisms behind it.
Around the 2017 release of Dunkirk, Nolan has put together a retrospective of films for the British Film Institute (BFI) that have influenced him influenced during the filming of the blockbuster This includes a war film from 1930 that has since been re-released twice. Our international sister site Espinof recently recalled Nolan’s choice.
Dunkirk director Christopher Nolan celebrates this war film as a masterpiece of cinema
Speaking to the BFI, Nolan praised the first film adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel All Quiet on the Western Front in the highest terms:
All Quiet on the Western Front sums it up: war dehumanizes. Looking at this masterpiece again, it is hard to disagree that the intensity and horror have never been better. For me, the film shows the power to defy convention, to find meaning and logic in individual destiny.
The film by Lewis Milestone revolves around the student Paul Bäumer (Lew Ayres), who is sent to the front with his friends in World War I. The initial euphoria soon turns into pure horror when the minors are caught up in the hell of war.
Watch the trailer for All Quiet on the Western Front from 1930 here:
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) – Trailer (English)
Where can you watch the different versions of All Quiet on the Western Front?
You can rent or buy the first adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front on Amazon Prime. In 1977, another film adaptation by Delbert Mann was released as a TV movie. This version is currently streaming on Prime with a subscription. The most recent version is from 2022 and was shot by Edward Berger for Netflix. There you can watch the war film, which won a total of 4 Oscars, anytime in the flat stream.
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