Points In The Movie example essay topic

I decided to write this analytical review on the film All Quiet on the Western Front. My decision was made when I saw it as a suggested reading because I have heard about the movie many times, yet, I've never seen it. I actually am happy I never had, because I believe I was able to get much more appreciation out of the movie because I am studying it's topic in this class. As I began the movie, I could not figure out if the movie was comedic or not. The way the movie was filmed, as well as the acting, absolutely floored me. I regretted picking this movie, and figured that I was in for a long 2 hours.

Things did get better from there. I realized that this movie did have some humor, but only to make a grim subject bearable. This film was great at showing people what the soldiers in the war went through. This movie was not to show the strategies of World War I, or why or how one side or the other won or lost. This was made to show what the soldiers went through, physically, but especially emotionally.

While this movie focused on the German soldiers, there were points in the movie that led the viewer to believe that the case would be true for the other side too. For example, when the group of German soldiers were trying to figure out why they were fighting. Nobody in the group knew the answer. The soldiers did state that the same is possibly thru for the soldiers they are fighting against. By the end of the conversation, the group realized that they are being used as pawns to fight other pawns. Neither side was fighting for their own good, the soldiers were just fighting so they don't die.

The soldiers decided that the officials who started the war should be the ones fighting each other, and the rest of the people should be able to stay out of it. As the movie began, I could not figure out what side the soldiers were fighting for. This bothered me, I believed at first that the movie was made poorly, and should have made a point as to which side we were covering. Shortly after that, I realized that it did not matter which side the soldiers were fighting for.

I did know by this time that they were German, but it was more important that I knew that it did not matter, rather that I knew that the same situations were happening on the other side. The movie ended without knowing who won or lost the war, because that was not important to the plot of the movie. This movie was filmed in 1930. I am surprised that it had such great reviews and was so popular. This view stems from my idea that the war was still a touchy subject. When this was filmed, the war had not ended too long ago.

People directly related to this war were still living, and would be the ones who would be the viewing population. I would have thought that most people back then would not like this movie because the "wounds were still too fresh'. I can understand why today it is a known movie, because it can show people living today what the war was like. I believe that it is this type of movie that can show closely what the war was like. People directly involved can give their accounts as to what happened. I believe that movies like Saving Private Ryan, while a good movie, was made so long after the situation occurred, the movie allows possible misconceptions that were made in the 60 years between the actual war and the making of the movie.

The writers, director, and actors were not around for the war. The only information they have is what others told them happened. So, they acted the way they were told to act, portraying a story they have only heard about. In the case of All Quiet on the Western Front, the actors, directors and writers had first hand knowledge of the war. This first hand knowledge is important, especially for this movie because All Quiet on the Western Front does not pride itself on facts of war strategies, rather, on how those involved felt about the fighting, and if they believed in fighting for this cause.

Most of the complaints I first had about the movie, the acting, the quality, and the way the information was portrayed in the movie, must all be revoked on my part. If not for these aspects of the movie, the movie could not make its point the way it did. The way the movie was made adds to the points it was trying to make. These aspects kept reminding me that this movie was made 70 years ago, I got a much better appreciation knowing how old this movie is. If this movie was made today with the same exact script, the appreciation would be much less, and the ideas that you carry with you after the movie may not have been that strong.