In 1930 Georg Pabst’s ‘Westfront 1918’ was Germany’s most anticipated cinema release.
It chronicled the shattering impact of the Great War upon four German soldiers on the Western Front.
The film lived up to expectations. At its premiere in Berlin, its unsparing realism reportedly caused 20 people to faint.
In the film’s most harrowing scene, a disillusioned lieutenant suffers a nervous breakdown and slides into insanity. He repeatedly shouts ‘Hurrah’ as he salutes a pile of corpses.
The film was a critical success. A correspondent dubbed it ‘the most vivid argument yet contrived against war.’
The film has also stood the test of time.
In 1995 it was selected as one of the 100 most significant German movies ever made.
‘Rotten Tomatoes’ scored it 100%, with one critic labelling it as ‘the thinking man’s “All Quiet on the Western Front”.’
Yet the obvious question is, why have so few people ever heard of it?
Firstly, it came out just after the movie adaptation of ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’. This picture was a huge international hit, had Hollywood financing and equipment; its cast, including extras, ran to the hundreds, whereas that of ‘Westfront 1918’ was in the dozens.
Secondly, with the rise of National Socialism, the German authorities quickly judged the film to be unsuitable for the public for its pacifism and denunciation of war, which Joseph Goebbels labelled as ‘cowardly defeatism’.
Despite its relative obscurity ‘Westfront 1918’ is a film I have returned to again and again.
It captures the relentlessly bleak existence of ordinary soldiers condemned to the trenches, like no other movie does.
It’s still viewable on YouTube.
Have you watched ‘Westfront 1918’? Your thoughts?
Photo image: Nero Film
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