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Imagine it is 1930 and you are a movie director. Sound has just been introduced, and it is a powerful tool yet to be mastered. You want to make a completely revolutionary type of movie, one that will carry a strong message about the futility of war. You begin to understand Westfront 1918.This is the original movie that Stanley Kubrick remade as Paths of Glory in 1957. Westfront 1918 makes no attempt to glorify or justify war; it just depicts the effects it has on the foot-soldiers who had to fight it. Like them, we are left wondering why the war is being fought at all. Like them, we never get an answer. The movie begins with an artillery bombardment of the German trenches. When it becomes clear that the shells are coming from behind the German lines, a message has to be sent back to HQ to stop the slaughter. True to real life, a dog is sent back with a message. So is a soldier. One makes it the other does not.There are no great strategy discussions or explanations by commanding officers, who are almost completely absent from the screen. Instead, we are stuck in the muck with the soldiers as they are shelled and attacked by enemy troops, while their families starve at home.Many of the scenes are repetitive by today's standards but the message is loud and clear, blunt and relentless. Pabst captured the futility of war in a nutshell, pulling no punches, waving no flags.Westfront is a classic, well worth the 90 minutes and the minor inconvenience of subtitles.
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