Why Edward Berger Offers a Unique Perspective on All Quiet on the Western Front. The German director takes a personal angle on the classic story.
By Madeleine Saaf Welsh on https://netflixqueue.com (20 July 2022)
An acclaimed novel nearly a century old is being revived on screen in Edward Berger’s adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front. Published in 1929, the German classic by Erich Maria Remarque tells the story of World War I from the perspective of young soldier Paul Bäumer, who volunteers to join the war efforts with a group of classmates and quickly finds himself dealing with the grim realities of the trench-fought war.
“When the idea of adapting the book for the screen was planted in my head I was immediately fascinated. It is a world-famous German bestseller, but it had never been told from a German perspective,” recalls Berger. “What a challenge and what an opportunity!” When the book was published in Germany, it was an instant success, leading it to be translated into English in America where it became the best-selling fiction book of 1929. ...