I watched a movie recently called “All Quiet On The Western Front“. This movie was a recreation of the 1930’s epic All Quiet On The Western Front. It’s about World War I from the perspective of German soldiers. There were a couple things I thought were particularly interesting about this movie.
Blind Nationalism Is Dangerous
At the start of the movie you see young men ecstatic about becoming a soldier. They seriously were as excited as the modern day person when they get accepted into college. Shortly after joining the German military, they are all exposed to the reality of warfare. They are quickly hit by an airstrike after arriving at a bunker, which kills some of the young soldiers. The main character of the movie is traumatized, yet has no time to ponder as he must work and survive.
There Are No Winners In War
Too often we see the idea of winning wars as the greatest feat a country can accomplish. While this is a way to express or show your power to the world, this is probably the worst thing a country can get involved in. Both sides lose so many people in warfare that even when it’s declared a victory, it’s too many losses to celebrate. We can look at Ukraine and Russia right now. What seemed to be (at least to Russia) a projected quick takeover has taken way longer than expected. Causalities on both sides totaled up to 200,000; who wins in that situation?
No Matter What, Keep Going
In an earlier paragraph I stated that the main character had to keep moving forward with work to survive. No matter the terrors he faced in war, he had a duty to fulfill. He even had to run straight into gunfire after coming out of a bunker, which was an order from his superior. The message was subliminally clear, though. No matter the hardships that you face, you have to keep going; you have to keep moving forward. Unfortunately, to grieve and dwell doesn’t do anything but cause more pain. That certainly doesn’t mean that you have to be stoic at all times, life is painful. Although, you must remember that you can’t get stuck; it’s dangerous.
If you are interested in watching All Quiet On The Western Front it’s available now on Netflix.
