- Synopsis
- Trailer

This is an English language film (made in America) adapted from a novel by
German author Erich Maria Remarque. The film follows a group of German
schoolboys, talked into enlisting at the beginning of World War 1 by their
jingoistic teacher. The story is told entirely through the experiences of the
young German recruits and highlights the tragedy of war through the eyes of
individuals. As the boys witness death and mutilation all around them, any
preconceptions about "the enemy" and the "rights and wrongs" of the conflict
disappear, leaving them angry and bewildered. This is highlighted in the
scene where Paul mortally wounds a French soldier and then weeps bitterly
as he fights to save his life while trapped in a shell crater with the body. The
film is not about heroism but about drudgery and futility and the gulf between
the concept of war and the actuality.