There are some fine WW1 films about, the king of them being 'All Quiet on the Western Font' (released in the same year as this) and there are many powerful films centered around war in general. GW Pabst, here in his first sound film so this was a first for him and the viewer, was a great director, very influential in the silent film era and in German cinema and especially good when it came to editing, his direction of his actresses and the realism of the stories. They were my main reasons for seeing.
'Westfront 1918' is not one of my favourite war films, while not having much inherently wrong with it as such. It is also not one of Pabst's very finest or one of his most important or a major influence in cinema. 'Westfront 1918' is still very good and is very well made and powerful, Pabst does not have a misfire here and he is not off form (far from it), he's just done even better which says a lot for how brilliant he was at his very best.
Story-wise, 'Westfront 1918' is quite slight and very simple.
Also some may find the point of view from the characters, especially with the universal brotherhood, on the naive side, but that is not an invalid point of view as quite a number of soldiers went into war not knowing what they were letting themselves in for.
However, Pabst does admirably on the directing front. Inexperience with sound shows at times (other silent film directors fared a lot worse though, DW Griffith with 'Abraham Lincoln' anyone?), but he shows clear command and understanding of the material, the point of view is not unfocused and technically this is typically accomplished work. 'Westfront 1918' is a fantastic looking film, the low tracking shots in the war scenes being hugely atmospheric and the editing is typically seamless for a Pabst film. The music is suitably haunting and the film is written with sincerity.
Despite the story not being perfect, it is still emotionally moving, especially at the end, and has a lot of power and the anti-war sentiment with resonate with everybody feeling exactly the same. The war scenes are gut-wrenching. The acting is very good in well defined roles.
Overall, very good. 8/10
