“That old maxim about those who fail to learn from history being doomed to repeat it is partly what inspired Edward Berger to revisit All Quiet On The Western Front.

“The director’s German-language adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 World War I novel is both brutal and brilliant.

“In Germany the book is considered a landmark reflection of the country’s role in the Great War, and for Berger taking audiences into Germany’s side of the trenches with German storytellers meant grappling with history, legacy, and loss.

“It’s also a sad truth that an anti-war story—and aren’t all honest depictions of war inherently anti-war stories?—will feel timely anytime.”

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