As the bewilderingly overpraised Everything Everywhere At Once continues its inevitable march to Best Picture at the Oscars, many of the films that were once tipped to defeat it have slipped away. The Banshees of Inisherin, Top Gun: Maverick, Tár — all have settled into their time-honored place of being forever the Academy’s bridesmaid and not the triumphant bride.
Yet almost out of nowhere, Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front has emerged as a serious contender. It swept the BAFTA awards in February, and with nine Oscar nominations, including Best Film, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Adapted Screenplay, it looks certain to win at least a couple of them. Not bad for a two-and-half-hour adaptation of a 1929 German novel.
A friend and I had a discussion about the “missing something” from this remake.
Certainly they strayed too far from the book, but what struck me was how little empathy I had for Paul or any of the characters.
The original was sentimental, syrupy even but how else was Hollywood to stir sympathy for characters that were your mortal enemy only 12 years before?
Who didn’t love original Kat? In the latest version the friendship just seemed shallow and forced.
Nice to look at but it left an empty feeling at the end.
