All Quiet on the Western Front, directed by Lewis Milestone, is one of the first movies ever produced. Released in 1930, this film is based on a novel, and tells the story about a group of German soldiers during World War I. All Quiet in the Western Front, is able to win an American audience’s sympathy for German soldiers, who fought against Americans and their allies during World War I, by using emotional appeal, alienation, manipulation of point of view, symbolism and persuasiveness.
The first thing that makes the audience sympathize with the German soldiers is the alienation from the war. During the whole film the audience is alienated from war, because actual war is always shown outside windows and doors, in other words, far away form the soldiers and even when we see the war he hardly see them fighting, and if we do, they are fighting the French not Americans. This narrative alienation of the war is crucial for the audience to take the German’s side, especially at the beginning of the film.
In the same way, at the beginning of the film we are shown that these soldiers are just a bunch of kinds that are being manipulated by their teacher so that they go to war, but they really don’t know what they are getting into, these kids think that war is a game. The audience’s point of view is manipulated by exposing them to the familiar side of the soldiers, and then the audience empathizes with them taking them young innocent children. The audience point of view is also manipulated, when it sees the reasons and rationalization of these soldiers towards war, is clear that they are against it. And once they are there we can understand their act of killing as an act of what Jean-Paul Sartre called “Bad Faith”, which is taking something as necessary, when in fact is voluntary; so, the audience approves them.
The soldier that is most approved over all is the main character, Paul; the reason of this is because of the underlying of what he stands for. Despite the fact of the beliefs of someone, and over good or evil, the romantic audience is always fond of Paul, because he symbolizes rationality, leadership, literature, knowledge, and finally life itself; since he dies trying to reach a butterfly. It is also important to note that the German soldiers speak in English, which distances them very much from what the imaginary they are supposed to represent.
This imaginary is also broken by the call of the film to the audience’s emotional appeal. The audience does not see these soldiers as bad hostile German soldiers, but more as a group of young innocent men, that are happy, loyal, friendly, and heroic patriots that are defending what they are thought and consider is right, until further in the film when they are illuminated when they crash into the reality of things. The audience from the beginning likes this group of kids because as we get into their minds when they are being brain washed by its teacher speech, we see that their aspirations in life are to impress their parents, very childish in deed. This finally makes the audience like this particular group, because we see some kids that become martyrs of war because they have been tricked into it. The audience sees that they al just children and feels sympathetic to them because of their psychological trauma and their suffering. Then, All Quiet in the Western Front, is able to win an American audience’s sympathy for German soldiers, who fought against Americans and their allies during World War I, by using emotional appeal, alienation, manipulation of point of view and symbolism, but not only because of this, but because of the persuasive and subtle way in which its done.
The first thing that makes the audience sympathize with the German soldiers is the alienation from the war. During the whole film the audience is alienated from war, because actual war is always shown outside windows and doors, in other words, far away form the soldiers and even when we see the war he hardly see them fighting, and if we do, they are fighting the French not Americans. This narrative alienation of the war is crucial for the audience to take the German’s side, especially at the beginning of the film.
In the same way, at the beginning of the film we are shown that these soldiers are just a bunch of kinds that are being manipulated by their teacher so that they go to war, but they really don’t know what they are getting into, these kids think that war is a game. The audience’s point of view is manipulated by exposing them to the familiar side of the soldiers, and then the audience empathizes with them taking them young innocent children. The audience point of view is also manipulated, when it sees the reasons and rationalization of these soldiers towards war, is clear that they are against it. And once they are there we can understand their act of killing as an act of what Jean-Paul Sartre called “Bad Faith”, which is taking something as necessary, when in fact is voluntary; so, the audience approves them.
The soldier that is most approved over all is the main character, Paul; the reason of this is because of the underlying of what he stands for. Despite the fact of the beliefs of someone, and over good or evil, the romantic audience is always fond of Paul, because he symbolizes rationality, leadership, literature, knowledge, and finally life itself; since he dies trying to reach a butterfly. It is also important to note that the German soldiers speak in English, which distances them very much from what the imaginary they are supposed to represent.
This imaginary is also broken by the call of the film to the audience’s emotional appeal. The audience does not see these soldiers as bad hostile German soldiers, but more as a group of young innocent men, that are happy, loyal, friendly, and heroic patriots that are defending what they are thought and consider is right, until further in the film when they are illuminated when they crash into the reality of things. The audience from the beginning likes this group of kids because as we get into their minds when they are being brain washed by its teacher speech, we see that their aspirations in life are to impress their parents, very childish in deed. This finally makes the audience like this particular group, because we see some kids that become martyrs of war because they have been tricked into it. The audience sees that they al just children and feels sympathetic to them because of their psychological trauma and their suffering. Then, All Quiet in the Western Front, is able to win an American audience’s sympathy for German soldiers, who fought against Americans and their allies during World War I, by using emotional appeal, alienation, manipulation of point of view and symbolism, but not only because of this, but because of the persuasive and subtle way in which its done.
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