Written by Helena Power
One of the legacies of the Great War Centenary is that there is a plethora of ‘forgotten’ stories about the war that remain to be explored. It is therefore somewhat ironic that the latest film about the conflict is a new adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 novel, All Quiet on the Western Front (Im Westen nichts Neues). The original film adaptation was released in 1930, so this presents an interesting opportunity to look at the retelling of an adaptation almost a century later. By comparing and contrasting the 2022 remake with the 1930 film, we can observe how modern filmography trends have changed the ways we tell stories about the past. For brevity, I will avoid the 1979 film adaptation. For ease of reference, the 2022 film will be referred to by its German title of Im Westen nichts Neues (or Im Westen), and the 1930 film as All Quiet on the Western Front (or All Quiet).
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