|
This week’s Staff Pick is: Westfront 1918 (1930)  Directed by: G.W. Pabst Cinematography by: Charles Metain and Fritz Arno Wagner Edited by: W.L. Bagier, Jean Oser and Marc Sorkin (all uncredited) IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021542/ A summary on IMDB: “A group of German infantrymen of the First World War live out their lives in the trenches of France. They find brief entertainment and relief in a village behind the lines, but primarily terror fills their lives as the attacks on and from the French army ebb and flow. One of the men, Karl, goes home on leave only to discover the degradation forced on his family by wartime poverty. He returns to the lines in time to face an enormous attack by French tanks.” Submitted by Jim Beaver What I’ve read about this film is that it was a strongly pacifist piece produced at the start of the 1930s that drew heavy criticism from the Nazi cultural industry governance in the ensuing years and was removed from circulation soon after its release. Considered remarkable at the time for its overwhelming realist tendencies in its depiction of trench warfare and the horrors of the Great War as experienced by the average soldier. It has very recently been given a beautiful new restoration by the Deutsche Kinemathek (a large archive of German film that’s been operating since the 1960s) with support from the British Film Institute. The restoration is apparently wonderful and has lent new life to the striking images Pabst recorded some 80 odd years ago. Since it’s never been a better time to see the film, it’s worth checking out! A little extract from a piece by Max Nelson in the latest issue of Film Comment: Max Nelson posted:Writing in the ‘40s with an eye toward analyzing the German cinema’s march towards Nazism, Kracauer was perhaps too inclined to see Pabst’s pacifism and socialism as clumsy handicaps to the sensitive realism that was this director’s more obvious strength – his skill at evoking the daily rhythms of particular professions. It was these causes, after all, that gave Pabst’s filmmaking from this period is energy and urgency. You sense that he could only have hit on such deep wells of visual resourcefulness – the vigor of his tracking shots; the vividness with which he shot faces; the generous place he reserved in his lighting for slim gradation of gray – as long as he was working in the service of a strong and deeply held moral idea. Unfortunately, I cannot find any information of a home release for the new restoration. It seems to be touring around the world at the moment (I can find instances of screenings in parts of Europe through last summer and screenings in November/December in the US) so we will have to do with an older copy. Thankfully, like lots of old movies, its just on YouTube for free: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7tY4WaWZzA So check it out, and maybe you’ll be able to catch a screening near you in the future!
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2017 23:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 7, 2024 08:28 |
|
|
seems good op. i'll watch it after i watch last weeks motw 
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2017 00:14
|
|
|
seems cool, i'll have to check it out sometime ths week. plot summary seems al ot like all quiet on the western front, movie version of tht might be a cool companion piece to check out after (or hell, the book)
|
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2017 02:57
|
|
|
also cn i make a request that links to at least the last few movies of the week show up in the OPs of these, i literally just found out this forums exists nd i'd love to catch up on these lol
|
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2017 02:58
|
|
|
Definitely, Ill keep a complete list at the bottom in future updates. Thankfully, last week was the first one lol https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3808266
|
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2017 03:00
|
|
|
Snow day today so I'll probably watch this
|
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2017 16:06
|
|
|
I started watching this finally. Apparently Germans used to call coffee Negro Sweat, pretty good stuff
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2017 15:50
|
|
|
 I can see why this film has endured, its a very great human look at an overwhelming war. Ill say that if you don't have the chance to watch the whole movie, please check out the final ten minutes, linked here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7tY4WaWZzA&t=4402s because it perfectly encapsulates how the film presented the horror of the front lines. what youll be missing though is how effortlessly the movie swapped between war front and home front, showing off the alienating effects on the mind of a soldier who had to live through these events. the film is also chock full of fantastic camera work, there's many examples of great tracking and crane shots that expand the space of the battlefield. and whats most striking is that even in the domestic scenes they utilize similar camera movements to drive home that lingering effect on the mental state; a soldier getting into bed with his wife is presented the same way as that same soldier digging trenches and lobbing grenades. its very effective! Ive got some timestamps for some of the movements I liked the most: Lingering on a single soldier before moving on Battlefield in daylight Running the trenches Hand to hand combat - I especially like when they tumble into the pit and the camera swoops in after them And this moment isn't a movement but I wanted to highlight it anyway. the distance from the action and the suddenness of the death this early in the film sets the tone very well Here's a gallery of some stills (the quality is low due to it being a shoddy youtube rip but hell thats life) And finally a really good reaction gif to pwn somebody with when they are QQing 
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2017 18:36
|
|
|
I watched Westfront in high school history and it was pretty cool. Very good movie IMO. It's probably the only movie about the horrors of war I've seen that didn't have any 'cool' parts like Apocalypse Now had
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2017 23:04
|
|
|
Garry Parrish posted:I watched Westfront in high school history and it was pretty cool. Very good movie IMO. It's probably the only movie about the horrors of war I've seen that didn't have any 'cool' parts like Apocalypse Now had The clown was cool.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 05:49
|
|
|
elf help book posted:The clown was cool. The chair bit was real good.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 21:37
|
|
|
New week new pick: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3810026
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 21:47
|
|
|
Garry Parrish posted:I watched Westfront in high school history and it was pretty cool. Very good movie IMO. It's probably the only movie about the horrors of war I've seen that didn't have any 'cool' parts like Apocalypse Now had Come and See dude. Also watched the movie, poor Karl can't get a break.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2017 21:20
|
|
|
Plutonis posted:Come and See dude. Also watched the movie, poor Karl can't get a break. It was a real bummer when he returned to the front line and got the warm welcome he couldn't get at home.
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2017 23:08
|
|
|
Come And See is very, completely heartbreaking. It's one of my favorite films though
|
|
#
?
Feb 22, 2017 23:12
|
|
|
Lumpy the Cook posted:Come And See is very, completely heartbreaking. It's one of my favorite films though It's probably one of the movies that got the biggest raw emotional response from me. Probably the best War Movie of all time. This one ranks really high too, watched it back to back with Paths of Glory and loved both.
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2017 00:05
|
|
|
Paths of Glory is so good. Talking about crushing movies though, that final march out of the jail is so brutal.
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2017 00:15
|
|
|
Do you have any links about the tour? Also, I managed to find the Paths of Glory book at a used store, with a really good critical introduction. I'd recommend it as a companion to the film.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2017 20:50
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 7, 2024 08:28 |
|
|
Speleothing posted:Do you have any links about the tour? I was just assuming, because I found reviews and write ups about screenings in a variety of languages over the past 6 months. I also saw the film mentioned in a magazine column that keeps up to date on restorations, so hopefully there's a new home release happening soon.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2017 21:00
|
|