I read the book as a teenager but seeing it in live-action was brutal. You forget that soldiers used gas and fucking flamethrowers on people, and they did it so their ruling class can get even wealthier.
Remembering that the causes of that war were about European empires trying to carve up Germany because capital had reached its zenith under the pre-war status quo unless it acquired new markets and territories to expand into was just eye-opening.
:eu-cool: :germany-cool: :france-cool:
:ukkk:
The Germans were portrayed sympathetically since it the book was written by a German imperial soldier, and the film followed suit. They weren't heroes, but they were humanized and so were the French to a lesser degree. In the film, the French were the ones wielding flamethrowers and gas, but it's not like it was an exclusive tactic to France and Britain.
I don't sympathize with the German Empire or the characters of the book/movie, it's just that the aftermath of the war was the aims of the older capitalist empires all along: To destroy a powerful hegemonic rival - the German Empire - and to absorb its colonies and possessions so the victors' markets can continue to expand and acquire new wealth. Had Germany won the reverse would have been inflicted upon France and Britain, for certain.
It was disturbing but the movie was well executed for a Netflix adaptation, I think. It conveyed the brutality of war and the senselessness of it, as well as the futilities and evils of nationalism.