Nov 18, 2022
Kenny and Mike open the 5th season of Faithspotting by discussing the film and faith issues spotted in the latest film version of Erich Maria Remarque's 1928 novel All Quiet on the Western Front. The 1930 film won the Best Picture and Best Director Oscar for Lewis Milestone. the 2022 film, directed by Edward Berger and staring Felix Kammerer as Paul Baumer and Albrecht Schuch as veteran Stanislaus Katczinsky.
All Quiet on the Western Front follows the 17 year old German student Paul, and his classmates who, whipped into a war frenzy by their school master, volunteer to serve in the German army in the last year of the war. Told they would be marching into Paris in a matter of weeks, the boys are driven to the stalemate that is the trench warfare of the first world war. The film also depicts the contrasts between those who fight in the trenches and the Generals who make decisions with little to no regard for the lives and welfare of the soldiers in the trenches.
Kenny and Mike compare the film favorably with some of the great films depicting war, Saving Private Ryan, 1917, and Paths of Glory. All Quiet on the Western Front is German submission for the Best International Film Oscar for the 2023 Academy Awards.
Faith Issues Spotted:
The purpose and need for the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and Plain in Matthew and Luke 6, and Paul's teaching in Romans 12. Disciples of Jesus are called to love enemies and return hate and persecution with love and forgiveness. Followers of Christ are called to seek and live for the Kingdom of God by living by Righteousness rather than the ways and expectations of the ways of the world.
The film also echoes the need for the teaching of Galatians 3:28, that disciples of Jesus are all one, united in Christ, and no longer Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or gree. Christians, as the Israelites are residents and aliens of the worldly nations and citizens of the Kingdom of God.
All Quiet on the Western Front is rated R for Violence.