The first key scene takes place in Kantorek's classroom, when he is giving yet another speech to his class about how good it would be for them to join the war. What the director Lewis Milestone did to make the scene more involving was to have a regiment of soldiers marching past the windows of the classroom in the street to cheering crowds. This would have been convenient for Kantorek, as the cheering crowd would have added more effect to his speech, and made the students listen and consider his words more seriously. The camera angles and zoom lengths used are at first a mid shot scene, gradually zooming out to a long shot that shows the classroom. Then there is a close up of Kantorek, quickly zooming in on him as he says "Now class, this is what we must do. Strike with all our power, give every ounce of strength, to win victory before the end of the year" The irony of doing this is that it reaches maximum zoom just after Kantorek has finished these words, emphasizing his last nine words. As we all know, this did not turn out to be. The shots used after this are mainly close ups as Kantorek continues to say how great it is to be in the military and to die for the Fatherland if it comes to it. The characters in focus are predominantly students as Kantorek waits for their response, but once they agree to go, the zoom is back out to mid shot focus as they get all excited about the prospects supposedly ahead of them. The final shot used is a long shot, showing the students marching around out of the classroom and into the street. Sound effects used are the brass band and singing in the street as the soldiers march by. These would have been there for the parade, but they add a glorified picture of the army, particularly as from where the students were sitting, they would have been able to see the soldiers. The resulting impact is that it must have been good to be in the army, due to the crowds, the cheers and general mood of the scene. The only symbolism used was when Kantorek referred to the Roman leigions and how they would have felt, fighting for their country in another one.
The second scene is when the recruits land on the front lines for the first time. The company is packed into a set of trucks, and all along the trip there is calls of "Mind the wire" as they pass under barbed wire entanglements. The camera angles and zoom lengths used during this part are long shots taken from level ground, so you can see the truck with the soldiers' heads poking up out of the back. The next view is of the soldiers marching out of a building into pouring rain not long after arrival. Kat grumbles that the rain is going to last a long time, and then continues marching out into formation. Mid length shots are used to focus on Kat during this passage. After this, the camera shows the company's CO standing out in front of the men and addressing them briefly. He then orders them to fall out. For this brief portion, long shots are used, showing the building the company is standing in front of, the CO and the company itself. Then there is a second of black screen with sounds of war, and gradually the black dissipates to reveal the inside of a dugout during yet another shelling. Kat, Detering and Westhus are playing cards, a couple of people are reading books while the rest anxiously wait the end of the storm. A slightly elevated angle is used here, to show the vulnerability of the soldiers while they are in the dugout. All of a sudden, the card game finishes and Kat sees a mouse that had been nibbling on his bread. Kat throws a boot at it, then tears off and discards the soiled bread. Paul starts to panic and Kat is quick to say, that only in two more days -a week on the front- can the recruits say they've come under fire. This calms him down a bit, but another pair of shells land close to the dugout and send the recruits fleeing for cover. Paul gets back up and remarks "You want to play some more?" The shots used for this section are long and medium shots to show the effects of the shelling, with brief close ups on each of the recruits, showing their reactions. They all relax a bit after this, except for Kemmerich, who starts to get worked up about their predicament. He gets up, and raves about fighting back. Then he starts to get all worked up about it. Kat and the others manage to calm him down. Later, The gang lay a trap for the rats, putting the nibbled bread down on the floor and waiting with spades for their arrival. The rats immediately burst forward, making a beeline for the bread. The men all start swinging their spades and splattering the rats. The shots used are all medium close ups for these scenes as the soldiers look for retribution against the rats. Finally, the rats disappear so the men throw down their spades and sit down again. With each shell blast, more dirt is dislodged from the roof of the dugout. At last, a whistle blows and the men leave the tiny space. The last shot used is a long one, showing the whole group in the dugout. There was no symbolism or imagery used in this scene, and the sounds used were shell blasts from the outside. The meaning is shown in the nervousness of the recruits, but also in the "we've been through this before" attitude of the veterans also in the dugout.
The third scene is when Himmelstoss first meets Baumer's group in the dugout. This is the first time any of them have seen Himmelstoss since training. Leer ventures out of the dugout for a breather, sees Himmelstoss and re-enters, laughing his head off. Naturally, the others wonder what's going on and when Leer tells them, they can barely believe it. Someone remarks "So there is justice in the army!" Himmelstoss enters the dugout and says "Well well. So we are all here, huh?" The men in the dugout quickly joke around with each other, and Himmelstoss can't stand it. He orders the men to stand up and click their heels together. This is taken with more jeering from the men. It has been all mid-long shots so far, until Kropp stands up and comes face to face to Himmelstoss and says "It isn't customary to aask for salutes here. But I'll tell you what we'll doo. We're going to attack a town that we tried to take once before. Many killed and many wounded. It was great fun. This time you're going with us. If any of us stops a bullet, before we die we're going to come to you, click our heels together and ask stiffly 'Please, Sergeant Himmelstoss, may we go?'" To which Himmel stoss replies furiously "You'll, you'll pay for this, you" and leaves. The men burst out in laughter and congratulate him for his actions. During the confrontation between Kropp and Himmelstoss, the zoom is at medium close up, and when Himmelstoss leaves, the camera immediately zooms back out to a long shot. The effect of a close up during the face off is designed to show the extreme tension between Baumer's group and Himmelstoss. This is how the director was able to heighten my appreciation of the scene, and I'm guessing that of many others. As with the other scenes I have reviewed -and indeed the whole film- because it is a 1930's film, there really isn't much they could do with lighting and sound effects to enhance the viewing quality purely because the technology they were using back then was not capable of such things. The impact created by the standoff is one that hits home how much Baumer and the group dislike Himmelstoss and his ways.
The last scene is the one where Paul is trapped in the crater with Gerald Duval, a soldier from the other side whom Paul stabbed with a bayonet and left to die. The crater scene begins with Paul already trapped in the crater following a failed attack on an enemy town (the attack that was told of by Kropp in the previous scene analysed). Duval jumps down into the crater while Paul is pressing against the hole wall. A series of close ups is used in the opening part, looking both at Paul and flicking to Paul's view of Allied soldiers leaping the crater to attack and retreat to their lines. It is on the Allied retreat that Duval jumps down into the crater. Paul is quick to stab him and does so without mercy. Paul puts his hand over Duval's mouth to keep him from raising the alarm to the other soldiers. Nervously looking to get out of the crater, Paul puts his helmet on the barrel of his rifle and raises it above the hole. A burst of machine gun fire knocks the helmet off and confirms Paul's fears. The camera is still set to medium close ups in this sections. Starting to panic, Paul examines his helmet, washes his hands and waits for the shelling to end. During this passage, the only shots used are close ups, with a long shot showing both Paul and Gerald in the shell hole. Then, night falls. Bursts of light from Verey Lights illuminate the sky like fireworks, and the light is reflected on the faces of both Paul and Duval, the latter wheezing for breath. Paul then moves over to Duval who starts to worry about what might happen to him. Paul has other intentions though. In a level voice, he says "I want to help you. I want to help you." This calms Duval down a bit, who then motions that he wants some water. Paul searches for some on his uniform, but finding none, gets out his handkerchief and soaks up some muddy water at the bottom of the shell hole. He gives it to Duval, who is getting weaker by the minute. The screen fades to black and quickly reopens to show sell blasts tossing dirt and shrapnel into the air. Back in the crater, Duval's wheezing is quickly making Paul all the more agitated. He yells at Duval, who can't help the wheezing "Stop It!" Paul can't take much more of this, with his guilt and annoyance feuding inside him. He screams at Duval "Why do you take so long to die? You're going to die anyway!" and his guilt quickly gains control of him as a second later he is saying to Duval "Oh no, you won't die, you'll get home. You'll get home before I will." Gerald Duval dies a few seconds after. Paul can't live with it and shudders, then starts rambling. The camera views in this section are medium close ups again, to convey the moods of agitation, regret and sorrow ll stirring inside Paul. He continues rambling and asking for forgiveness from the dead Duval, hoping to be able to save himself from the monster that is his guilt. He breaks down and cries for a while, then comes to his senses and flees back to the German lines. All through the scene, the predominant shot was a medium close up zoom with shell blasts providing the sound track to the scene. There were short instances of long shots that gave an indication of where they were, but the closer shots were used to show the tension and emotion in the scene. THis is how the director created both the impact and heightened my appreciation of the scene.
The second scene is when the recruits land on the front lines for the first time. The company is packed into a set of trucks, and all along the trip there is calls of "Mind the wire" as they pass under barbed wire entanglements. The camera angles and zoom lengths used during this part are long shots taken from level ground, so you can see the truck with the soldiers' heads poking up out of the back. The next view is of the soldiers marching out of a building into pouring rain not long after arrival. Kat grumbles that the rain is going to last a long time, and then continues marching out into formation. Mid length shots are used to focus on Kat during this passage. After this, the camera shows the company's CO standing out in front of the men and addressing them briefly. He then orders them to fall out. For this brief portion, long shots are used, showing the building the company is standing in front of, the CO and the company itself. Then there is a second of black screen with sounds of war, and gradually the black dissipates to reveal the inside of a dugout during yet another shelling. Kat, Detering and Westhus are playing cards, a couple of people are reading books while the rest anxiously wait the end of the storm. A slightly elevated angle is used here, to show the vulnerability of the soldiers while they are in the dugout. All of a sudden, the card game finishes and Kat sees a mouse that had been nibbling on his bread. Kat throws a boot at it, then tears off and discards the soiled bread. Paul starts to panic and Kat is quick to say, that only in two more days -a week on the front- can the recruits say they've come under fire. This calms him down a bit, but another pair of shells land close to the dugout and send the recruits fleeing for cover. Paul gets back up and remarks "You want to play some more?" The shots used for this section are long and medium shots to show the effects of the shelling, with brief close ups on each of the recruits, showing their reactions. They all relax a bit after this, except for Kemmerich, who starts to get worked up about their predicament. He gets up, and raves about fighting back. Then he starts to get all worked up about it. Kat and the others manage to calm him down. Later, The gang lay a trap for the rats, putting the nibbled bread down on the floor and waiting with spades for their arrival. The rats immediately burst forward, making a beeline for the bread. The men all start swinging their spades and splattering the rats. The shots used are all medium close ups for these scenes as the soldiers look for retribution against the rats. Finally, the rats disappear so the men throw down their spades and sit down again. With each shell blast, more dirt is dislodged from the roof of the dugout. At last, a whistle blows and the men leave the tiny space. The last shot used is a long one, showing the whole group in the dugout. There was no symbolism or imagery used in this scene, and the sounds used were shell blasts from the outside. The meaning is shown in the nervousness of the recruits, but also in the "we've been through this before" attitude of the veterans also in the dugout.
The third scene is when Himmelstoss first meets Baumer's group in the dugout. This is the first time any of them have seen Himmelstoss since training. Leer ventures out of the dugout for a breather, sees Himmelstoss and re-enters, laughing his head off. Naturally, the others wonder what's going on and when Leer tells them, they can barely believe it. Someone remarks "So there is justice in the army!" Himmelstoss enters the dugout and says "Well well. So we are all here, huh?" The men in the dugout quickly joke around with each other, and Himmelstoss can't stand it. He orders the men to stand up and click their heels together. This is taken with more jeering from the men. It has been all mid-long shots so far, until Kropp stands up and comes face to face to Himmelstoss and says "It isn't customary to aask for salutes here. But I'll tell you what we'll doo. We're going to attack a town that we tried to take once before. Many killed and many wounded. It was great fun. This time you're going with us. If any of us stops a bullet, before we die we're going to come to you, click our heels together and ask stiffly 'Please, Sergeant Himmelstoss, may we go?'" To which Himmel stoss replies furiously "You'll, you'll pay for this, you" and leaves. The men burst out in laughter and congratulate him for his actions. During the confrontation between Kropp and Himmelstoss, the zoom is at medium close up, and when Himmelstoss leaves, the camera immediately zooms back out to a long shot. The effect of a close up during the face off is designed to show the extreme tension between Baumer's group and Himmelstoss. This is how the director was able to heighten my appreciation of the scene, and I'm guessing that of many others. As with the other scenes I have reviewed -and indeed the whole film- because it is a 1930's film, there really isn't much they could do with lighting and sound effects to enhance the viewing quality purely because the technology they were using back then was not capable of such things. The impact created by the standoff is one that hits home how much Baumer and the group dislike Himmelstoss and his ways.
The last scene is the one where Paul is trapped in the crater with Gerald Duval, a soldier from the other side whom Paul stabbed with a bayonet and left to die. The crater scene begins with Paul already trapped in the crater following a failed attack on an enemy town (the attack that was told of by Kropp in the previous scene analysed). Duval jumps down into the crater while Paul is pressing against the hole wall. A series of close ups is used in the opening part, looking both at Paul and flicking to Paul's view of Allied soldiers leaping the crater to attack and retreat to their lines. It is on the Allied retreat that Duval jumps down into the crater. Paul is quick to stab him and does so without mercy. Paul puts his hand over Duval's mouth to keep him from raising the alarm to the other soldiers. Nervously looking to get out of the crater, Paul puts his helmet on the barrel of his rifle and raises it above the hole. A burst of machine gun fire knocks the helmet off and confirms Paul's fears. The camera is still set to medium close ups in this sections. Starting to panic, Paul examines his helmet, washes his hands and waits for the shelling to end. During this passage, the only shots used are close ups, with a long shot showing both Paul and Gerald in the shell hole. Then, night falls. Bursts of light from Verey Lights illuminate the sky like fireworks, and the light is reflected on the faces of both Paul and Duval, the latter wheezing for breath. Paul then moves over to Duval who starts to worry about what might happen to him. Paul has other intentions though. In a level voice, he says "I want to help you. I want to help you." This calms Duval down a bit, who then motions that he wants some water. Paul searches for some on his uniform, but finding none, gets out his handkerchief and soaks up some muddy water at the bottom of the shell hole. He gives it to Duval, who is getting weaker by the minute. The screen fades to black and quickly reopens to show sell blasts tossing dirt and shrapnel into the air. Back in the crater, Duval's wheezing is quickly making Paul all the more agitated. He yells at Duval, who can't help the wheezing "Stop It!" Paul can't take much more of this, with his guilt and annoyance feuding inside him. He screams at Duval "Why do you take so long to die? You're going to die anyway!" and his guilt quickly gains control of him as a second later he is saying to Duval "Oh no, you won't die, you'll get home. You'll get home before I will." Gerald Duval dies a few seconds after. Paul can't live with it and shudders, then starts rambling. The camera views in this section are medium close ups again, to convey the moods of agitation, regret and sorrow ll stirring inside Paul. He continues rambling and asking for forgiveness from the dead Duval, hoping to be able to save himself from the monster that is his guilt. He breaks down and cries for a while, then comes to his senses and flees back to the German lines. All through the scene, the predominant shot was a medium close up zoom with shell blasts providing the sound track to the scene. There were short instances of long shots that gave an indication of where they were, but the closer shots were used to show the tension and emotion in the scene. THis is how the director created both the impact and heightened my appreciation of the scene.