WESTFRONT 1918 (Pabst, 1930)
Criterion Collection, Blu-ray, Release Date Jan 30, 2018
Review by Christopher S. Long
The naivete of a virginal student, the
cheerfulness of a working-class Bavarian man, the hard-earned
experience of an army lieutenant, the reluctant stoicism of of
another infantry grunt – a wide gamut of personality traits and
defense mechanisms, each pierced with equal disregard by steel-core
bullets in G.W. Pabst's grim World War I movie, “Westfront 1918”
(1930).
Pabst is best known today for his two
silent Louise Brooks vehicles, “Pandora's Box” (1929) and “Diary
of A Lost Girl” (1929), but most of his sound films aside from “The
Threepenny Opera” (1931) remain largely overlooked. Criterion's
twin releases this week, “Westfront 1918” and “Kameradschaft”(1931), prove that the great Austrian director made the transition to
sound as smoothly as anyone.
“Westfront 1918” begins with the
battle away from the front lines, as a group of soldiers relentlessly
paw at a young woman (“Mine next!”) who has a full-time job
fending off their advances before finding her way into the arms of
her young lover, the aforementioned student. Later, the film will
focus on the desperate straits of the German citizens suffering from
wartime shortages, including endless food lines and a soldier's wife
forced into dire measures to pay the bills while her husband is at
war.
For all the attention lavished on the
homefront, Pabst and screenwriter Ladislaus Vajda, adapting a novel
by Ernst Johannsen, reach their heights when evoking the horrors of
life and death in the trenches. Bravery is in no short supply, but
it's defined not by grand heroic gestures, rather by the ability to
endure the constant terror of slaughter, as likely to come from
errant “friendly” fire as from the enemy hidden a few hundred
yards away in the other trenches.
Death can arrive from anywhere and at
any time. A soldier reaches to test a small wound on his neck and
just has time to exclaim “Well, I'll be” before pitching forward.
A small group of terrified men try to prop up a crumbling wall in one
of their makeshift shelters, as the very structure built to protect
them now threatens to bury them alive. There is nowhere to hide, and
there never will be.
Like the best directors exploring the
uncharted dimensions of sound cinema, Pabst doesn't pour on the sound
design simply to simulate realism, but deploys sound selectively for
specific expressive effects. The low whistle of an incoming shell is
all the more frightening because of the relative silence it shatters.
Pabst shot many scenes silently, layering in sound in
post-production, freeing the camera to guide as fluidly as in his
earlier films, though he also used synchronized sound in the few more
dialogue-heavy sequences.
“Westfront 1918” generates much of
its considerable power from the array of faces and bodies of all
kinds documented by the camera, but never more so than during the
hellscape that ends the movie, a makeshift hospital littered with the
dead and dismembered, the living still unable to believe they no
longer have legs or arms. The film's final note hardly inspires even
the faintest shred of hope as a helpless man criesout for water. We
fade-out before learning if anyone is left to hear him.
Video:
The film is presented in its original
1.19:1 ratio, a narrower ratio employed in the early days of sound
film. The original camera negative is lost, and this 2014 restoration
by the Deutsche Kinemathek relies on a 35 mm duplicate positive held
at BFI, and a 35 mm duplicate negative from Praesans-Film AG to
replace shots missing from the positive print. Considering the
extensive restoration necessary, this high-def transfer looks
remarkably sharp and shows off a grainy depth with surprising detail
even in some of the darker scenes. There are a few instances of
damage visible, but the final product is quite impressive.
Audio:
The linear PCM mono audio track sounds
a bit hollow but is otherwise clear and consistent throughout.
Optional English subtitles support the German audio.
Extras:
Criterion has unearthed one unexpected
feature, a lengthy (71 min.) interview with several World War I vets,
both German and French, who discuss their reactions to the film. As a
group, they find it quite powerful and realistic. The interview was
originally aired (along with the film) on a Nov 12, 1969 episode of
the French TV program “Les Dossiers de l'Ecran.”
The disc also includes an archival
audio-only interview (1988, 3 min.) with the film's editor Jean Oser,
who mostly discusses how his early approach to what later would come
to be known as Foley sound work.
We also get a new interview (2016, 18
min.) with film scholar Jan-Christopher Horak, director of the UCLA
Film and Television Archive. He contrasts Pabst's film with Lewis
Milestone's “All Quiet on the Western Front,” released at almost
the same time, and then provides some fascinating details about the
production of Pabst's film as well as about some of the cast members.
Finally, the disc includes a
Restoration Demonstration (9 min.), featuring members of the team at
Deutsche Kinemathek. I'm always riveted by this restoration
featurettes and wish they were longer.
The slim fold-out insert booklet
features an essay by author and critic Luc Sante.
Final Thoughts:
Many viewers know Pabst past as a
master of silent cinema, but his first sound film ranks comfortably
among his very best. Criterion has provided a strong high-def
transfer of this recently restored film along with a solid collection
of extra features. Obviously, this release is strongly recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment