Watching War: A Symposium on Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front (11 May, 2023, online)

Edward Berger's 2022 film adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's Im Westen Nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front) has been described as 'the finest First World War film to date' (Wyatt, 2022) and as 'one of the worst films of all time' (zu Dohna, 2023). An extensive public enthusiasm for the film and the various accolades it has received e.g. the BAFTA for Best Film and the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film), which marked yet another return of German cinema on the international stage, faced a critical reception that also outlined the film's flaws. While some pundits praised the film's aesthetics, others decried its gratuitous sensationalisation of wartime experience and dabbling in tropes problematic at best - and dangerous at worst.

Taking the public enthusiasm for the film as well as its mixed reviews as a point of departure, this symposium brings together an interdisciplinary team of scholars in order to assess the contested discourse around the film. The format is straightforward: each session will feature scholars who will present short interventions into ongoing discourse about the film by way of stimulating a conversation.

The symposium is free and open to the public. We invite scholars, students, and cinephiles alike to join us in the ongoing debates about this film. Please register to attend via Zoom hereLink opens in a new window.

This symposium has been co-organised by Molly Harrabin and Ervin Malakaj.

Programme

6:00-6:30 am Vancouver (3:00-3:30 pm Berlin) Welcome and Introductions (Molly Harrabin & Ervin Malakaj)

6:30-7:45 am Vancouver (3:30 - 4:45 pm Berlin) Session 1

Moderator: Molly Harrabin

1. “All strategic on the Western Front: German Visual Culture as Transnational Genre Narrative” | Stephan Ehrig (University of Glasgow), Benjamin Schaper (University of Oxford), and Elizabeth Ward (Viadrina/ILCS)
2. “US Industry, German Story, Chinese Audience: Questions of Transnationalism and Popularity in Im Westen Nichts Neues (2022)” | Yejun Zou (Sun Yat-sen University)
3. “Comics Modes and War Representation in All Quiet on the Western Front” I Rik Spanjers (University of Amsterdam)
4. “An Ante-War Film? Disentangling the Spatiotemporal Logics Behind Receptions of All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)” | Lawrence Alexander (University of Cambridge/ Freie Universität Berlin)

7:45-9:00 am Vancouver (4:45 - 6:00 pm Berlin) Session 2

Moderator: Ervin Malakaj

1. “‘Im Westen stets etwas Neues’: The Netflix adaptation of Remarque’s novel as a commentary on Contemporary Crises and a Reflection of Changing Perceptions of World War One” | Bill Niven (Nottingham Trent University) and Karina von Lindeiner-Strasky (Open University)
2. “Narrations of Pain in German World War I Literature and All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)” | Diego León-Villagrá (Freie Universität Berlin)
3. “Im Kino nichts Neues: All Quiet on the Western Front and the Cinematic Legacy of World War One’ I Ian Roberts & Molly Harrabin (University of Warwick)

9:30-10:45 am Vancouver (6:30 - 7:45 pm Berlin) Session 3

Moderator: Ervin Malakaj

1. “Military Masculinities; or, What’s Queer im Westen?” | Tom Smith (University of St. Andrews)
2. “Debunking Hegemonic Masculinity in All Quiet on the Western Front” | Priscilla Layne (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill)
3. “Truly a ‘Reflection of our Times’? All Quiet on the Western Front and the War in Ukraine” | Alrik Daldrup (Universität Kiel)

10:45-12 pm Vancouver (7:45 - 9:00 pm Berlin) Session 4

Moderator: Molly Harrabin

1. “Aesthetics of War: Realism and the Real” I Evelyn Preuss (University of Oklahoma)
2. “Disappointed from Jump: All Quiet from the South” | Michelle Moyd (Michigan State University)
3. “The Sounds of War: The Auditory Aspects of All Quiet on the Western Front” | Tom Ue (Dalhousie University)
4. “Truly ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’? The Global Aesthetics of Edward Berger’s Netflix Production All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)” | Stephan Jaeger (University of Manitoba)

12:00-1:15 pm Vancouver (9:00 - 10:15 pm Berlin) Session 5

Moderator: Molly Harrabin

1. “Here's mud in your eye: Cinema, War, Whiteness and All Quiet on the Western Front” I William Brown (University of British Columbia)
2. “Rewriting the Stab in the Back? The General in Netflix’s All Quiet” | Annette Timm (University of Calgary)
3. “The Unbearable Cringe of Misplaced Pacifism” | Ervin Malakaj (University of British Columbia)
4. “Domestic Space in War Films” | Gaia Kriscak (Catolica University, Porto)

1:15-1:45 pm Vancouver (10:15 - 10:45 pm Berlin) Closing Remarks (Molly Harrabin & Ervin Malakaj)