peter myronov

There are some people in the review section who wrote that the scenes with General Friedrichs and other politicians do not add to the movie. This shows that they did not properly understand their significance to the story. The main antagonist of the movie, the General says that he is a soldier, while eating a lavish dinner in his mansion, displaying impeccable use of irony. Many times after a gut-wrenching battle takes place, the scene cuts to the General in his house eating such aforementioned meals, and calling the troops he commands cowards, when really, he is the coward. Personally, when I imagine him in the trenches, I imagine him to be curled up in a ball crying for his mother while the soldiers are all rushing to their near certain deaths, and that is exactly what the producer wants you to envision. In my opinion, even more importantly, his character is used as a metaphor for the ridiculous nationalism and pride found in many leaders of the time of the first world war. The General favors the image of his beloved Deutschland over the lives of millions of its inhabitants. The final scene is also said by some to be useless, when in fact it emphasizes this very theme. Paul's death 1 minute before the announcement of the armistice is not a useless attempt to shock the audience, but a confrontation with reality and a clear view of the consequences of Germany's widespread nationalism. Matthias Erzberger, the man who signed the armistice agreement(the one who convinced the others to as well), was an integral character as well. He is used to contrast the General as a man who opposed nationalism, and in real life, he showcased vocal support towards the Treaty of Versailles (a treaty that stated that Germany was entirely responsible for the war, and that they should receive vast financial, military, and territorial repercussions.) This made him a target for many extreme nationalists, and he was assassinated in 1921. The man who ordered his assassination, Manfred Von Killinger, became a nazi politician, and fed into this apparent cycle of nationalism and pride.