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In 1928, the Vossische Zeitung first published All quiet on the Western Front in serial form. Erich Maria Remarque was still an almost unknown author. At last, one got a glimpse of the war as observed by someone who had experienced it first-hand by fighting on the front. War was seen here as an event that only served to enrich the mighty.
New uprisings in the city
A real sensation in recent months was the feature film All quiet on the Western Front, directed by Edward Berger, starring young Austrian actor Felix Kammerer in the title role and based on the novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque. Winner of four Academy Awards (including Best International Film) and previously nominated by the Academy in nine categories, Berger’s film is, in fact, the third film adaptation of Remarque’s novel (after All quiet on the Western Front, directed by Lewis Milestone in 1930, and All quiet on the Western Front, directed by Delbert Mann in 1979).
If today, therefore, Remarque’s novel is considered one of the most important classics of the last century, few will know that, when the book was published (and even more so when Milestone’s film was released), a real revolution, complete with protests and demonstrations, started all over the world (and, in particular, in Germany and Austria). The reason? Simple: for the first time – in contrast to what had been done with propaganda cinema for years – Remarque (and Milestone after him) showed us war as a brutal and unnatural event, as something totally wrong, in which it was precisely the young soldiers fighting on the front who lost their lives or, at any rate, saw their lives ruined forever.
Thus, in 1928, the Vossische Zeitung published All quiet on the Western Front in serial form for the first time. Erich Maria Remarque was still an almost unknown author. In 1929, however, the book was finally published in full and immediately enjoyed incredible success: 910,000 copies were sold in Germany alone and the novel was translated into no less than twenty-eight languages. At last, there was an image of the war as observed by someone who had experienced it first-hand by fighting on the front. Erich Maria Remarque himself was deeply affected by what he experienced during World War I. War was considered here as an event that only served to enrich the mighty.
The publication of All quiet on the Western Front, as we can imagine, immediately gave rise to numerous debates that involved, in particular, right-wingers (who accused the novel of being untruthful) against left-wingers (who, on the other hand, declared themselves against any war). These debates were further exacerbated when, in 1930, Lewis Milestone made All quiet on the Western Front. In May 1930 its premiere took place in the USA, while in Germany and Austria the film was supposed to be shown for the first time in December of the same year. Things, however, took an unexpected turn.
In Germany, already on December 11, numerous supporters of the National Socialist Party started to protest in the streets of Berlin, damaging numerous buildings, shop windows and businesses. Following these events, it was decided on December 13 to ban the film for reasons of public safety.
Following these events, in Austria the premiere of All quiet on the Western Front was scheduled for January 1931. Here too, however, there were numerous protests by right-wing parties, as a result of which the idea of banning the film was also considered, also as a sign of solidarity with what had just happened in Germany. Following a screening reserved for a selected audience that included the mayor of Vienna, Karl Seitz, ministers and journalists, taking into account the potential risks, however, it was decided that the film’s premiere would take place on January 3, 1931, at 11 p.m., at the Apollo Kino in Vienna. Again, however, things did not go as hoped.
While many members of the Social Democratic Party had bought numerous tickets for the show, the National Socialists had already been protesting for several days through newspaper articles and billboards, often also proclaiming anti-Semitic statements. On the opening night, the unexpected happened: in the streets surrounding the cinema, there were serious clashes between the demonstrators and the police, numerous shops and cafés were damaged, and tear gas was thrown right near the Apollo Kino. As if this were not enough, on January 6 the National Socialists attempted to set fire at the Schwedenkino, where a screening of All quiet on the Western Front was to take place the next day. By then the situation was out of control.
Such events led to the idea of banning the film for reasons of public safety, just as had happened in Germany, or at least censoring it. Mayor Seitz, a Social Democrat, was against this, but in the end, such a drastic solution was not immediately reached: the cities of Linz and Bregenz decided to ban the film, while Vienna initially tried to ‘resist’, before also deciding to cancel any planned screenings. At this point, however, something unexpected happened: alongside the protests of the National Socialists, thousands of Viennese, who had fully understood the pacifist intentions of both the film and the novel, bought thousands of cinema tickets to go and see All quiet on the Western Front in Pressburg, where the feature film was still being shown. At last, something new had happened. At last it had been realised how wrong wars can be. (Also) thanks to cinema, this was possible. This, however, was not enough to prevent another even more dramatic world war a few years later.