Edward Berger, Daniel Brühl & Felix Kammerer Interview — Contenders International – KristenBellTattoos.com

Director Edward Berger said what impressed him most about the prospect of adapting Eric Maria Remarque’s world-renowned best-selling book. All quiet on the Western Front An opportunity to tell a story in his native German language in a film.

While the film has been adapted for film and television by American filmmakers, Berger was compelled to bring his own version of the gripping story of a young German soldier on the Western Front of World War I to the screen.

“As an American or a British filmmaker, you have a very different history of the two wars,” the German director said at KristenBellTattoos.com’s Container Film: International Awards Season event about the Netflix film with his stars Daniel Brühl and Felix Kemmerer. said on the panel. “You have a history of being att*cked and both countries defending themselves and of being fought against their will and that gives rise to stories of bravery or honor that future generations look back on with pride. Sad, of course. But at least there is a different legacy.

“In Germany, there is no pride or honor that you can look back on,” he continued. “There’s a sense of shame or terror or responsibility about history, and if you make this film as a German filmmaker in German and it’s a German book, hopefully the film will be as good as an American or British film. will turn out to be very different.”

In the film, which was selected for Germany’s International Feature Oscar submission, Kammerer plays Paul, who experiences for the first time how the initial joy of war turns to despair and fear when Soldiers fight for their lives and each other in the trenches. Brühl also starred as Mathias Erzberger, “a brave man” who “criticized the politics of the German Reich throughout his career.”

Speaking about a scene in the film where Erzberger is on a train encouraging a truce between military and political French and German figures, Brühl said, “I was inspired to play him because these scenes I’m the only human voice on that train. Artistically, I find it very interesting that it’s amazing to see that it all comes down to the people on the train who are reluctant to sign the peace agreement, and the thousands of them. The fate of young soldiers depends on these soldiers. [men] And politicians.”

Check back Monday for the panel video.