It’s been a busy week for the Netflix-produced All Quiet on the Western Front, the first German-language adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s classic World War I novel that shot on locations in and outside of Prague last spring.
Germany has announced that All Quiet on the Western Front would be the country’s official submission for the 2022 Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. A previous US adaptation in 1930 from Universal Studios won the third-ever Oscar for Best Picture.
The Prague-shot All Quiet on the Western Front joins a number of Oscar submissions with Czech connections. Il Boemo was recently announced as the Czech Republic’s official Oscar submission, while the Czech-Slovak co-production Victim has been chosen to represent Slovakia at the Oscars.
Oscar-submitted films from the Czech Republic’s other neighbors – Austria’s Corsage and Poland’s EO – both recently played at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Netflix recently released the first trailer for All Quiet on the Western Front, which showcases some of the Czech locations used in the project. The film will receive a limited release in US cinemas from October 7 before premiering on the streaming service worldwide from October 28.
All Quiet on the Western Front held its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival a few days ago, and has drawn rave reviews and suggestions that it might reach beyond the Best International Feature Film category at this year’s Oscars. Indiewire recently suggested that production designer Christian Goldbeck could nab an Oscar nomination for his use of the Czech locations in the movie.
Screen International’s Fionnuala Halligan calls the film “a wrenching, visceral adaptation of a work that is almost a century old, written when ruined veterans could still hear the sound of the gunfire in their dreams.”
“Berger and his crew have crafted a faithful and heart-wrenching adaptation that fully realizes the novel’s trenchant anti-war themes,” writes The Playlist‘s Marya E. Gates.
Felix Kammerer as Paul Bäumer
All Quiet on the Western Front was directed by Edward Berger and stars Daniel Brühl, Albrecht Schuch, Sebastian Hülk, Anton von Lucke, and Felix Kammerer in his film debut in the leading role.
In addition to filming at Barrandov Studio and other locations in Prague, All Quiet on the Western Front also shot at about two dozen other locations in surrounding areas of Bohemia in the Czech Republic.
In the Central Bohemian region surrounding Prague, filming for All Quiet on the Western Front took place at Milovice, Králův Dvůr, Točník Castle, Libušín, Vinařice, Benátky nad Jizerou, Lišany, Chotýšany, Luštěnice, and chateaux in Liběchov and Hořín.
In the nearby Ústí nad Labem, filming took place at Žatec, Roudnice nad Labem, Buškovice, Postoloprty, Černochov, and the Brody chateau. Scenes for All Quiet on the Western Front were also filmed at Sychrov Castle near Liberec and the Chotěšov Abbey in the Plzeň region.
This isn’t the first version of All Quiet on the Western Front to shoot in Bohemian locations. A 1979 version, directed by Delbert Mann and starring Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, and Ian Holm, was also primarily filmed outside of Prague in what was then-Czechoslovakia.
