When writer, director and producer Edward Berger wanted to remake Erich Maria Remarque’s classic anti-war novel No news from the western front, he had no idea that this first German-language film adaptation of World War I history would become so relevant and timely when Putin invaded Ukraine. After all, the film just premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and was certainly not something we thought about during the development of the film – remarkably made for less than $20 million and distributed worldwide in theaters and via streaming from Netflix.
As he tells me in our conversation for this week’s installment of my Deadline video series Behind the Lens, it all started with the idea of telling the story from a German POV, not adapting the Oscar-winning 1930s American classic by director Lewis Milestone, reissue. , which won awards for director and best picture that year. There are major differences while still staying true to the book, and it caught the public’s attention. Netflix announced today that it has logged more than 150 million hours of viewing time since its release in October and ranked #2 worldwide since its record-breaking seven BAFTA wins, including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and Best Film Non-English Language took off ; and its nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay and International Feature.
In our conversation, Berger talks about why he felt it was important to tell this compelling story 90 years after it was written and the amazing connection it seems to have with the war in Ukraine – many of the images in the film are similar , amazing what we see on the nightly news broadcasts.
Berger is shooting his next film, conclavein the legendary Cinecitta in Rome with an all-star cast and has found great success and Emmy recognition for television productions such as Patrick Melrose with Benedict Cumberbatch, The Terror with Jared Harris and many films in his native German language.
Click on the video above to watch our conversation.
Source: Deadline
Ashley Root is an author and celebrity journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for all things celebrity, Ashley is always up-to-date on the latest gossip and trends in the world of entertainment.
