We discuss where was the Netflix film All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) filmed, which may contain minor plot references.
Netflix’s adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front marks the third filmed version of Erich Maria Remarque’s classic 1929 anti-war novel. More notably, this is the first time the story has been told onscreen in German, the language in the book was originally written in. Edward Berger creates a harrowing and horrifying World War I story with a fantastic cast including Felix Kammerer, Daniel Brühl, Albrecht Schuch, Sebastian Hülk, Aaron Hilmer, Edin Hasanovic, and Devid Striesow.
The film follows a young man named Paul who enlists in the German army amongst his school friends towards the end of the First World War and is dismayed by the conditions that he finds in the trenches. The film has received very positive reviews from critics, currently sitting at a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. They have praised the cinematography, production design, hair and makeup, acting, and particularly the score by Volker Bertelmann.
In his review for Ready Steady Cut, M.N. Miller called it “one of the most gut-wrenching, brutal, and uncompromising anti-war films ever made.” In my review for AwardsWatch, I stated, “Remarque wrote one of the most important texts of anti-war literature and Berger has created a film that perfectly elevates it to modern cinema.”
Where was the Netflix film All Quiet on the Western Front filmed – a breakdown of locations
In and Around Prague
Most of the film was made in or outside of Prague. In an interview with Newsweek, director Edward Berger explained, “Prague has very welcoming, and great crews, but also it is slightly more economical to shoot there.” He elaborated that there were many unrenovated buildings in Prague that made it easy to transform into a city in the late 1910s. This gave it precedence over other cities in Belgium or Germany.
As much of the film takes place in the trenches of the French countryside, they had to create those outside of the city. He said, “We built the trenches in a big airfield, about an hour outside of Prague…So we dug the trenches there and built a crater and the other craters and mounds and the burnt trees.” Having access to a main city, but with space to recreate large trenches, was ideal for filming.
Other towns used in filming included: Milovice, Králuv, Dvur, Libušín, Vinarice, Benátky nad Jizerou, Lišany, Chotyšany, and Luštenice.
Germany and Belgium
Other filming locations included towns in Germany and Belgium. As there are many different settings in the film, it makes sense that they filmed in a lot of different locations. While the film is mostly set in France, there are also scenes that take place in Germany. Regardless, it was easy enough to make places in Germany and Belgium look appropriate for the film’s settings.
Barrandov Studios
While much of the filming took place on location, additional scenes were shot at Barrandov Studios. Located on the southern outskirts of Prague, the studio was used to supplement the other filming locations for anything that couldn’t be filmed on location.
You can watch this film with a subscription to Netflix.
