Celluloid : the film to-day (1931)

124 CELLULOID our first taste of bombardment and attack. And when at last we are submerged in shrieking shells and bursting earth, when our senses are deadened with noise, the reaction is tremendous. Of its cutting and sound effects I will write later; what is our concern at the moment is its significance in relation to the rest of the film. This sudden raising of the emotions comes about a third of the way through the picture, and is balanced later by another terrific attack. These two spectacular panoramas are the high peaks of emotion, modulated by the less exciting moments at the hospital, Baumer's leave, and the scene with the dying Frenchman in the shell-hole. But throughout all this action and counter-action, the film rushes forward on its fatal theme. Never does the incidental interfere with the main stride of the picture. The details which we remember so clearly from the book, Kemmerich's boots, the extra portion of rations, the dialogue about the cause of the War, the scene with the coffin in the churchyard — these are all so well fitted into the main continuity that the film sweeps on unhindered in its bigness. The scene in the dug-out when the young recruit breaks out into his ravings of fear is handled with admirable restraint. Earth drops through the cracks in the loosely-boarded roof every time a shell bursts near. Katczinsky and Paul keep up the spirits of the despondent group. The tension is drawn to the finest pitch of high emotion, until suddenly the boy starts his whimpering and rushes out into the open trench to escape over the top. As he breaks into the open air, we feel for a fleeting moment the very