A war story is perfect bait for the Academy Awards. Sixteen such films have won Best Picture, dozens more have been nominated in major categories over the years, and war movies are among the genres most famously associated with the prestige of the Oscars. Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front is the latest example of a long-standing tradition; it picked up nine nominations from the Academy in addition to its recent victory lap at the British Academy Film Awards in February. An adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s cherished 1929 novel of the same name, All Quiet follows a teenager named Paul Bäumer (played by Felix Kammerer), who, along with his classmates, is swept up in the fervor of World War I and voluntarily joins the German army.
