Westfront 1918

One of the four infantrymen who spend rest days behind the front, he provides a steady, quietly worn presence amid the group’s fatigue. His practical skepticism and calm demeanor help anchor the others as danger looms. The muddy, war-torn landscape tests his resilience and loyalty.

The supply master behind the lines who ensures the troops have rations and basic equipment. His role highlights the importance of logistics in sustaining frontline fighting. He embodies the steady, unseen work that keeps soldiers moving under constant strain.

Karl returns from leave to find his wife unfaithful, a bitter reminder of the home front’s fragility. He carries this wound back to the front, where war intensifies his despair. In the end, his feverish moment with a wounded comrade’s hand and the line 'We are all to blame' makes his death a sobering commentary on shared guilt.

A young messenger who risks his life to relay artillery instructions and to rescue comrades from danger. He falls in love with Yvette, offering a human center to the carnage around him. His stabbing in a melee and the mud-filled shell-hole image underscore the fragility of life and the cost of heroism.

A nervous, increasingly unstable officer who salutes a pile of corpses with a haunting, unhinged shout of 'Hurrah.' His breakdown contrasts with the scenes of solidarity around him, culminating with his admission to the field hospital alongside the wounded. He embodies the psychological toll of war on leadership.

A French peasant girl who becomes the Student’s love interest, representing a personal alternative to the battlefield’s violence. Her presence introduces tenderness in a landscape dominated by mud and death, and her fate signals the war’s reach into ordinary life.