Paths of Glory

Paths of Glory Review

Stanley Kubrick's work is distinguished in many ways, but he rarely gets enough credit for the fact that he made *two* of the best anti-war films ever made. While most people are familiar with Full Metal Jacket, it is criminal that Paths Of Glory is not better known. It is probably the closest thing to a genuinely flawless film that Kubrick ever made. Everything from production design to camera motion to dialogue to actor performance is spot on in this picture. And that's leaving aside the adamantine philosophical message presented here, one that Kubrick often returned to in his movies: The Absurdity of Humanity's Brutality On Itself. Although most of his films address this theme, in Paths Of Glory we see it as the central motif, and it is played beautifully and tragically. One can appreciate the folly of war generally, and the utter stupidity of The Great War specifically, from this film as well as any history text or documentary.

Here Kubrick made his first extensive use of what was to become his signature camera motion: the corridor tracking shot. We see General Mireau and Colonel Dax survey their men in the trenches via this device early in the film, and later watch the condemned men trudge toward their execution through a corridor of fellow fusiliers--clearly a device meant to pose the question, "Where is the real danger? From the machineries of war, or from ourselves?" Kubrick also portrays the action here as though it is in the form of a chess game, as he does in a number of other films (see The Killing). Chessboards of sorts abound here (the floor of the inquest room and other places in the palace come to mind), and the characters are shown moving in chess-like fashion as befits their rank. Watching this film from a technical standpoint, one can truly understand why he earned the nickname "The Master." He was.

Though most of Stanley Kubrick's work has received several releases and upgrades on modern formats, his earlier pictures (and Barry Lyndon, still, if memory serves) have not received their due. It is heartening to see that Criterion has secured the rights to release this wonderfully deserving film in a new transfer; having seen what they've done with Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, I am excited to see the results of this, one of my top 3 Kubrick films. The currently available DVD is satisfactory from an image quality standpoint, but I have no doubt the upcoming Criterion release will represent a quantum leap of an upgrade. The extra features alone warrant another purchase.

If you're a Kubrick fan, buy this.
Never seen a Kubrick film before? BUY THIS.

Paths of Glory Overview

Safe in their picturesque chateau behind the front lines, the French general staff passes down a direct order to Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas): take the Ant Hill at any cost. A blatant suicide mission, the attack is doomed to failure. Covering up their fatal blunder, the generals order the arrest of three innocent soldiers, charging them with cowardice and mutiny. Dax, a lawyer in civilian life, rises to the men's defense but soon realizes that, unless he can prove that the generals were to blame,nothing less than a miracle will save his clients from the firing squad. A compelling masterpiece from world-class director/writer Stanley Kubrick and screenwriters Calder Willingham and JimThompson, Paths of Glory is a blistering indictment of military politics and "an unforgettable movie experience" (Newsweek).

Paths of Glory Specifications

Stanley Kubrick had already made his talent known with the outstanding racetrack heist thriller The Killing, but it was the 1957 antiwar masterpiece Paths of Glory that catapulted Kubrick to international acclaim. Based on the novel by Humphrey Cobb, the film was initiated by Kirk Douglas, who chose the young Kubrick to direct what would become one of the most powerful films about the wasteful insanity of warfare. In one of his finest roles, Douglas plays Colonel Dax, commander of a battle-worn regiment of the French army along the western front during World War I. Held in their trenches under the threat of German artillery, the regiment is ordered on a suicidal mission to capture an enemy stronghold. When the mission inevitably fails, French generals order the selection of three soldiers to be tried and executed on the charge of cowardice. Dax is appointed as defense attorney for the chosen scapegoats, and what follows is a travesty of justice that has remained relevant and powerful for decades. In the wake of some of the most authentic and devastating battle sequences ever filmed, Kubrick brilliantly explores the political machinations and selfish personal ambitions that result in battlefield slaughter and senseless executions. The film is unflinching in its condemnation of war and the self-indulgence of military leaders who orchestrate the deaths of thousands from the comfort of their luxurious headquarters. For many years, Paths of Glory was banned in France as a slanderous attack on French honor, but it's clear that Kubrick's intense drama is aimed at all nations and all men. Though it touches on themes of courage and loyalty in the context of warfare, the film is specifically about the historical realities of World War I, but its impact and artistic achievement remain timeless and universal. --Jeff Shannon

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