Paths of Glory

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If you can watch this movie all the way through to the final scene in a bar in which a German girl (played by Kubrick's wife!) sings a song and all the grizzled veterans in the room cry--and not cry yourself--then something's wrong with you. This is one heck of a powerful film and makes a better statement against the senselessness of war than many films with vastly bigger budgets. It blew me away the first time I saw it.

I had read all the hoopla about this being one of the seminal anti-war films of all times and, upon finally seeing it, was astounded at how overrated and poorly done it is. The movie is less a drama than a Victorian melodrama. All the generals and officers are the mustachioed villain and all the soldiers are the sausage-curled maiden tied to the railroad tracks. The dialogue is farcically unrealistic; General Mireau's lines, in particular, are of the "Aha, my pretty, at last I have you in my clutches!" variety. One almost thinks that the director is trying to make the audience hiss. Character development is non-existent, as is subtlety. The ballroom scene, in particular, with the grandly attired generals dancing to Strauss waltzes in luxurious surroundings with elegantly attired women is - get it? - supposed to be a contrast with the misery of the soldiers; the point is made like being hit on the side of the head with 2-by-4. Kirk Douglas does the best he can with a limited part. The denouement with the German girl (a prisoner? a prostitute? a lost civilian? just who the hell is she?) singing is both baffling and unconvincing. One keeps waiting for some kind of closure and - bam! - 'The End' comes up. This is not a quarrel with the theme of the movie, just its execution. For a truly brilliant treatment of the same theme - the scapegoating of soldiers by an uncaring and expedient power structure - see 'Breaker Morant,' a movie with complex, fleshed-out characters, realistic dialogue, and true emotional and dramatic depth. And, for good measure, a court martial that puts the one in "Paths of Glory" to shame.

Almost one hundred years later the concept of that static war of the trenches that was the Western front of World War I is almost unfathomable. After the French army stopped the German offensive at the Battle of the Marne, the French and British armies faced the Germans in a line of trenches that stretched from Belgium to Switzerland. About a quarter of France was occupied for four years in that time. The casualties ran into the millions in that stalemate that gains were only measured in meters. It was always just one more offensive over the top charging into automatic weapon fire that would break the other guy. Just such an offensive was planned one day in 1916 against a German stronghold dubbed the ant hill. General George MacReady, promised a promotion by his superior Adolphe Menjou, orders a beaten and tired battalion to charge the ant hill. The attack flops and MacReady looks for scapegoats. He decides after coming down from shooting 100 men to a selected three drawn by lot. The unlucky three are Joseph Turkel, Ralph Meeker, and Timothy Carey. The commander of the three Kirk Douglas asks to serve as their counsel and he makes a good show of it at the kangaroo court martial they have. But the fix is definitely in. Except for Spartacus, Kirk Douglas rarely plays straight up heroic types in film. Even his good guys have an edge to them, a dark side. But as Colonel Dax, Douglas is at his most heroic. He may be one dimensional here, but he's great. Especially in that last scene with Adolphe Menjou when he tells the man off in no uncertain terms, mainly because Menjou has misread Douglas's motives. Menjou and Macready portray two different military types. The arrogant MacReady as versus the very sly Menjou. Not very admirable either of them. Menjou was not very popular at this time in Hollywood because of the blacklist. He favored it very much, his politics were of the extreme right wing. Nevertheless he was a brilliant actor and never better than in this film, one of his last. The enlisted men are a good bunch also. They're kind of like the posse in The Oxbow Incident, just an ordinary group who become ennobled in martyrdom as they go to the firing squad for the sake of politics. Paths of Glory is one of the best anti-war films ever made. It ranks right up there with All Quiet on the Western Front which showed the war from the German point of view. Both will be classics 200, 300, a thousand years from now.

The b&w cinematography for Paths of Glory is very crisp, reflecting Kubrick's background as a magazine photographer, but I wish I'd never watched this. I admire some other Kubrick movies, but this movie suggests that the simplicity one observes here and in all subsequent Kubrick films, might just be shallowness; as it is here. This script is dross, and hopelessly naff with its dumb sermon. The whole thing is overdetermined. What possible idea in it could a viewer disagree with? I felt like I was being led by the nose, because there isn't one syllable of ambiguity to be found in it; like a children's storybook. All you need is a morality detector with two settings, 'good person' and 'bad person.' George MacReady is over the top as a one-dimensional villain. One prisoner (Pierre) chews the scenery when offered a last drink; overacting at it's finest and pure hambone comedy. The extremely bad acting of the sobbing prisoner (Maurice) made my mouth hang open. The way his exit march is handled is utterly obtuse and unaffecting. Less important but odd, the attitude of the production has nothing in common with 1915. Never once does this feel like anything but 1957. The ending in which an entire room full of soldiers all have an epiphany at the exact same moment is dramatic rubbish. Show me a room full of fifty men who all have the same emotional response to anything, and I'll show you a corny dramatic lie. Everything in this movie (and I mean everything) is amateurish except the cinematography.

Paths of Glory is one of the best movies ever made, and possibly the best "war" movie, period. Paths of Glory does not portray war as conflict between armies or individual soldiers arrayed against one another on the battlefield. Nor does it portray the acts of great leaders and heroes of war. No this film takes a different tact. The setting is the Western Front of 1916 in the trenches with French soldiers faced off against an invisible German force across a barren No Man's Land. The German's are never seen and the dramatic "combat" is between vain French officers as they vie for prestige and honors. The victims are the innocent French soldiers under their command who suffer miserably because of their arrogance and ignorance. Brilliant, gripping, and definitely a "must see".

This is a wonderful film and for those who are looking to see a Stanley Kubrick film that the average person can relate to, this is a great initiation to the director's work. Some of his films are a bit hard to understand or frankly make my head hurt (2001 is a great example), but this one is much more straight-forward and conventional than most of his other films while still being a great film. The movie is based on a real incident in WWI. When a squad of French soldiers were ordered "over the top" (i.e., to crawl out of the trenches and charge across the battlefield while being shot down like dogs--the standard way of fighting on the Western Front), the men were so sick of the pointless fighting that they refused. As a result, the officers (who are shown sitting many miles behind the lines sipping sherry and living a life of opulence) order that some soldiers randomly be taken out of the group to be executed as an example to the others! The complete unfairness of the punishment, the futility of the war and the fact that the leaders were a group of soul-less fiends were the focus of this intensely interesting film. The lead was played by Kirk Douglas. His job was to defend these poor men, but it soon becomes obvious that the trial is a show trial--the men are doomed from the outset. In some films, Douglas' style of acting is not very appropriate, but his bigger than life acting style and the way he ultimately explodes at his superiors is a wonderful addition to the film. He single-handedly acts like the conscience of the nation--something that was clearly lacking. A wonderful and intense performance on his part--perhaps only surpassed by his lead in the film LUST FOR LIFE. This is a wonderful film about this war--a wonderful film to be seen along with ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. Any true fan of film should see this movie.

In France, in the First World War, the insane and ambitious general Gen. Paul Mireau (George Macready) orders Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) to lead his men in a suicide attack against Germans in the unattainable Ant Hill. After a massacre of the French soldiers, Gen. Mireau orders his artillery to drop bombs between the French front line of attack and the trenches, to avoid the soldier to return to the protection of the trenches. The commander of the French artillery refuses to accomplish the order. Gen. Mireau asks his superior, Gen. George Broulard (Adolphe Menjou), to send three men to Court Martial and execute them for cowardice through shooting, as an example to the other soldiers. Colonel Dax, a former lawyer, defends his men in the unfair trial. Yesterday I watched this outstanding masterpiece for the first time and certainly it is among the best movies of the cinema history. The disgusting story shows the insanity of a war, where men are treated like numbers and not as human beings. The reality of the battles scenes is amazing. The cast has a stunning performance, highlighting the trio George Macready, Adolphe Menjou and Kirk Douglas. The lack of sensibility and respect for the human life and the cynicism in the dialogs of the two generals are fantastic. Two other points that called my attention are the fancy reception for the general staff, while their subalterns are fighting in the front and the misunderstanding of the real intentions of Colonel Dax by Gen. George Broulard. A must-see movie! My vote is ten. Title (Brazil): `Glória Feita de Sangue' (`Glory Made of Blood')

Paths Of Glory is a masterpiece without doubt. Usually a masterpiece is the pinnacle of a directors career. However when you are talking about Stanley Kubrick, you are talking about genuine genius. This is just one of his many masterpieces, but Paths Of Glory is probably as good a film as any of Kubrick's other best works. I have seen tons of war films in my life, many great ones. Honestly, this is my favorite of them all. When I first saw this film I didn't expect it to blow me away. After all it is an early Kubrick film, however it blew me away constantly, and completely. This is not only one of the greatest war films ever made, not only one of the greatest black & white films ever made, it is simply one of the greatest films ever made bar none. The film screams integrity, in each and every way. This film is a joy to watch, and in my estimation, Paths Of Glory will remain forever as one of cinemas greatest accomplishments. 10/10

The end sequence is beautifully symbolic.The soldiers in the bar watch as a frightened German girl is brought before them. As the poor lass struggles to sing her song (it really doesn't matter what song), they begin to realize that this hapless creature is enduring what their three executed comrades had endured themselves. Their three comrades were brought before the military tribunal as a formality before their execution. Now these soldiers are the tribunal for this pitiful girl who now stands before them awaiting their judgment. But unlike the cold inhuman justice that the French military machine has dealt to their compatriots, they watch intently as this German girl strives to sing in spite of all their cat calls and hoots and hollers, realizing that she is trying her best in spite of overwhelming opposition, just as they and their three dead friends had tried in attacking the ant hill. They cry because they see themselves up there on the stage.........a poor frightened soul that finds themselves in a situation they'd rather not face but is compelled to do so. Colonel Dax realizes this and allows this brief respite of humanity to engulf the troops before they are sent back to face the horrors of the war. This film is indeed one of the best war films ever made it simply overpowers the viewer with emotion.