College Downtime Movie Review
Written by Hollowman - November 5th, 2004

Paths of Glory (1957)

Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Rated: Unrated
Rating: * * * *

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There are those classic war movies that automatically come to mind when we think about the topic. Some would probably be, “Pattton”, “Platoon”, “The Dirty Dozen”, or the “The Greatest Day”. But one that had never come to my mind before is “Paths of Glory”(made in 1957). From now on, though, it will. This film is one of Stanley Kubrick’s earlier works and for those who are fans of “The Shining” or “2001: A Space Odyssey”, I’m sorry, but I think it’s his best one ever.

For those of you who are unfamiliar about the film, here’s a brief synopsis. Set in France during WWI, “Paths of Glory” follows the trials of three French soldiers who are accused of showing coward ness in face of the enemy. As it opens, General George Broulard is given a task of taking the German controlled “ant hill”. He assigns Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) to lead his men into battle and capture it. Dax’s men are given this impossible job because of their past examples of bravery and determination (every assignment they were given were labeled to be impossible ones, but they still managed to prevail). The morning of the attack comes and it turns out to be a bloodbath. As Dax leads his men out of the trenches and across to the German fences (in one of the most beautifully filmed war sequences I have ever seen), the French just begin dropping. Their support, led by Lieutenant Roget, does not even make it out of the trenches. Gen. Broulard sees the massacre and demands that more artillery fire be exploited. He is informed that the fire will also land on the French soldiers, making it an order that cannot be carried out. The capturing of the “ant hill” fails and the soldiers suffer the most.

The general, not willing to take the blame and eager to make an excuse for the failure demands that 1,200 soldiers be executed for being cowards. His superior convinces him that Dax is to have each squad leader choose one soldier from their platoon and place him under arrest for coward ness. Dax, outraged by the obscurity of this situation, volunteers to be the three men’s councilor.

The trial goes on. The prosecution is given as much slack it needs in order to make its case. Meanwhile, Dax finds numerous of restrictions for his argument. He is not allowed to bring up their character, their examples set from past battles, or even other soldiers as witnesses (they’re mostly dead). The trial ends and the soldiers are found guilty; their punishment is death by firing squad.

I’d have to say, it has been such a long time that a film has captured me so much to where nothing else around me mattered. Yes, there have been films that I was pretty caught up in (“The Matrix”, “Kill Bill: Vol. 1”, “Showgirls”) but whenever a great sequence was over, I was always leaning over to my friend and saying, “wasn’t that freakin’ awesome!”. In “Paths of Glory” however, whenever one sequence was finished, I was too anxious for the next one to happen that I didn’t say a word, let alone even though about saying a word. Everything about the film is perfection: the lighting, the sets, dialogue, cinematography, etc.

They all work in order to capture what this film is about and what its foundation is on. The movie is about hypocrites and what people do in reaction to them. Everyone and everything contradicts itself. Gen. Broulard’s speech to his superior about having his men taking the “ant hill” is based on the fact that he loves his men. However, he has no problem firing on top of them nor does he have a problem in sending three innocent men to their deaths in order to save his own skin. Broulard’s superior, General Paul Mireau tells Dax that he wants no fools leading the French army when we actually realize that Mireau is the biggest fool of all. Even one of the soldiers on trial admits to being a hypocrite. While in prison, he is visited by a priest who asks him to pray. He tells the priest that he’s not a religious man so it would be hypocritical of him to do so, but he agrees anyway.

Technically, the film progresses like a work of art. For lighting, Kubrick places his characters in dark, shadowy rooms. Inside of them is where the real confrontations take place. When Broulard and Dax argue about the impossibility of taking the “ant hill”, they are encased in a small bunker with large and dark shadows. The battle, which is the most violent conflict in the film, takes place in broad daylight.

As far as sound, Kubrick allows only real sound and not music to move the story along. Those sound effects are great. Explosions and rapid gun fire add to the chaos on the battlefield. The only music we hear is a vicious drumming during an intense sequence in which three soldiers stalk the battlefield at night to scout the German trenches and also during the last scene when a German girl sings an old folk song that the French soldiers become extremely emotional about. Kubrick is trying to capture the realism of human nature and helps to do so with his style of sound.

The cinematography is breathtaking. During the battle scene, there is a tracking shot that follows Kirk Douglas across the battlefield and all around him are explosions, bullets shooting by, and soldiers quickly falling one by one.

“Paths of Glory” is one of the greatest war movies ever, and it’s not really that much about a war. WWI is just the backdrop, but it’s about human nature and what happens to it under pressure and during hard times. It’s about people being hypocrites and how it brings out the worst in all of us. The film is very character driven. The characters are terrific. Each actor brings great depth and true emotions to them. Though the trial is an unbelievable situation (people would go crazy if that’s how things were today), the characters make it believable and make the film work.

“Paths of Glory” is a film that works on so many levels. It’s a technical work of art; it’s a beautiful suggestion of human nature, and it’s a terrific story with amazing performances. The next time anyone asks me what I would consider a classic war movie, “Paths of Glory” would definitely be on the list.

Okay, so perhaps this review sounds too good to be true. No film is that perfect, is it? Well, maybe not, but this one sure does come close. There was, in fact, one thing that did bother me. This movie takes place in France and features the damn French army. So why, oh why do the characters speak in either an American or English accent?! I mean, I know that we saved the French two major times and that though they hate us, they actually really envy us, but a French Colonel speaking with a Midwest accent is just annoying. Improper linguistics in movies just bug the hell out of me. I know that this was back in 1957 and that getting the accents down was not as big of deal as it would be now. But let me put it to you this way; do you think you could stand about three hours of Mel Gibson being William Wallace with an Australian accent? Yeah, me neither.

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