PATHS OF GLORY (1957)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Drama / War

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Cast: Kirk Douglas / George Macready / Adolphe Menjou

Plot

 Three innocent French soldiers are court martialed as scapegoats following a disastrous World War I battle.

What I Liked

A tragedy-laden indictment on the hypocrisy, corruption, and absurdity inherent in war politics, “Paths of Glory” feels far ahead of its time as a scathing anti-war movie made at the height of McCarthyism.  Part of that feeling comes from the casting of Kirk Douglas in the lead as the Colonel ordered to send his men to certain death and then the only man willing to defend them against unjust persecution.  Douglas was of course one of the great manly heroes of this era in American film, world famous for his portrayals of ultra-masculine adventurers, cowboys, and soldiers.  Going into this one, the viewer would expect a similar no-questions-asked, patriotic war film.  Yet, in “Paths of Glory,” Douglas plays a different sort of hero in a more thoughtful film that questions the pre-packaged representations of bravery idealized in some of his previous films.  To see Spartacus championing men put on trial for cowardice certainly heightens the sense of duplicity and irrationality that pervades the movie, start to finish.

Douglas’s hero is given a perfect foil in George Macready’s portrayal of the absolutely despicable General Mireau, who endows the character with enough snobbish egotism to compete with any Disney villain, yet somehow avoids going so over the top as to render the General unbelievable.  The battle, courtroom, and prison scenes may be fraught with terror and tragedy, but those scenes featuring meetings between the military officers surpass all other scenes for the horror they display in the sheer ignorance and evil displayed.

Director Stanley Kubrick’s mastery of all facets of this film is total.  The quest of herded soldiers on a suicide mission across a post-apocalyptic no-man’s-land of barbed wire, corpses, and exploding shells feels like genuine stock footage smuggled out of Hell.  These nightmare visions are contrasted perfectly with depictions of the officers’ world of heavenly splendor and safety amid vast drawing rooms, chateaus, and ballroom.  It’s that kind of incongruity that makes the film work.  One feels guilty laughing at the ludicrousness of a General giving platitude filled pep talks to shell-shocked soldiers while bombs and gunfire erupt just over their heads.  But that’s clearly the filmmakers’ point.  It’s all so illogical that it would be hilarious if it weren’t so damn sad.

       

    

What I Disliked

One could make the case that officers in general are treated unfairly by this picture.  Certainly not all officers are as sadistic or corrupt as General Mireau and his cronies.  “Paths of Glory” may question pre-conceived notions of bravery and cowardice.  But few movies have such an obvious dichotomy of good and evil.  There are very good guys here and very bad guys and nothing in between.  All of the good guys are grunt soldiers and all of the bad guys (with the exception of Douglas’ Colonel) are officers.  Some moral complexity would not only make the film more interesting, I would think it would be a more accurate depiction as well.

Most Memorable Scene

There are some shockingly (for the 50s) gory flashes of grenade-blackened and decapitated corpses that show Kubrick wasn’t willing to pull any punches in a quest for what later generations would call hyper-realism.  Yet the most moving scenes are those of the soldiers standing, leaning, and crouching silently in those claustrophobic trenches.  There’s no action, no dialogue, just the gritty black and white footage of men lined up for the slaughter, shot with Kubrick’s documentarian-like eye for authenticity.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5