'Paths of Glory' (1957)
A retrospective movie review by Walter Frith
wfrith@cgocable.net
Member of the ‘Online Film Critics Society' http://ofcs.org/ofcs/
Stanley Kubrick began the art of dehumanization in film early in his career. One of his earliest and least well known films is 'Paths of Glory'. At a running time of only 88 minutes, the film is a perfect example of what film is supposed to do: Get to the point and get off it. I don't think I've seen a more sweeping film about war with such a short and most appropriate running time. War films often repeat themselves by showing the injustice of its subject matter as men die in senseless battles. Lives are lost at the hands of a court in Kubrick's most alternative film about conflict.
The blind insanity of war can be summed up in 'Paths of Glory' by one statement made by Kirk Douglas: "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." Now, I don't agree entirely with that statement --- and that quote, I'm sure, is not meant to be taken to the extreme. Patriotism is a wonderful thing but like religion, politics and anything else in life, it's best taken in moderation.
The result of extreme patriotism leads to the execution of three innocent men in the French army in 1916 during World War I. A fanatical French general named Mireau (George Macready), orders his lower level officers to engage his men in a suicide mission during an attack in battle, and when the mission fails because of the refusal of committing men to a certain death, one man from each of the three divisions is selected almost at random and are made scapegoats for the failed attack and are subsequently tried for cowardice which carries the penalty of death.
Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) acts as counsel for the men. Dax is the example of an officer who strives for a fair trial on behalf of the men. On the day the trial is announced IT IS CARRIED OUT THAT DAY! There are no formal stenographic notes kept, the trial is biased in favour of the prosecution and the audience will quickly recognizes it as a kangaroo court. It is one of the greatest injustices in the history of war. Perhaps, dare I say, more of an injustice than dying on the battlefield.
The three men to be executed are portrayed by Joseph Turkel, Timothy Carey and Ralph Meeker. Each one is a well developed character and while it would have been easy to make them caricatures, their roles are well thought out and are portrayed just as impressively as any other character in the film. Kubrick adapted the screenplay based on the book by Humphrey Cobb. As he does in many of his films, Kubrick strains the human condition in a most unsentimental way and his films have never been tame and this film shows no mercy for any of its stark subject matter allegedly based on a true story which was made public a few years after the war ended.
Kubrick uses his camera the way he does in all his films. He plunges them into our souls with characters who rarely crack a smile and with dark and haunting shadows accompanying them. Adolphe Menjou portrays General Broulard in this, one of his last films, and is sort of on the fence in how his character will be judged by future film historians. His character is perhaps one of the most debatable in the film as to where his loyalties stand.
As Kubrick's films about war evolved throughout film history from 'Paths of Glory' to 'Dr. Strangelove' to 'Full Metal Jacket', the man with the vision of film serving as a tool to judge society well ahead of its time, Kubrick has managed to find tragedy, excitement, humour and traces of sarcasm which will cause selected audiences to mock what they don't understand.
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