9. Paths of Glory –
Stanley Kubrick, 1957
David:
When exploring film history, you
run into a large assortment of anti-war films - none are more devastating and
masterfully argued than Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory. On reflection,
it is odd that Kubrick, cinema's greatest tactical ideologue, could make such a
movingly humanistic film as this. Yet, perhaps it was his cerebral
approach to cinema that gives this film so much power. The story is,
after all, inherently human, and unlike his other films, the ideas he presents
have widespread societal implications. So many anti-war films will appeal
to emotion and burn down straw-men, but the reserve Kubrick shows with this
film allows the atrocities he presents to be both comprehensible and shocking
in their baseness. The story pleads for melodrama, but Kubrick does not allow
it any, making its tragic elements not simply heartbreaking, but nauseating in
their injustice. It is easy to forget a simple argument against pride or
bigotry - we all agree those attributes are detestable. It is much harder
to dismiss a film that builds emotional ties to its characters while presenting
systematic problems with our political systems, arguing succinctly that there
is no easy way out.
There is so much more to say about
this film - from the terrifying thrills of its tracking shots through the
trenches of World War I, to its unflinching documentation of war's political
tragedies, to the film's deeply moving and sobering finale, which provides a
perfect call to action. As few war films do, not just the brutality of
its action, but its arguments stick with you long after viewing.
Chelsea's Response:
 |
| Kirk Douglas in his finest role. |
I have to admit that I don’t care much
for Kubrick. I find him all brains and no heart, and I find that his
films have no emotional center. He generally uses his characters as pawns
to make some grand philosophical argument that is cold and detached. So
when I first saw Paths of Glory, I approached it with much trepidation,
assuming that it would be like other Kubrick films I have seen. However,
I was more than pleasantly surprised with how human Paths of Glory
is. I immediately latched onto it as Kubrick told a war story about
institutions by examining some events in the lives of a handful of
common soldiers. Featuring great work by Kirk Douglas as a Colonel caught
between following orders and saving lives, it immediately became my favorite
Kubrick film, and to this day one of the very few, along with The Shining, that I really like (although, of
course, I can see the skill in his other work). It is a
fantastic picture – my favorite Kubrick and probably my favorite war film of
all time, and I’m delighted you have included it here.
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