Out of all the major film genres, the two that I have seen the least of are horror (because I'm a wuss) and war. While I like many war films, the genre in general doesn't really appeal to me because they all invariably have the same message; war is bad, men bonding together, with a little bit of heroism on top. They also tend to be really long, so I was pleased when I found out that Paths of Glory was only 88 minutes long. If I can knock out a classic in less than 90 minutes, I'm almost always going to give it a shot. Apparently Paths of Glory was the movie that put Stanley Kubrick on the map and it is easy to see why. It is a superbly made movie with important subject matter; many regard it as one of the best anti-war films ever.
The film is set during WWI. France and Germany have dug trenches across hundreds of miles on the Western Front without much advancement on either side. Two French generals are meeting and discuss plans to attack an important German position called the Anthill. Leading the attack is Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) who questions the wisdom of such a seemingly impossible attack but reluctantly agrees to lead the charge. The attack goes horribly wrong with many of his men dying and eventually retreating back to their trenches. The enemy fire is so intense that half of his men couldn't even leave the trenches to participate. General Mireau, the general in charge of the division, is furious by the seeming lack of effort by his men and demands that they be punished for their cowardice. Three men, one from each division, are to be court marshaled, tried and executed to set an example.
Obviously the charges brought upon the men are ludicrous and unusually cruel. Dax argues that trying to continue forward during the attack was impossible. The prosecutor responds, "If it was impossible, the only proof of that would be their dead bodies at the bottom of the trenches." In short, these three men are obviously cowards because they are still alive. You can't argue with that logic.
I kept wondering what impassioned speech Dax would deliver to save his men from the firing squad. When will the generals come to their senses and spare these men? They seem so eager to kill their own men; aren't the Germans doing a good enough job of that? But it doesn't happen. Dax's words fall upon deaf ears and the men are sentenced to death. I found this interesting since in just about any other film they would be spared, but this result is actually fitting for the tone of the film; war is harsh, the good guys don't always survive, killing is so pointless.
The signature moment of the film to me has got to be the attack. It is right up there with the opening of Saving Private Ryan in terms of battle scenes. Incredibly long action packed tracking shots in beautiful black and white. It shows the cold and brutal nature of war, there's nothing pretty or romantic about it, just death and chaos. These couple of minutes is actually all the the fighting there is in this movie but it is enough to get its point across. The rest of the film focuses on the aftermath and the rhetoric which is also quite compelling.
I don't know if it's the new TV I bought or the Paths of Glory Blu-ray (probably some combination of both), but this is one of the best looking black and white films I've ever seen. The images are super clear and well defined. It has a very clean and polished look yet retains a lot of the grit you'd expect from a war movie.
Also, I believe this is the first time I've seen Kirk Douglas in action. It is amazing how much he looks like his son Michael Douglas. The resemblance is uncanny.
Grade: A
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