5/5 decimation of the troops
  by Joseph H. Johnston (Red Lodge, MT)
A great movie but all of the reviews miss the point. When Roman armies were unsuccessful, as in the early campaigns against Spartacus, the commanders could "decimate" the troops. Each group of 10 soldiers in the legion would draw lots and pick one soldier. This soldier would be beaten to death with clubs to atone for the legions's lack of courage and success. Since lots were drawn, the sacrifice may have the best soldier or the worst, it didn't matter.
And this is the essence of "The Paths of Glory". 10 were requested, but three would suffice. It is a simple decimation of the troops. It is a powerful movie now because of the absurdity of the idea.

5/5 Jaw-droppingly good.
  by Robert P. Beveridge (Cleveland, OH)
Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick, 1957)

I spent most of my life running Stanley Kubrick down. Until 2008, I'd only seen two and a half Kubrick movies I actually liked: Lolita, A Clockwork Orange, and the first forty-five minutes if Full Metal Jacket. Problem was, I hadn't seen Kubrick's entire oeuvre, and I basically extrapolated from the movies I'd seem that I simply couldn't stand. But a friend whose judgment I implicitly trust kept telling me I absolutely had to see The Killing, and I eventually broke down and did so. He was right, as he almost always is (thanks, Niall!), and so I started tracking down the Kubrick movies I hadn't seen before, especially the early ones (after all, The Killing was made in 1957, Lolita in 1962; I figured the farther back I went, the more likely I was to like a random Kubrick flick). While Paths of Glory does have some of the same hammer-to-the-face unsubtlety that would mar later Kubrick work like the second half of Full Metal Jacket, there's no denying that Paths of Glory is an undoubtedly powerful film, and must be counted a success.

The film centers around Dax (Kirk Douglas), a colonel during World War I who is ordered by his superior General Mireau (George MacReady), who's mad as a hatter, to take the Ant Hill, a German fortification that's long been considered impregnable. Still, Dax and his squad, the 701st, are considered the bets in the business, the guys who will never back down, no matter the odds, and so Dax comes up with one of those out-of-the-box plans that's actually crazy enough that it might work. Come dawn, the strike commences, and despite Dax's excellent strategy and the bravery of the troops, they're pummelled. After some of the men, having seen the massacre of the first wave, refuse to leave the trenches, Mireau and his ambitious colleague Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) order Dax to fire on the trenches. Dax unequivocally refuses. Why am I telling you all this? Because this is all the setup. The real bulk of the movie comes after the strike on the Ant Hill. This is not so much a war movie as it is a trial movie, and despite Kubrick's stunning depictions of the battle itself, what takes Paths of Glory out of the general category of the war movie and makes it transcendent is the trial. It's where all the suspense in the movie lies, and it's also the portion of the film that contains the performances that have made this movie a classic and gotten it on IMDB's list of the top 250 films of all time (as I write this, it's sitting at #43).

Trial flicks, or trial scenes in other flicks, are great places for top-notch actors to do their best work. Think about the trial scene at the climax of M, which turned Peter Lorre from a character actor into one of the greatest stars of the forties. For that matter, just tune into one of TNT's ubiquitous Law and Order marathons, where some of the best obscure actors of our generation have done some of their finest work. Never has that been truer than it is in Paths of Glory. Kirk Douglas ruled the silver-screen roost for a lot of years, to be sure, but you want to see his awe-inspiring acting chops distilled into one great speech? Rent Paths of Glory. And while Douglas was the obvious draw when the movie was released, a number of the supporting cast turn in performances as impressive, perhaps more so. The incredible Menjou (King of the Turf) is just the epitome of evil in this flick, but not in that superhero-movie type sense; this is the evil of bureaucracy, as it was personified in the Nuremberg Trials, so fresh in the memories of those who saw this movie when it came out in the late fifties--"I was just doing my job." But in this case, there's no one around to call him to task. He's a tin-pot dictator who actually has the power to do what he wants, and revels in it, but he thinks he's constrained by procedure. It's a fascinating, complex character, and Menjou brings it to life. Contrast MacReady, who's just as ambitious, but has no pretension of constraint; he just doesn't care, thanks to his mental derangement. (I have a strong urge here to compare the two to Pinky and the Brain....) On the other side of the coin are Dax's three underlings who have been picked out as examples, all of whom are scripted differently, and all of whom are played by actors who are more than capable of bringing those differences out and working them over.

And yeah, as I mentioned way back at the beginning of this, one thing you certainly won't get from this movie, as you never do with Kubrick, is subtlety. As he does in so many films, Kubrick takes his anti-war message and batters you over the head with it, wanting to subdue you in the same way the Germans in the Ant Hill want to subdue their French assailants. While the pronounced lack of subtlety that was such a hallmark of Kubrick's works in some cases (in a heist flick like The Killing, subtlety would be about as appropriate as horns on a cow, or however that expression goes), it does mar some of the scenes in this film as we get closer to the climax. Every once in a very, very great while, however, an actor can overcome a script's lack of subtlety and work what would otherwise be a boring message speech into a work of art. (Witness Willem Dafoe's sermon on the mount in The Last Temptation of Christ, for example.) And to me, what propels this film from the ranks of the great into the ranks of the immortal is the way Kirk Douglas' speech does this. A lesser actor, it seems to me, could very easily have botched the material. I've no idea how many takes Douglas went through before getting it as good as it is (Kubrick being the notorious perfectionist that he was), but the take they finally settled on was perfect, and I am not using that word in any hyperbolic sense. As a trial speech, it ranks right up there with the Lorre scene from M I mentioned before, but where Lorre ensured his place in film history by completely losing his cool, Douglas ensures his with that quiet, deadly anger that telegraphs that if he could, he'd leap over the table and rip out the trbunal's throats with his bare hands--but he's considered the possibility and rejected it because he thinks this approach would be more effective. For lack of a better term, that's just awesome. It's one of those scenes that will stay with you for a long, long time after you've watched the film.

Absolutely stunning. A must-see movie, even if you're not a Kubrick fan. Take it from me, I should know. **** ½


5/5 Stunning film, one of the greatest war films ever made, still moving and profound today...
  by Grigory's Girl (NYC)
This is not only of Stanley Kubrick's greatest films, it's also one of the greatest war films ever made, still startlingly in its depiction of war and the stupidity of war. Even though I have seen it numerous times, it still has the same impact as the first time.

The film was Kubrick's fourth feature (counting two independent films, neither of which were very good), but this was his 2nd "professional" picture, and he shows his mastery of the medium. All the Kubrick trademarks are there. Long, fluid tracking shots, bleak surroundings, memorable performances and dialogue, and a dark viewpoint of the folly of man. The film was based on a real case in WWI whereas 3 French soldiers were executed for cowardice in a time of war. The 3 soldiers were scapegoats for the fools running the war. It's a true story, and the film was banned in France for many years because the soldiers were French. The film could have been made about any group of soldiers, any country. Eventually, the ban was lifted in 1974 (or around there).

The film is so tight and perfectly edited and shot that you couldn't cut a frame out of it without damaging its flow and substance. It's a remarkable piece of work, especially for a young director, and it's a film with a grim, sad, depressing message about war.

Kirk Douglas gives a towering performance as Colonel Dax, the colonel who has to fight in a battle that he knows he'll lose, but he fights anyway. He then tries to defend the three men who are eventually executed, but the trial is a kangaroo court, and the men's fate had been decided before the trial began. All of the performances here are fabulous, especially Adolph Menjou (in one of his last films) as a general who orders the attack and the killing of the three soldiers.

If it wasn't for Kirk Douglas, this film would have never been made. Kirk was a huge star at the time, and when Kubrick (and his producer James B. Harris) went to Douglas with the script, he famously said "the film won't make a nickel. But we have to make it.". Douglas got the film made under his production company. Douglas also kept the original ending of the script. One day Kubrick wrote a new ending for the film, a happy ending where the 3 men are reprieved from their execution. He showed it to Douglas, who was flabbergasted by this, and he asked Stanley why in God's name would he want to do this. Kubrick replied "to make it commercial. I want to make money.". Luckily, Douglas said no (he was, after all, the star and producer), and the film went on as originally scripted. Granted, Kubrick was still young, and he was also living on loans from his partner Harris. A little known fact about Kubrick is that he didn't make a dime from The Killing or Paths of Glory. He worked on deferred salary until the films came into profit. James B. Harris loaned him money to live on. Kubrick may have been growing tired of this arrangement. Regardless, the decision was Kirk's, and it was the best one. Kirk also offered Kubrick the job to direct Spartacus. Kubrick hadn't directed a film in nearly 3 years, and Kirk came to his rescue. It was also a real paying gig. Kubrick and Kirk had a falling out over Spartacus, but Douglas helped Kubrick a lot in his early career, and he deserves full credit for that.

Another point of debate about this film is the ending. Some say it's a copout, and others say it's incredibly moving. I go with the latter. After the mock trial and real execution, the film goes to a pub where the soldiers are being entertained by a frightened singer (played by Susanne Christian, who went on to be the 3rd Mrs. Stanley Kubrick, and the woman he spent the rest of his life with). The soldiers are screaming and hollering at her, scaring her even more. When she finally starts singing, the men quiet down and are stunned by her beauty and her golden voice. They start singing along with her, and most of them tear up as the song goes on. It's arguably the most moving scene in any of Kubrick's work, one that makes me tear up as well. Even though I've seen that scene over and over again, I am always moved by it. It's one of the most touching, beautiful endings I've ever seen on a film.

Paths of Glory is a brilliant, complex film, one of Kubrick's greatest achievements, and one of the most shattering war films ever made. Miss it at your peril.





5/5 Amazing classic war film
  by Reede Reynolds
This is an amazing, classic war film taken from the French perspective. As far as I am concerned this film easily rivals All Quiet on the Western Front in portraying a compelling portrait of the "unseemly side of war". The movie begins by informing the viewer that we are seeing France in 1916. By then, the landscape had been reduced to a pock-marked, naked battlefield, littered with wrecks, both human and machine. The view then changes to an exterior shot of a beautiful European Chateau, where inside the French army officers are apparently living in luxury. The Corps Commander, General Broulard, proposes a plan to take an impregnable position called Ant Hill. The General easily manipulates division General Mireau, depicted as a scar faced evil looking man, into accepting his proposal. Mireau is convinced that he will be considered for a promotion if successful and Ant Hill is taken. "Nothing is beyond those men once their fighting spirit is aroused".
Mireau then goes to Colonel Dax, to inform him of the plan. They meet at Dax's trench shelter for the meeting. Mireau appeals to Dax's patriotism, but Dax is shocked and dazed, knowing that this attack would never succeed. (What we the audience are witnessing is the effect of a bad plan moving its way down the ranks, finally ending up with the end user, the ones who will pay for its folly with their lives) Of course Dax ultimately agrees.
An eerie night recon scene follows with three men moving trench to trench, guided by flares. We stare at some tangled wreckage for a few moments before it is illuminated to become a crashed plane, bodies, and some kind of low bunker. The flare's light makes for a very haunting and memorable scene. The lieutenant then orders one of the men to take a closer look. When he does not return quickly, the lieutenant, panics, throws a grenade in the direction of the wreck, and runs away. We see that he has blown up his own man during his cowardly act of running away. The third man makes it back to the trench where he encounters the lieutenant and says, "You are a booze-guzzling, yellow-bellied rat with a bottle for a brain!"
The next scene takes place the following morning. We see Dax striding confidently down the long trench. His men are standing next to the walls with bayonets fixed in place, preparing to go over the wall. The camera work is fantastic as it follows a grim faced Dax, walking unfazed as bombs and machine-gun fire go off all around him. He reaches his position, a ladder, and amidst all the noise of the bombs and gun fire, blows a very weak sounding whistle. I am sure it was the director's intention to have a barely audible and pathetic sounding whistle signal this fruitless attack. The men follow Dax with a roar.
The attacking force is cut to shreds. The men are stumbling over their fallen comrades only to be killed a few steps later. Chaos rules and the men retreat. One group never makes it out of the trenches due to heavy fire, this is seen by Mireau. An enraged Mireau orders his battery commander to open fire on the French troops still in the trench. Three times the battery commander refuses saying that he must have written proof of the order. The commander is relived of duty and ordered to be under arrest for his failure to follow orders.
Dax runs back to the trench and finds the cowardly lieutenant and commands him to attack. "It's impossible sir, all the men are falling back". With that Dax climbs the ladder only to be hit by a dead soldier falling back into the trench. An angry Mireau announces "if those little sweethearts won't face German bullets, they'll face French ones!"
Mireau calls for a court-martial and wants at least one hundred men to stand trial for "cowardess in the face of the enemy". General Broulard finally haggles Mireau down to three men, selected by each company commander. Mireau corners Dax on a stairway inside the Chateau and says, "Broulard seemed to think you were funny. I don't. I'll break you; I'll ruin you, for showing such little loyalty to your commanding officer."
Dax is selected to be the defense attorney for the selected men. Dax meets the doomed men in prison and commands the men to "act like what you are, soldiers!"
The trial is held in the Chateau without the slightest hint of justice. Dax is incapable of even having the indictment read into the record, and further, no stenographer was present. Each of the three soldiers is hammered by the prosecutor, and each time Dax defends the soldiers he is ignored. The prosecutor sums up by saying that this "attack was a stain on the flag of France." A clearly enraged Dax counters with, "There are times when I am ashamed to be a member of the human race, and this is one such occasion!" Still, ultimately, Dax is ignored.
The execution scene builds with a crescendo of uniformed men surrounding the gallows. Three posts are standing vertically with three caskets visible nearby. One of the men is unconscious, being carried on a stretcher, while another hangs whimperingly on a priest. I hoped that Dax's last minute effort (with Broulard, to convince him to let the men off due to Mireau's order to open fire on his own troops) would pay off, but the end was inevitable. The men are summarily shot.
The final scene will stay with me for a long time, I hope. The war weary soldiers are in a nearby tavern, getting drunk following the execution. Dax hears the men whistling lecherously inside and looks in the door to see a blonde German girl being paraded on stage. The men are catcalling the innocent girl who is standing on the stage crying. When encouraged to sing by the emcee, she begins in a frightened little voice, barely audible over the din. The soldiers quiet a bit and begin to hear her sing. The hooting soldiers are transformed back into men, some crying, some looking off into space, obviously thinking of home and family and not the war. In a very humanizing way the film brings us back from this grotesque journey of inane battles, deaths, trials, and executions, and reveals that even in the face of ultimate depravity, we have a propensity for kindness.



5/5 3.5 stars out of 4
  by One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
The Bottom Line:

A classic war film, Paths of Glory delivers uncompromising combat scenes and some of the most vicious attacks on the military that film has ever delivered; showcasing Kubrick at his best and least pretentious, it's a great film.