#112: Paths of Glory

 

Paths of Glory

Stanley Kubrick
Initial release: November 1, 1957 (Germany)

images c/o FILMGRAB

Stanley Kubrick was a generational talent who made some of the greatest movies of our age: Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon. But before he was famous, he was one of the earliest independent filmmakers during the long slow collapse of the Hollywood studio system, and while his first big hit was the film noir classic The Killing, it was just a stepping stone towards a pair of collaborations with Kirk Douglas that would eventually lead him to Dr. Strangelove, and international superstardom. Paths of Glory was the first of these collaborations, a Great War drama that, while not as famous as the other Kirk Douglas collaboration (Spartacus) is nevertheless one of Kubrick's greatest works.

It's 1916 and the battle lines of World War 1 have been stable — stagnant really — for two years. Every attempt to take territory is measured in meters of ground and inches of blood. A French general, vying for promotion, orders his struggling division to attack a heavily fortified position. The attack, as one would expect, goes quite poorly, and the general, throwing a tantrum, demands that heads roll — never mind that he ordered artillery on his own troops. His only opposition is a lone colonel from his division, seeking desperately to save the lives of his men.

What follows is half courtroom drama, half anti-war film, all with the slick aesthetics of a film noir. Battle scenes are less heroic charges for the enemy lines and more of an indiscriminate slaughter as the French troops are forced to retreat amidst an undulating sea of corpses. George MacReady plays an amazing piece of shit as the villainous General Mireau. Every scene he's in, you hope a sniper or assassin comes for him —  or maybe his own artillery. If this were a Ben Garrison cartoon, hanging over him would be a huge label reading "DETACHED MILITARY LEADERSHIP" as he orders his troops into the mouth of Hell itself. While this film is from the earlier portion of Stanley Kubrick's career, his signature style is still quite recognizable here: long takes, tracking shots (he especially enjoys following officers as they move down trenches, giving the film a deeply claustrophobic vibe) and the ever popular Kubrick Stare. He also demonstrates his mastery over lighting, a skill he later would bring to true magic when he filmed Barry Lyndon.

French filmmaker François Truffaut once said that you cannot make a truly anti-war film. The point he was making is that war movies, for the sake of keeping the audience engaged, has to play up war as glamorous or even glorious,  completely undermining any anti-war sentiment. I've often found myself disagreeing with him, and films like Paths of Glory are why. It makes a strong argument that a truly anti-war movie is possible. There's no glory in this film, let alone a path to it. All there is, is men thrown into a meat grinder by uncaring aristocratic generals who then blame the men for not surviving it. The war scenes are more harrowing than heroic; the most heroic figure in the movie spends most of his time arguing with his own fellow officers.

Paths of Glory is a tale of military injustice in a time when military injustice was the way of the world; maybe it's something we could learn from.

-june❤