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On the DVD: Paths of Glory on disc reproduces well in full-screen format, and Gerald Fried's bitingly ironic score comes through powerfully. There are five dubbed and six subtitled languages. The original trailer is a masterpiece of gritty reportage, well worth reviving. Along with Dr Strangelove and 2001, this is Kubrick's most focussed and durable film. --Richard Whitehouse
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The script and story is excellent, and particularly well delivered by the likes of Douglas, Macready and Meeker, who all fill in excellently. But the star of the show is undoubtably Kubrick, whose direction of the attack with a panning camera following Douglas and his men with shells exploding all around is a just a treat for the eyes. In turn, shots of the trenches, following the general from the front as he marches through the trenches with the military drumbeats in the background as he inspects the weary men, or the close ups of gritty, fearing soldiers are just excellent. If you like Kubrick, or even if you just like great films, then you'll love Paths of Glory.
Kubrick presents all this on film as if it were a documentary of actual events. Appropriately, he filmed it in black-and-white, in part to dramatize the obvious juxtapositions of right and wrong, good and evil, justice and injustice, etc. The battlefield carnage is extensive but not gratuitous. For me, the insensitivity, indeed inhumanity of the two generals -- far removed from combat in luxurious comfort -- is far more upsetting than the assault on the "Ant Hill." The men who followed orders and lost their lives or their limbs may have died in vain but at least died with honor, if not glory. Kubrick leaves absolutely no doubt about the generals who sent them into battle. Colonel Dax understands the need for military discipline. Orders must be followed. He eventually realizes that no matter how logical and eloquent his defense, the three men are doomed as were so many of their comrades were while climbing the "Ant Hill." Dax also realizes Broulard and Mireau will never be held accountable for the order nor for denying any responsibility for its tragic consequences. Dante reserved the worst ring in hell for those who, in a moral crisis, preserved their neutrality. Kubrick ensures that Menju and MacReady portray Broulard and Mireau not as neutral accomplices but as agents of evil: a more dangerous adversary than the one their troops face in battle.
Is conscience among war's victims? That is certainly not true of Dax. He did everything he could to save the three men. He leaves absolutely no doubt in the minds of Generals Broulard and Mireau what he thinks of them, both as officers and as human beings. However, they are his military superiors and the war continues after the executions. I mention all this by way of suggesting a context for my opinion that the final scene in the cafe has a very important purpose: to communicate Kubrick's reassurance to those who see his film that even amidst war's death and mutilation, the very best of human instincts somehow prevail. They cannot be defeated by the "Ant Hill," nor by Broulard and Mireau and their obscene abuse of military justice. In my opinion, that is what Dax realizes in the cafe as he and other soldiers listen to a terrified girl sing. And that is the final "message" which Kubrick seems determined to leave with his audience.
The plot is simple: General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) asks General Mireau (George Macready) to command his division to storm the Ant Hill, an unassailable German target across no-man's land. Sniffing promotion, Mireau agrees. And so it is down to Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) to undertake the impossible mission. When it fails, Mireau blames Dax's soldiers, and three of them are chosen to be tried for cowardice. The trial turns out to be Dax's second impossible mission.
At under 90 minutes, it's remarkable how many themes are explored. And these are the big ones, too: courage, belief, fear and, most significantly, humanity. Dax is a moral man in a war-torn world where humanity does not exist - and not simply on the battlefield, but in the general's headquarters. All hope seems spent when Broulard confronts Dax in one of the final scenes, and is surprised to find that the colonel's actions truly came from a position of morality. But then some light in the darkness: a German singer (Susanne Christian, who would later become Kubrick's wife) touches the souls of his men; observing the scene reminds Dax that hope does still exist - just not in war.
Prompt delivery at a good price. Thank you.
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