A Review Of Gritty Film Paths Of Glory
In 1957, Stanley Kubrick directed a movie that would change the face of war as no one had seen before on the silver screen. Inspired to bring the novel by Humphrey Cobb he read in his school days to life in live action, Kubrick embarked on a journey to reveal the seedy underbelly of war that few people dare to think about. Paths of Glory sparked much controversy across the nation, and even in other countries, temporarily hindering the careers of Kubrick and the lead actors involved. However, when this taboo lifted, it only revealed the truth and irony of the film’s message.
The movie starts with the proposition by the French General Staff to take a stronghold of the German forces on the nearby battlefield. The General in charge does not believe this to be a wise decision at first, realizing his troops that would be assigned such a duty would be far underpowered in comparisons to the enemy. However, the General above him makes the suggestion that such a victory would guarantee a promotion in rank, and suddenly the task becomes far less impossible.
Set in the vicious trench warfare of the First World War, the story takes its cues from the pure humanity of its characters, all of them showing weakness, strength, and the undeniable desire to survive. This leads numerous film critics to credit the movie with encouraging a more realistic approach to telling the story of battle. They also applaud the artistic and technical merits the story delivers through the precise delivery of its actors, and the complex emotional quality each character portrays, even without lengthy back-stories.
The attack is inevitably a failure, as every character besides the delusional generals fueled by arrogance sees coming, and the remaining troops who refuse to leave the trenches for a lost battle are blamed. The entire regiment takes the fall for the loss, and three men are selected at random to punish the entire group of soldiers for their supposed cowardice. Colonel Dax, the man in charge of the regiment, tries to defend his soldiers at any cost against the unfair trial, but has little hope against the united forces against him.
The drama of this warning tale is effectively told through the medium of black and white film, giving the audience just as much emotional depth and drama as a film in full color. Though the art of using black and white is almost obsolete, some artistic directors and photographers still utilize its stark effect to convey the film noir style from the days before color and for its ability to create extreme contrasts. For example, in Paths of Glory, Kubrick utilizes the pitch black and dark gray in the trenches to contrast with the bright white within the overly elaborate and comfortable military headquarters.
What may stand out to today’s audiences that may not have captured so much attention at the time is the physical motion and gesticulation the characters perform throughout the film. To create diversity in the way scenes were shot without a large budget, a single camera would often track the pacing of a character during thought or speech about the set. This pacing punctuates the mental process the actor is portraying, and keeps the audience moving with them, although the camera is set from a single point.
Because the movie’s sentiments leaned toward the pointlessness and politics of war, it was considered controversial and even taboo in some European countries. It was the first of its kind to depict the antagonist of a war story as those in higher power from one’s own side, rather than the advancing enemy forces. Though anti-war movies and cultural viewpoints did not become popular until after the war with Vietnam, the actors and crew involved with the film took an artistic risk and moral standpoint that will be remembered for all cinematic history.
Paths of Glory was highly critically acclaimed, though its box office profits were minimal. The moral behind the story lingers on with relevance as questions of human sacrifice for the sake of political war is more heavily disdained as generations pass. The movie is often used today as a critical thinking and discussion tool for English classes and Film classes alike, sharing the universal challenge of fate and orders for a long time to come.
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