Paths of Glory is a 1957 war film about the fallibility of human judgment and questioning the value of a life. Stanley Kubrick directed the film, prompted by his vivid memories of reading the novel written by Humphrey Cobb for school. The film turned out to be a controversial affair, nationally, and on foreign shores. Coupled with the tale's moral itself, this cultural prejudice against the movie's depiction of war proved to be the greatest irony of all.
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.
The film takes a subtle, and realistic by today's standards, approach to the telling of a war story. The characters drive the plot forward without prompt from the external enemy, but rather from the inhumane judgments and justifications of their own seats of power. A depth exists in every private, general, and rank in between, along with the interactions between them. This is why the movie is a popular choice for teachers to assign their students to analyze and write about it for critical thinking.
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.
One technical issue that many in today's audience may notice is the tendency of the characters to pace around the room during thoughts and speech, sometimes to an unrealistic extreme. The reason for this is to keep the feeling of motion alive while characters are set in lengthy conversations. With the limited ability to move the camera itself due to the touchy nature of lighting at the time, shot diversity depended on the actors' theatrical movements and gestures to stay interesting.
By following the story of three soldiers doomed to death by their superiors for unjust causes, the French and many other European countries banned the movie for many years before cultural policies on such material loosened. Film critics acclaim it as the first challenger to the idea that war is completely honorable and glorious. The ironic and emotional journey the plot takes leave audiences with both warnings and questions about those in power, and the motives behind making enemies out of those who should be allies.
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.
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.
The film takes a subtle, and realistic by today's standards, approach to the telling of a war story. The characters drive the plot forward without prompt from the external enemy, but rather from the inhumane judgments and justifications of their own seats of power. A depth exists in every private, general, and rank in between, along with the interactions between them. This is why the movie is a popular choice for teachers to assign their students to analyze and write about it for critical thinking.
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.
One technical issue that many in today's audience may notice is the tendency of the characters to pace around the room during thoughts and speech, sometimes to an unrealistic extreme. The reason for this is to keep the feeling of motion alive while characters are set in lengthy conversations. With the limited ability to move the camera itself due to the touchy nature of lighting at the time, shot diversity depended on the actors' theatrical movements and gestures to stay interesting.
By following the story of three soldiers doomed to death by their superiors for unjust causes, the French and many other European countries banned the movie for many years before cultural policies on such material loosened. Film critics acclaim it as the first challenger to the idea that war is completely honorable and glorious. The ironic and emotional journey the plot takes leave audiences with both warnings and questions about those in power, and the motives behind making enemies out of those who should be allies.
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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