Paths of Glory (1957)

When Stanley Kubrick is brought up in many modern cinema discussions, films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Clockwork Orange, and The Shining usually dominate the conversation. While these films each have indelible merit (2001 being one of the finest films in the history of cinema), their popularity diminish the relevance of Kubrick’s earlier works. Although Dr. Strangelove has seen resurgence among a much younger crowd, films like The Killing, Spartacus and Lolita become overshadowed by a brilliant directorial oeuvre. Paths of Glory is one of Stanley Kubrick’s most powerful films. With the dark humor that would permeate Dr. Strangelove, and incredible camera movement and staging that he would further perfect in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Paths of Glory is one of the highest achievements in Kubrick’s legacy.

Set in the trenches of World War I riddled France; Kubrick follows the 701st Regiment as they struggle to overcome the gruesomeness of war on one side, and the calloused idiocy of politics on the other. General George Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) has decided that, to gain political favor, he must take a fortified German position named “The Ant Hill.” Through condescension, flattery, and the promise of a promotion, he gains the support from General Paul Mireau (George Macready). Gen. Mireau goes down the chain of command to Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglass), whose hesitance to carry out the mission is met with double talk and questions of masculinity. When the attack is carried out, a third of the regiment refuses to leave the trenches, the mission fails, and swift repercussions descend from highest authority. Gen. Mireau holds one man from each of the three divisions responsible, and tries them for cowardice in the face of the enemy.

Kubrick tells his simple story in excruciating detail. Setting the camera on a rolling dolly, and slowly moving it backward or forward through the trenches, Kubrick shows just how isolating and claustrophobic the trenches can be. The sunken and dirty faces of the men as they lean, exhausted and battered against the steep wooden walls paint a haunting reality of WWI that is seldom portrayed in modern film. Using a wide angle lateral tracking shot for the scenes in “No Man’s Land,” Kubrick removes his audience from the action, and holds them at a distance, helpless to change the brutal reality of trench warfare. Kubrick is meticulous in his shot framing. Ensuring that everything has its proper place in the frame, and enters and exits on cue, Kubrick tightly controls the mood and tone of his film.

Based on the novel by Humphrey Cobb, Kubrick, alongside fellow screenwriters Calder Willingham and Jim Thompson portray the military as a cold and unmoving series of highly-politicized relationships, with absolutely no room for deviation. Utterly frustrating sets of military guidelines and protocol trump simple logic and basic human compassion. Officers constantly demean their soldiers, likening them to animals going to the slaughter, and question their courage remarking that shell shock does not exist – its simple cowardice! In a Kafkaesque string of events (coincidentally leading up to a trial), rationale is traded for adherence to esoteric rules, and jurisprudence bends to blind patriotism.

None of these frustrations however, are carried out gravely. Kubrick and his writing staff make a mockery out of the rules and regulations, showing just how archaic and meaningless each seem to be. With constant nodding to his audience, Kubrick knows that without the humorous absurdity, the sheer resentment towards the General staff would be too much to bear. Their portrayals, too, are oddly charismatic, with Menjou and Macready offering charmingly robotic performances. In staunch opposition to these two comically ignorant socialites, are Douglass and the three accused men played by Ralph Meeker, Joe Turkel, and Timothy Carey. Douglass is superb in his role as the audience’s proxy, with his unwavering morals and refusal to trade his humanity for a promotion. His frustration with the Court-Martial is palpable as is his utter dejection when any of his men are killed. While Turkel would later show his penchant for being wholly disturbing in Kubrick’s The Shining, it is Meeker and Carey who shine in their roles as the doomed men. Each going through their own version of the “5 Stages of Grief,” the men fully inhabit their character’s despair. Carey, using his trademark flair for the unusual, turns his complete denial into sniveling child-like grief, oddly contrasted with his large six-foot plus frame. Meeker moves much more methodically through the stages of grief, even breaking down, but with the encouragement of a fellow soldier, completes the cycle to acceptance shortly thereafter.

With captivating performances by the entirety of the cast, and Stanley Kubrick’s brutally realistic portrayal of the First World War, Paths of Glory is a cinematic masterpiece. Often overlooked by modern audiences, Paths of Glory is an outstanding Kubrick, and, quite possibly, his best film.