Leadership and humanity

Rating: 8/10 (24 May 2008)

Great Movie! I just caught it again on Turner Classic Movies, so I thought I'd check out IMDb and see what I didn't know about it.
Well, I didn't know that so many folks would choose to see the French generals as representative of shortcomings in the competence and character of all military leaders, rather than examples of poor leadership in general. Certainly those who work in corporate environments or read a newspaper regularly can attest to the presence of bad, greedy, or selfish leaders in all walks of life. If anything, the example of both Colonel Dax and the steady senior sergeant should serve as evidence that good leaders co-exist with bad ones. Their presence offers us hope that honor and competence may occasionally be recognized and given the authority to make intelligent decisions.
Sorry to have strayed so far from the movie. It is probably one of the black and white films that I am most willing to sit through. The cinematography and the acting are both amazing. The battle scene proves that Steven Spielberg's work in the opening scene of "Saving Private Ryan" certainly had a precedent.
As to the final scene of Paths of Glory. I've read a lot of comments here misunderstanding that as well. I suppose that is easy to do, if you don't understand soldiers. These men are asked to exist like animals for months on end, in the dirt, in daily fear for their survival. They are reduced to "kill or be killed" and even their enemy is dehumanized in order to make his death less of a moral dilemma. So, of course, when presented with such a beautiful woman, their first reaction is animalistic. Here's the subject of so many dirty jokes and late-night fantasies come before them in the flesh. But then, her singing reconnects these men to their own humanity. They are ashamed of their former actions and of the level to which they have descended. And they are reminded of their mothers, wives, daughters and the homes that they left behind. Their tears stem from shame and homesickness. Colonel Dax exhibits compassion when he instructs the sergeant to allow the men a few minutes more of human experience before causing them to return to the mud, blood and misery of their existence in the trenches.