Just Brilliant

Rating: 10/10 (16 August 2013)

This is Stanley Kubrick's 4th full length film released in 1957 as a drama and war film. Based on the a novel of the same name written by Humphrey Cobb this film stars Kirk Douglas one of the biggest actors at this time. The budget for this film was $935,000 with still an unknown gross. The plot of the film states '' When soldiers in WW1 refuse to continue with an impossible attack, their superiors decide to make an example of them''. The novel was originally considered controversial so the film being controversial was inevitable, the film shows a scene which involves the general ordering a bomb attack on his one squad after the squad refuses to fight because they had lost all hope of winning the ''Anthill' from the Germans. After the General had accused the soldiers of being cowardly he ordered three men to be picked from each regiment and executed this would be an example to the other soldiers. The film is considered to have one of the most emotional ending to any film. However in order for you to know just how sad the ending to this film is you have to know exactly the position the soldiers had been put into.

After watching three innocent men killed for a crime they did not commit it was sure that these men were angry and sad but after watching the final scene it was evident that they we sad rather than angry. Before this film was released it was clear that most film audiences had never seen a hero or innocent men killed in such a violent and apparent way. Here is a quote from the book '' The Real Stanley Kubrick'' '' After seeing Paths of Glory I remember walking out on the street and thinking that I'd never seen anybody shot and killed in a movie before. I was 17, I'd seen a few (thousand) movies, and I soon realized that I'd been seeing it all my life: cowboys shooting Indians, Indians shooting cavalry, cops shooting robbers, good guys shooting bad guys, weak guys shooting strong guys, Japanese and Germans and Americans shooting one another - it was a staple of the cinema. This was the first time I'd seen it done in this way, as calculated and pitiless as a firing squad itself, no possibility to dissociate, no way to look someplace else''. After reading this quote it was i instantly knew why Paths of Glory got Stanley Kubrick the respect he deserved because of the risk he had taken.
These men were innocent and to have them killed in such a way would have made not only the French government feel guilt but it would also make the audience realize things they never thought was possible in such a time. This film was intended to open the audience eyes to things that actually happened during the war, this again was done when Kubrick made the film ''Dr. Strangelove''. Which showed a humorous side to the cold war but while watching this film I realised the message Kubrick was trying to tell the audience.
Although now these type of movies have been done time and time again I still feel this film stands to be the film that inspired most directors to tell the truth about war and just what really occurred even in the quarters of the people considered the heroes.
''Fun fact: Ridley Scott shot a half hour recreation of the trench and battle scenes from "Paths of Glory". Scott designed the sets, wrote the script, tracked down the correct props and blocked out all the camera moves, which were then photographed with a borrowed 35mm motion picture camera. The lead actor was Keith Barone. The film was shot in 1963 and the end result was never intended for broadcast. Scott's short film was deemed exceptionally praiseworthy by various students and instructors involved with the BBC's director's programme''.