A genre unto himself.

Rating: 10/10 (26 April 2000)

I was originally going to say that a third of Stanley Kubrick's films were about war, but that wouldn't be accurate. A third of Stanley Kubrick's body of work were anti-war films. Considering he only made 12 major films (not counting the five theatrically un-released) this is pretty significant. He practically invented the anti-war genre with this film or at least made the first nationally recognized anti-war film. His four major anti-war films could even fit the traditional genre cycle model. "Paths of Glory" being his first anti-war film established the genre and thus was its novelty period. His next anti-war film was "Spartacus" and this could be the classic period of the genre. Next was "Dr Strangelove or: how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb" and this could be the revisionist period of the genre in which it takes a comedic turn. Lastly was "Full Metal Jacket" which could fulfill the parodic period of the genre as it makes fun of itself. These 4 films might have better fit the genre cycle if "Dr. Strangelove" was made after "Full Metal Jacket" but I'm not sure. Anyway, it's a very interesting view of the four movies if you compare them.

One thing that struck me in "Paths of Glory" was the German woman who sings at the end. I may be wrong, but she is the only woman in the whole film, and I may again be wrong, but as I recall there was only one woman in "Dr. Strangelove" and one woman who was a main character in "Full Metal Jacket" (actually two, the Vietnamese prostitute and the assassin, but they could be considered the same woman). This is very peculiar and thus very relevant in interpreting some of these films' meanings. Most importantly, in all three of these films, the woman is something of the "enemy"(somewhat of a stretch for the woman in "Dr. Strangelove" but she could be seen as an enemy as she keeps General Turgidson from doing his job and trades information between military officers.) Also very important in two of the films is that they are the only enemy to be seen close-up. In "Paths of Glory" the German singer at the end is the only time in the film the "enemy" is actually seen and this proves quite effective is demonstrating the absurdity of claiming she's essentially any different than the "good guys." Also, in "Full Metal Jacket" the only enemy seen close up that's not dead is the assassin at the end who is not only female but a child and this is Kubrick's most wicked ploy as how could this young girl possibly be the enemy?