The Absurdity of Life and Art

Rating: 9/10 (17 February 2013)

I'm in the middle of revisiting most of Kubrick's work, and watching this after "Full Metal Jacket" (1987) is a wonderful experience. Accidentally, I had also seen Kazan's "On the Waterfront" (1954) just some days earlier, and that experience too gave a great deal of perspective and enhanced my enjoyment. All the sweeter since I saw this last some 10 years ago and wasn't as overwhelmed then.
But now its strengths have really grown on me. There's the amazing, acute sense of movement in the camera, be it in the trenches or the encircling dancing in the interior shots of the Department. The claustrophobic sense of place, and the contrapuntal open, wide hallways and high ceilings of the courtroom. This is Kubrick at his best. And the sounds! Of explosions, machine-gun fire, breathing, the loud echoes of the cross-examination, the intimate singing of the German girl in the pub, revealed behind the wall of sound of obstinate cheering and drunken blabber. These counterpoints of both space (small, wide) and sound (loud, silent) define the film for me.
Watching "On the Waterfront" just before this was an interesting point of comparison. Brando and Kaufman's cinematography where the highlights of that film, but I couldn't really connect with the central social struggle at all, the bestiality of man toward man, man corrupted by power and prestige. Not so here – and here Kubrick's delicate sense of satire comes into play. Whilst a serious film, it doesn't take itself too seriously, which is exactly why it's able to connect with us the way it does. The absurdity of life and art, and of art trying to depict life (and art). How man is reduced to a mere number, a prop in a film. I found this very effective.