Very near Perfection

Rating: 9/10 (22 January 2012)

What first struck as being most impressive in Paths of Glory, was the way in which trench warfare and life in the trench was shot. Usually I find there's some sort of gloss over the reality of the situation, and whilst here, there weren't mountains dismembered bodies and discarded heads, the emotion of the place was just so brilliantly conveyed. In the shots in which the camera glides through the trenches the emotion of every man is conveyed and felt, its seriously powerful. Though obviously not intentional, the fact that this film was in black and white actually helped it to feel more real somehow. That's probably just a personal opinion and its quite hard to explain but I just don't think the film actually would have been so effective if in full colour, it is far more a film of message and emotion than of beautiful scenery and an array of rainbow like effects.
In terms of directing, Kubrik is really very good. There were three shots used a few times each throughout the film that I really liked. Firstly was the gliding through the trenches that I've already spoken about. Secondly was the following of one person whilst panning the camera behind other people. This was quite exceptional in the shooting scene which is so abrupt, and as its almost from the perspective of the shooter there is almost a feeling of guilt or at least it induces some sort of emotion. Thirdly was the way in which people's faces are shot, I you feel like you see everyone in this film and whilst that might sound strange or pretty stupid its true. Pretty much every character in the film, from the tiniest extra to Kirk Douglas, facial features seem to be shown and it brings in such an incredible array of emotion (I'm sorry for saying emotion so much!), whether it be the nasty general or normal soldiers who we see panning through the trenches.
Acting wise I thought this film was really spot on again. Probably the most impressive element was the one of restraint. So many characters have to hide their real feelings in the face of their superiors whilst simultaneously displaying them to the audience. Kirk Douglas's cracking point was probably the best example of this, even though he does reveal his true feelings to some extent, one still feels he is still holding back some what and that was very very good.
In one of his very rousing speeches Kirk Douglas states; "There are times when I am ashamed to be a member of the human race and this is one such occasion". I think this probably best sums up the whole motif of the film. Although it might be an anti-war piece, the film really has a Kafkaesque feel to it, it seems to be calling into question certain elements of humanity and it does absolutely brilliantly, so that even at the conclusion there is no real certainty, I didn't feel as though anyone had lost or won, just that everything was going to carry on as usual despite the travesties that were occurring so constantly.