the first masterpiece of Kubrick

Rating: 10/10 (29 June 2009)

'Path of Glory' would not have happened without Kirk Douglas. He not only makes here one of the deepest and most human roles of his acting career, but also put all his influence and some money into determining the great studios to make this anti-war film, which became the first in a series of great anti-war films of Kubrick. The story of the first world war French soldiers sent to an almost sure death by their corrupted generals and then randomly court-martial-ed and sent to death for cowardice when they face the predictable failure is turned by Kubrick into a splendidly built and beautifully filmed pledge for humanity. And it is humanity that prevails despite the tragic destiny of the soldiers. The final scene in which soldiers join a German prisoner girl into humming a simple German love song is a scene of redemption and of pure shaming of nationalism. Kubrick was still, at least at that point in his life and career an optimist.