Anti-war cinema at its most powerful

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2007)

Paths of Glory is one of the two war movies Stanley Kubrick directed throughout a splendid career (the other being Full Metal Jacket). And though at first sight these films may seem very different, they share a vital key theme: the futility of war and the monstrous effects it has on the human psyche.
In the case of FMJ, the monstrosity is shown through the actions of Pvt. Pyle (Vincent D' Onofrio) and Joker (Matthew Modine), both mentally scarred by the teachings of sadistic Sgt. Hartman (R. Lee Ermey). In Paths, however, the dreadful actions do not take place on the battlefield, but in a courtroom: it is in that courtroom that three randomly selected French soldiers (the context is WWI) are to be court-martial-ed, the charges being cowardliness and refusal to accomplish the mission assigned to them. What the prosecutors don't know is that the mission in question (attacking the Anthill) would have resulted in a bloodbath on the French side and that Gen. Mireau (George MacReady), who ordered the attack and also insisted on holding the trial, was so disappointed he actually asked one of his men to shoot the retreating soldiers. The only person who seems to understand what is really going on is Col. Dax (Kirk Douglas), and it is his difficult job to convince his superiors of the necessity of the squad's behavior.
Anyone who is even vaguely acquainted with Kubrick knows this is not going to be a fairy tale: Paths of Glory is one of the most effective anti-war films ever made because it is not afraid to expose the more rotten aspects of what happens in these situations (and it invites comparison with the M*A*S*H episode where Alan Alda makes a documentary and says :"This is no way to end a movie, I know that, but war is no movie"). The director openly criticizes the very nature of conflict by immediately taking Dax's side, showing that he, unlike Mireau who admires the size of the trenches (one of the most beautiful of Kubrick's many tracking shots) and only wants to be remembered as a great general, is more concerned about bringing his men back home as unharmed as possible, putting glory aside.
One scene in particular supports the filmmakers'point more than anything else: the trial. While the prosecutor just wants to have the three soldiers sentenced to death and barely pays attention to them, Dax (played with solemn authority by Douglas) allows them to explain what actually occurred during the attack and uses this to openly express his contempt for what the war has done to everyone around him, depriving them of any reason and consideration for human life. That one powerful and upsetting sequence proves beyond any doubt that any war, no matter how noble it may be in its organizer's intentions, is totally and utterly incapable of bringing any real profit: all that results is hatred and greed.
Kubrick directed nine more pictures after this one, and all of them dealt on some level with the frailty of humanity and its inevitable decline. Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket aside, though, none of them, however perfect, resonates with as much anger and relevance as Paths of Glory.