The brilliance of Kubrick!

Rating: Null/10 (19 July 2002)

It is amazing that Kubrick was only 29 years old when he directed Paths Of Glory. Despite his young age, he delivers a movie with the poise of an older man, a film that shows the horrors of war. As much as a war film, it's more of an indictment of war.
Kirk Douglas plays a Colonel in the French army during WW1. He has been ordered by his superiors the task of using his soldiers, many of them hurt or inexperienced, to make a run for an anthill being held by the Germans. However, this ragtag group fails so badly that they end up retreating. This doesn't sit well with the French generals, one of whom tries to kill off the battalion for cowardice. Later, Douglas must defend his corps in a court-martial to prove that they aren't cowards. He also fights to say his peace on how the evils of war have affected his own people.
There's no better 50's film that has shown the horrors of war better than this one. The horrific deaths suffered from the attempt to capture the anthill cannot be shaken easily. The fact that certain men feel that others are expendable to continue the needless wars is hammered home in my mind. It's a film that certainly shows how mindless it all is.
With a superb cast led by Kirk Douglas and Adolphe Menjou, a fine script, and lensed in simple-but elegant B&W, this stands out as one of the finest films ever made. You only wish that Kubrick and Orson Welles could have made more films, they were a cut above the usual fare.