Wow!!!

Rating: 10/10 (16 January 2006)

Many films preach to us the horrors of battle and tout the slogan: "war is hell". Most only serve to give the viewer two hours of grand battle scenes interspersed with mostly forgetful introspective moments by the main characters. Then there is the film Paths of Glory directed by Stanley Kubrick. It could have been a grand World War I spectacle with a cast of thousands and sets rivaling the war itself. Instead, Kubrick brings us a story of a failed battle told from a personal side rather then the often used long shot of war, shown on a grand scale, so often used in lesser films. Paths of Glory is the story of an egotistical Generals failure and the lengths he is willing to go to protect his reputation.
What a truly grand film this is. Even though this is one of Stanley Kubrick's early films, his genius is plainly evident. In one of the first scenes in the film he took what could have been a long, dull conversation between two Generals and choreographed their movements, along with the cameras, in such a way as to keep the viewers attention. Also, the long dolly shot that followed the General through the "trench" is purely Kubrick. One of his signature moves that he has incorporated in all his films.
The film ends with a scene of a frightened captured German woman being forced to sing to the French troops. On first thought I wondered why this scene was in the film. Looking back this scene provides much more incite to the situation then first at hand. She puts a face on a faceless enemy, thus humanizing them. We see her fear and realize that the French troops, who are soon off to another battle, are just as scared and unsure of their own futures. She is the only person of beauty in a world filled with horror. The palaces that the Generals occupy are grand, but also cold and lifeless. She is alive and out in the terrible world alongside the men in the trenches.
War is hell, not only for the soldier but also for all of humanity, and the only Paths of Glory shown to us in this film is the one taken by the three men. This is what the film is truly about.