Perfect

Rating: 9/10 (22 April 2012)

Fans of Stanley's Kubrick latter, more celebrated output (from Dr. Strangelove onwards) may find it jarring to realize how little Paths of Glory feels like a Kubrick film. On one hand, it may be considered Kubrick's first real classic (unless you love The Killing, which I don't); on the other, he didn't quite find his own voice yet. It's a mixed blessing - Paths of Glory isn't quite as mesmerizing or stylish as The Shining, A Clockwork Orange or Full Metal Jacket; but it's much tighter and more focused than any of those. It's also far more human and more realistic.
The strange result is that while Paths of Glory isn't quite one of Kubrick's greatest classic, it's one of his best films and, as a matter of fact, one of the best films of the 50's. It's also one of the finest war films ever made, and practically one of a kind within the genre; Paths of Glory isn't about the chaos and hell of war (like Kubrick's own wildly chaotic Full Metal Jacket) but rather about its effect on people; as such, it's a surprisingly subtle and poetic affair, focusing on characters and scenes of extremely powerful quietness. The acting is terrific all around, so much so that Kirk Douglas's character - the moral compass of the story - may be the least interesting of them. The fascinating ones are the flawed characters - those are the ones who make Paths of Glory both incredibly realistic for its time and a potent and powerful allegory.