Holds up well enough

Rating: 8/10 (11 January 2005)

I don't mean to beat up on BusterLA regarding the previous critical post ( Not what it used to be)--but I have to disagree with the assertion that "Paths Of Glory" is a dated and too simplistic film. The whole question about how movies hold up over time seems to always be a ripe subject for discussion (and I think misunderstandings). "Paths Of Glory" was released in 1957 and I suppose was slightly ahead of its time--Of course within the next 15 years movies like Catch-22 and M*A*S*H would bring their own anti-war messages -"Paths of Glory" was banned in France until 1975--otherwise I don't think it upset or offended many others at the time. It's a bit more candid than "All Quiet on the Wesern Front" --however that movie was released back in 1930 (do the math). "Paths Of Glory" holds up well not because the theme or particulars are that new or outrageous---but only because it is so well and clearly told (thank you Mr. Kubrick). Please don't confuse clarity for a failure of imagination or creativity.
It's a given in this movie that the officers (except for Dax) represent the dark and cynical side -however- they are not morally bankrupt without explanation--they have a logical agenda of tradition and self interest based on the real (and sometimes mistaken) necessities of war. That everything accrues to their personal ambitions is nothing less than a reflection of "the way it was".
The condemned soldiers are also not just cardboard cutouts given victim status. One soldier is a "social misfit"---one other assaults a priest the night before the execution and another one struggles to maintain his courage and falters more than once.
I am not a big Kirk Douglas fan--however I think he does a fine job here--perhaps a little bit too forcefully heroic--however you will note that there is no attempt to separate him out -- He is- in the end-- just another cog in the machinery of the war---His defiance to the system has real limits.
Finally, I guess I will have to defend the final scene of the movie where French soldiers choose not to humiliate a young German woman. I note that some critics think this scene is jarringly out of place or pointless--however I think it is very effective and speaks well to the subject at hand. Look into the soldiers eyes in that last scene --you can see then that they see themselves in that young girl -they understand her situation only too well. The last scene is put there I think to show that humanity is not automatically and by default cruel and ruthless and corrupt all of the time. The soldiers in the final scene choose to exercise mercy-when given the chance -even against the backdrop of a time and place where the execution of three innocent men is really only incidental trivia in the face of hundreds of others dying in the trenches daily.