Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Paths of Glory has you in 1916 France where a commanding officer, General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) offers his lead general, General Mireau, a promotion if he can get his regiment to overtake the best war position of that area, The Ant Hill. Passing this order through the ranks to Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas), he hopes to gain the French a great advantage (as well as land him a better title).

Enter Colonel Dax who can tell that his shell-shocked unit is too distressed to send out to capture a position and that by doing so would be a suicide mission. He has no choice but to try and after a failed recon mission, they decide to move out with a chunk of his unit butchered and the rest falling back. Now he must act as political lawyer and save his remaining troops from being murdered under the clause of cowardice, but will he succeed or bury a trench for himself to be killed in?

This was Kubrick’s first feature length after The Killing and definitely one with great subject matter. I’m not too familiar with World War I movies, but this one is certainly one of the best I’ve ever seen. Its realism is something to take in all on its own. Aside from the disappointment of how there are absolutely no French accents uttered in the entire movie makes it hard to believe, but I grew to not even care because I was too into the story. Was I tricked?

All of the trench photography is simply stunning and shows Stanley Kubrick coming into his own. If you are not familiar with Stanley Kubrick, he was one of the most influential filmmakers of the last century with his timeless classics such as Clockwork Orange and The Shining, he pounded his way into popular culture and created some of the best films ever made. Paths of Glory is no exception.

Back to the trenches. In the opening shots with General Mireau inspecting the troops in the six-foot trench with floorboards underneath to prevent sinkage and disease, you get an early taste of Kubrick’s unique hand-held camera style and its dramatic walk-through of the trenches is something I will never forget from this film. That and the fact that the battle scenes were very realistic and one of the few early war films depicting people actually being shot (especially one of the last scenes in the movie, which I won’t give away).

Paths of Glory stars Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, and George Macready. Truth be told, I am not really familiar with all of the actors, but I do know Kirk Douglas from a few features namely his second Kubrick collaboration, Spartacus. He does a great job here in a sympathetic role. While some of his lines can get a bit corny, think of the time period of this film as well as the year it was made (1957)—there’s no doubt that films of this nature had a bravado feel to them that made them a bit corny.

Not saying that the whole film is corny. Some parts were very delicately made such as the famous ending sequence of the German girl (Kubrick’s girlfriend at the time) singing to Dax’s troops while they shouted racy statements and rude gestures towards her and having them all eventually break down in tears. The entire scene, if shot improperly, could have gone off rather lame duckish, but instead it offers yet another anti-war theme (which the movie was accused of countless times; it wasn’t until 1987 when Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket was released were critics quieted) and a very emotional ending to a great film.

All good fortunes aside, there were times in the movie where things were a bit hard to follow for me and that had me bored at times, but looking back on it (as well as having watched it a few more times), I can safely say that the film is well worth it to watch whether or not you like war movies. The second half of the movie offers tense court-drama that is very interesting to watch especially with Kirk Douglas leading the onslaught and the tied ends of the movie are also very intriguing to witness. While it’s certainly not Stanley Kubrick’s best picture, it does offer a lot of great elements that would in later years make him a widely respected artist and witnessing those themes make Paths of Glory worth it to watch.

(c) Jason Haskins, 2007


More Kubrick

Lolita (1962)
Dr. Strangelove or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned How To Love The Bomb (1964)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
Stanley Kubrick: A Life In Pictures (2001)


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12