Review of Paths of Glory (1957) by Ernesto J. M — 20 Jul 2014

(Sorry for my bad english) I think this is the best war film of all, because it genuinely reminds you that, above all, human people want to live. In any conventional war movie, in a film made by 99 directors out of 100, there would be an 11th-hour reprieve, the condemned men would be spared, and the stupid and treacherous Mireau would be publicly humiliated.

Not here. Kubrick finds a way to draw all his story threads tight without compromising his harsh and unforgiving theme. The plot is resolved, yes, but cruelty and duplicity survive, and private soldiers are still meaningless pawns.

Broulard believes the executions will be "a perfect tonic" for the army: "One way to maintain discipline is to shoot a man now and then." Kubrick and his cinematographer, George Krause, use sharp and deep focus for every shot.

There is not a single shot composed only for beauty; the movie's visual style is to look, and look hard. Kirk Douglas, a star whose intelligence and ambition sometimes pulled him away from the comfortable path mapped by the system, contains most of the emotion of his character.

When he is angry, we know it, but he stays just within the edge of going too far. He remains an officer. He does his duty. He finds a way to define his duty more deeply than his superiors would have wished, but in a way, they cannot condemn.