Rent Paths of Glory (1957)

Well worth its accolades - Paths of Glory review by CD

A really superb film with great performances across the cast.  Don’t expect to see much battlefield action but the balance of the film is brilliant with just the right amount of morality and emotion told through the views of the different characters.  Powerful stuff and I can see why this film has received such high ratings since its release.

Early Kubrick. - Paths of Glory review by Steve

Heartbreaking drama about pitiless military justice on the western front in WWI and the corrupting insanity of war. This is one of the great anti-war films, but it isn't talky, or worthy. It is a fascinating, brilliantly acted polemic that burns on the energy of its anger.

It is based on a real life incident. A senior French officer is offered promotion if he will order his men across no man's land to take and hold a heavily defended German stronghold.  The men fail against impossible odds, so three low ranking soldiers are tried and shot for cowardice, to encourage the others.

Many Kubrick classics have an epic quality, but this is the opposite. It dissects a single episode from conception to conclusion in forensic detail and indicts institutionalised cruelty and bigotry. We are shown that the trenches were an extension of civilian life gamed to protect those with privilege and to facilitate their advancement.

Its genius is that it works as an allegory for any hierarchy. It is brilliantly shot by Kubrick, particularly the long crane shots of the futile assault on the enemy positions. Kirk Douglas is incredibly intense as the lawyer defending his men. It is a classic of political cinema and Kubrick's best film. Prepare to be horrified.

Masterpiece - Paths of Glory review by GI

Stanley Kubrick's First World War drama is a film of sheer brilliance. It was only his second feature film (he had made some shorts before) and it marked him as a significant director and effectively launched his career. Having secured a major star in Kirk Douglas for the lead role the mould was set for a masterpiece and the film is still revered today. Set on the Western Front in 1916 and the French army decide to launch a futile attack on a fortified German position. When the attack fails General Mireau (George Macready) accuses his men of cowardice and has three of them selected at random to be court martialled. Colonel Dax (Douglas), the three's commander and a former lawyer decides to defend them. Not only does this film have a very realistic battle scene and a superb recreation of the trenches (even Winston Churchill was impressed by the authenticity) but it is also a drama about immorality, shameless ambition and corruption as well as the degeneracy of class over humanity. It's riveting stuff and it's one of those films that is really a must see at all costs because this is a topnotch movie.