Paths Of Glory
Paths of Glory screened last night, as part of the Stanley Kubrick retrospective, here in Hong Kong. This 1957 film (review here and extended synopsis here) is one that I read about a number of times (frequently cited as one of the most important war films ever), but have never seen in full.
Paths of Glory is a shocking, tough and totally unromantic study in the futility of WWI trench warfare and the moral corrosion that sort of carnage can inflict, both on the soldiers in the trenches and the senior officers in charge of the strategy.
Cinematically the film is interesting because of Kubrick’s use of long (almost relentlessly long) panning shots – along the trenches, during the combat sequence and in the execution scene. There’s something very theatrical about the way Kubrick uses extended focus (and sharp background detail and depth of field) to create tension and drama. It’s expert film-making because the story requires to understand, visually and emotionally these scenes in order to drive home it’s point.
Paths of Glory is often quoted as being an anti-war film and whilst it is, more importantly, it is a film about the moral consequences of war and the human abilty to recover from those consequences. There’s a lot of genuine ugliness, evil and betrayal in the film, but there is also courage, truthfulness, longing for justice, beauty and even humour. At it’s end, the film pulls us towards both hope and futility – the mark of a true tragedy.
There is a very thought-provoking interplay between religion, existentialism, justice and forgiveness – one that I need to ponder a little further and which really demands a repeat viewing. There’s also powerful contrast between liberal modernism and 19th century Romanticism, which again, demans some careful attention.
Also, Paths of Glory reminds us of reasons why the legal frameworks for warfare and justice matter so much and why, in our current age we tamper with them at grave risk to the foundations of social order. It is all to easy to assume goodwill in our fellow countrymen and that those in power will protect and conserve any who labour under them. Paths of Glory draws us back to a time in the not too distant past where men, educated European men, would calculate human sacrifice for personal gain and reward.
“Maybe the attack against the Ant Hill was impossible. Perhaps it was an error of judgment on our part. On the other hand, if your men had been a little more daring, you might have taken it. Who knows? Why should we have to bear more criticism and failure than we have to?…These executions will be a perfect tonic for the entire division. There are few things more fundamentally encouraging and stimulating than seeing someone else die…You see, Colonel, troops are like children. Just as a child wants his father to be firm, troops crave discipline. And one way to maintain discipline is to shoot a man now and then.”
Paths of Glory is surely a must-see film for anyone interested in theology and culture and looking for works of cinema that deal with important moral and ethical issues.
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Musician, essayist, photographer, cinephile, former resident of Santiago, Sydney, London and Delhi.