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 polemic 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 film that burns on the energy of our anger.

It's a drama 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 injustice. We are shown that the trenches were an extension of civilian life gamed to protect those with privilege and to facilitate their advancement.

The genius of Paths of Glory 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.