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I have owned Paths of Glory for decades and still not got around to watching it, I really must make the time. I only ever here good things about the film.
Oh such a good film! The final scene never fails to move me to tears.
Just got my DVD of the film out of storage and put it next to my PC to remind myself to watch it.
Same here.
Paths Of Glory is not only one of the few WWI films (as opposed to a vast array of WWII movies); it is also a brutally honest film with more ambiguity than the typical "good versus evil" war films of the time.
And staying on topic, Joe Turkel is very effective in the film.
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike th'inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
PATHS OF GLORY might be Kubrick’s most effective anti-war film. And given the merits of DR. STRANGELOVE and FULL METAL JACKET, that is high praise. I can’t recommend it enough.
The inconsequentiality over what was being fought for – the “AntHill” – and the randomness at which life is forfeited to make “a point” per the sham trial of Philippe Paris (Ralph Meeker), Pierre Arnaud (RIP Joe Turkel) and Maurice Ferol (Timothy Carey).
For me personally, the exchange between Meeker and Lieutenant Roget as he refuses to wear the blindfold always gets to me. One man will die as a “man”, the other will live as a coward (IMO).
As for the final scene; Susanne Christian - soon to be Kubrick’s wife. Very effective. Innocents on both sides caught up in the madness of it all.
I'm still trying to figure out how to watch DVDs on my newly upgraded PC. I've heard that you have to download a player from online but it used to come as part of the PC years ago. No matter, I just use my Sony Blu-ray player instead. :)
Many laptops don't even have DVD players anymore. You can still get external DVD players that you can use via a USB port, but in a world of where streaming is increasingly the preferred option.......
I watch Blurays on my Sony or Xbox though when it comes to DVD I like watching them on my PC because of the small screen.
On Windows 10 DVD's just played automatically for me, I Upgraded to a new PC with Windows 11 a few weeks ago. None of the media players were working then I realized I had to download a DVD Player App from the Microsoft Store. If you are on Windows the best one I found after trialing a few was Any DVD App.
Still Stanley Kubricks best film imo!
A masterpiece indeed!
Joe Turkel's character's confrontation with the Priest was intense, there are a great many levels to this film. This is my first viewing so not watched it enough to rank it properly though it is superb.
Edited: Wow what an incredible movie, the last scene as other's mentioned very powerful, my eyes welled up.
The lovely girl was Christiane Kubrick, the director's soon-to-be wife, with whom he stayed until he died.
I'm glad you've seen the film now, @Fire_and_Ice_Returns.
Though I was born many decades later, deep down inside I still have some unresolved issues with the German people of those times. The atrocities they committed against the Flemish people--people who shared their blood and almost spoke the same language--are absolutely inexcusable. But by the same token, the "great military leaders" who supposedly "stood up" against the Germans were often no better. No Man's Land became a meat grinder, with both sides sending cattle in for the slaughter, for four years on end! It was the first war that fully "industrialized" death; but it was neither the first nor the last war that proved the old adage that wars never decide who's right, only who's left. And it was also one of the countless wars in which the generals stay(ed) firmly hidden in their ivory towers while common folk, who have few if any dogs in their fights, get killed to no end other than keeping a nation's "pride" intact. Paths Of Glory is the film that taught me to look for the grey areas in what is often sold as a black-and-white narrative; it's the film that turned me off from mindless patriotism and loyalty to "the flag". What loyalty should I have towards a system that will gladly use its people as cannon fodder even when the chance of victory is nil? A system that will impose cruel punishment on those who "have had enough" after months and years of trying to survive in the trenches? And those leaders were heralded as heroes... Paths Of Glory is such a powerful examination of the many appalling, contradictory sides of a war, that this film made me a pacifist, someone who detests war in all its facets. I was still a teenager when I first saw this film, but it impacted me in more ways than you can imagine. I went from "we were on the good side!" to "there are no good sides in war" practically overnight. I owe Kubrick and Douglas a lot for making me a better man, for showing the ugliness beyond as well as behind friendly lines. Only in fantasies and myth can war be the story of heroes. In reality, it is the story of mad men and victims--no heroes at all.
Let this be the proper thread to emphasise that there is nothing "great" about the "Great War". Tens of millions of lives were lost in a battle of pride, cowardice and blatant imperialism. Many tens of millions more were lost in its "sequel", twenty years in the making, when damaged pride (again) gave one little corporal a few silly ideas. Seeing what happened so close to where I live, seeing the wounds that still haven't entirely healed, my heart bleeds every time I hear the twisted, near-fascist rhetoric of certain modern leaders.
Kubrick's Dr Strangelove and Full Metal Jacket are often credited as his great anti-war films. And they are. But Paths Of Glory is, to me, his most effective anti-war film, the one that truly grabs me by the throat. It wasn't his first, by the way, as those who have seen Fear And Desire know, but it was the one that got it right. It was also "old Hollywood" infused with a fairly new spirit, one that would soon be the core business of the "Counter Culture", "Hippy Culture" and more. Kubrick has been accused of being a cold-hearted bastard. Check out Paths Of Glory and tell me if that image holds up.
Cinema's greatest value is when it informs and educates.
I have only seen Paths of Glory once though I have watched Full Metal Jacket and Dr. Strangelove countless times. My initial thoughts are you could view the three mentioned films as a trilogy as they approach the subject of war from different perspectives. Fear and Desire and Spartacus tread similar ground also.
Thank you, sir.
https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/04/chicago-shooting-fourth-of-july-parade-police
I don’t know how anyone can think going to any large gathering in public anymore is safe. RIP.
RIP, I wish people would look for others with mental health issues.
More needless pain for many more families.
Ni Kuang (Bruce Lee screen writer and several other kf films)
https://www.thewrap.com/james-caan-godfather-and-thief-actor-dies-at-82/
He's been in countless classics and cult classics alike but he'll always be synonymous with the perfection that is Thief, a lead role he was totally in command of and ultra cool in his performance. RIP, Mr. Caan, thanks for the years of entertainment.
Sad loss I watched Caan's take on Marlowe a few days ago in Poodle Springs great actor.
Misery is one of my favorite films Caan starred in. R.I.P.
James Caan was an underrated actor IMO.
RIP Mr. Caan and thank you.