During an attack set in WW1 soldiers refuse to proceed with their impossible assigned task to take over a location. To ensure their soldiers insubordination does not go unpunished three soldiers are chosen to be made an example of and are put on trial for disobeying orders.
Who is the Audience for This Movie?
People who like political war movies
What I Liked About This Movie
Kirk Douglas plays the general fighting to save his mens life in a role that has him looking fittingly hardened by his experiences with a solid supporting cast acting to act off of. The tone of the movie is ice cold, Stanley Kubrick (Director) is known for his bleak style but in Paths of Glory he takes it to new high. Everything about the proceedings play out opposite of what you would expect and there are no moral victories. To make it even bleaker the enemy is never shown which gives the feeling that the real enemies are the superior military officers.
Visually the entire movie is creatively lit with insanely sharp black levels. When characters are talking there is often a lot of camera movement to keep the movie from slowing down too much. On the topic of speed this movie flies by with an 87 minute running time not a frame is wasted; before you know it’s over.
Paths of Glory contains only one major battle scene. With that being said after only one viewing it is already lamented in my mind as one of the best on screen battle scenes I have ever seen.
What Didn’t Work For Me
I was really hoping for one more battle scene.
Should You Watch This Movie?
Most Definitely.
My Rating (Out of 13)
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