Having been on a Kubrick kick recently, I decided to watch Paths of Glory for the first time and was utterly blown away. The absurdity of the war, the futility of Col. Dax's defense, the inhuman failure of the French General Staff to recognize basic humanity and instead demonize it as simple idealism, all to cap it off in the most painfully beautiful scene of simple music at the end of the film. It stayed with me all day, and I haven't been able to get the simple tune out of my head.
There's so much care put into the depictions of the common soldiers, so much humanity given to the "middle management" of the war, both noble and ignoble. Lt. Roget is simply a general in miniature, and Col. Dax seemingly standing alone in the middle of two extremes. The people who have to carry out the war and die for it, and the people who order it from on high that have very little understanding or care for those that have to act on their whims.
Kubrick does such a fantastic job of painting these characters as humans, and in the hands of a lesser director, each could have been simple caricatures. Instead he chose to imbue each with intensely human, and at times intensely unflattering, portrayals of what drives people to act the way they do.
Spoiler alert hereafter - though not in a plot sense, but in am emotion sense
I was on the verge of tears during the "Faithful Hussar" scene. The beautiful simplicity of deciding to show just the faces of the common soldiers as they shared this moment of longing for something humane, something decent, something pure, was transcendental. I feel like I'm ranting, but I'm not sure if I've felt more powerfully affected by any scene in any movie. The submission to the vast and powerful machine of war, knowing that each will be asked to go into the line again and fight and maybe die, but for a brief minute, simply recalling a better time when life wasn't cheap, when goodness was common, and focusing on each average soldier was an incredible decision that I applaud Kubrick for having the guts to put to film. It's easy to think that this could be done in today's cinema, but during the height of the cold war and not long after McCarthyism ran rampant through Hollywood, it was a bold statement that only adds to the poignancy of the film, especially with the threat of nuclear annihilation hanging overthing.
/end rant
Tl;dr: Paths of Glory is a damn good movie that gets overshadowed by other Kubrick pieces, and you should watch it if you get a chance.
[link] [comments]
source https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/l94xdd/paths_of_glory_is_one_of_the_most_intensely/
Comments
Post a Comment