Day 80: Paths of Glory (1957)

Movie #50 – Paths of Glory (1957) - 88 min, cert PG.

Set in the trenches of the First World War, the French and German armies face each other across no-man’s land. The French top brass decide that it is essential to the war effort that a particular hill is captured immediately. The task is assigned to Col. Dax (Kirk Douglas) who is well aware that the task is impossible. He does his best to lead the doomed attack, but when it becomes clear that their mission is hopeless, his men retreat back to their own trenches. Indeed one company of men never even make it out of their own trench. Watching this from a position of safety, the French General Mireau (George Macready) is outraged and orders his own artillery to fire on the men in an attempt to drive them forward. The battery commander is appalled and refuses. After the battle, Mireau tells Dax he must pick three men, one from each company involved, who will be court-martialled for cowardice and then executed by firing squad. Dax, a lawyer before the war, is horrified and defends the men in the courtroom.

This is my second Kubrick film on the trot, and indeed there’s another coming up in just four films time (A Clockwork Orange). It’s also my second disappointment on the trot. A bit like Spirited Away a couple of films ago, I just don’t get this one. I found the film a little dull, if I’m honest. I suspect a lot it went over my head somewhat. I think a lot of Kubrick’s ideas are quite subtle and easy to miss. Is he making a point about the futility of war? Maybe, I don’t know.

Score – 4/10. It had its moments, but it was a bit too deep for me. There have been a couple of films good enough to make my top ten since I last included it – Amelie and WALL-E. It now

 looks like this:

1.       The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

2.       Pulp Fiction (1994)

3.       Forrest Gump (1994)

4.       Amelie (2001)

5.       Fight Club (1999)

6.       The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

7.       Toy Story 3 (2010)

8.      The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

9.       WALL-E (2008)

10.   Memento (2000)

Next up is the David Lean epic biopic Lawrence of Arabia, which is another one of those films which I’ve never seen but feel I probably should have done.