Filmmaker reacts to Paths of Glory (1957) for the FIRST TIME!
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- Опубликовано: 30 авг 2022
- Hope you enjoy my filmmaker reaction to Paths of Glory. :D
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Original Movie: Paths of Glory (1957)
Ending Song: / charleycoin
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Damn, these films are HEAVY...gotta love art. Thanks Kubrick!
Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema
Watching MAN OF STEEL (2013) for the first time Friday/Saturday! Enjoy the day!
It won’t win a poll, BUT since you love Kubrick and Kurosawa, you have to do Ingmar Bergman (Swedish director) if you aren’t familiar already. Start with THE VIRGIN SPRING. His movies are dark AF (that hasn’t stopped you before), but devastating and haunting. Can’t unsee it. Total art.
@@jtt6650 Wild Strawberries is also a good start to Bergman’s canon of works!
ruclips.net/video/LSf9eRjR-oA/видео.html
I hope I correctly copied and pasted the link to the docudrama "They Shall Not Grow Old", if not, rest assured I will be a casualty in our next war, because I am computer illiterate.
ruclips.net/video/hCUPlyNPJNQ/видео.html
I don't know if you have seen this film, but it was taken from a novel written by a german soldier who survived the war.
Kubrick is brilliant with this "noir" joint. His earliest films were noir but this might be his first film where his comprehension of technical ability and contextual empathy fused into a distinctive and expressive style. The film "2001", which I saw on it's release when I was ten, is one of the biggest influences on my development as an artist. There is no mistaking Kubrick's intent when you see the last image in that film- a big blue world juxtaposed beside a big blue embryo. Hope. A decent future can be obtained if we work for it
A lot of people criticised Kubrick for being cold and detached but this film proves otherwise, filled with so much humanity and heart the final scene gets me everytime.
On that subject, Michael Herr's great essay after the passing of his friend said it best: "Merciless is not the same as pitiless."
Kubrick never wallowed in sentimentality, but he knew how to depict human suffering in an objective way that haunted viewers. And that's why his films last. Even the worst of humanity is worth looking at, pitying it mercilessly with the eyes of a true artist.
The execution scene is one of the darkest moments in any film I've ever seen. That drumroll gets me everytime.
Check out The Nightingale.
It has some devastating scenes.
All those are nothing to requiem for a dream
For some reason I was expecting for them to saved at the last minute but as it kept going I realized that it won’t be happening
David Simon cites this film as a large inspiration for The Wire because of the way different levels of management are held in tension with the very human relationships of footsoldiers on the ground, which is a lot of what The Wire is about...the kings and generals (police chiefs, mayors, and drug dealers), the pawns, and the people in between stuck trying to make the best of a bad situation.
The extraordinary thing about this film (along with every one of Kubricks other films) is that he knew exactly what to emphasize in each moment of the story, every scene is surgically crafted and built as an intricate piece...and NOTHING is wasted. And interesting movie fact: the German girl who sings to the soldiers at the end of the film was played by an actress named Christianne Harlan who married Stanley Kubrick after the film was completed. She still lives today in the house she and Stanley bought shortly before Kubrick began working on A Clockwork Orange.
I love this film. The way Kubrick took such an unflinching and courageous look at the mindless violence of the slaughter that was WWI and the cold, heartlessness of people who send men to their slaughter with no compunction. A very engaging and humane film.
Amazing movie--I remember seeing that final scene for the first time (which is Kubrick's wife, singing--the song is "Der Treue Husar"), it just blew me away. I think Spielberg said that's his all-time favorite scene in any movie. Amongst the three soldiers are Joe Turkel (who was Lloyd the Bartender in "The Shining" and Eldon Tyrell in "Blade Runner") and Timothy Carey--one of the great, eccentric character actors, such charisma and presence.
WWI has been a bit overlooked in film compared to WWII, but there are some other WWI films out there worth checking out:
- The Blue Max: George Peppard is a German infantryman-turned-flying ace. Notable for the use of real aircraft in the dogfighting scenes.
- Gallipoli: Starring Mel Gibson, this film is about the ill-fated Anzac attack on Gallipoli.
- Joyeux Noel: A film about the Christmas Truce of 1914.
- Oh, What A Lovely War!: A surreal film that's basically "WWI: The Musical".
Also worth seeing is the Blackadder series "Blackadder Goes Forth".
Gallipoli is one of the best.
Not forgetting "All Quiet on the Western Front" - the original, not the remake.
You forgot Johnny got his gun.
Grand Illusion is one of the best as well
Very cool that you're hitting the classics. More for the list:
• _The Manchurian Candidate_ (1962 - one of the best political thrillers ever made)
• _A Face In The Crowd_ (1957 - the _Network_ of the 1950s)
YES to both of these movies!!
And Sweet Smell Of Success (1957), My Man Godfrey (1936), All Quiet On The Western Front (1930), Duck Soup (1933), The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946), The Red Shoes (1948), A Matter Of Life And Death (1946), Black Narcissus (1947), The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp (1943), Kind Hearts And Coronets (1949), Double Indemnity (1944) and Brief Encounter (1945).
@@kingamoeboid3887 💯 - Powell & Pressberger is required viewing. Our man would dig the filmography.
Let me add Blast of Silence (1961), I am a fugitive of a chain gang (1932), Freaks (1932), M (1931), Ugetsu (1953), The Seventh Seal (1957) Carnival of Souls (1962), D.O.A (1950), Children of Paradise (1945), Grand Illusion (1937) and Morbius (2022)
@@Skimaskkass I’ve seen Freaks, M and Carnival Of Souls.
I tried to watch this film with my older sister who hated it and noped out from it because “its so boring”. So thanks for giving me an experience of someone enjoying this wonderfully crafted timeless artwork.
I knew veterans that were involved in WW1. The walk along the trench by Colonel Dax, and going over the top in the attack on The Anthill are perhaps one of the greatest realistic re-enactments ever put to film. They are certainly on a par with the 1930's film All Quiet on The Western Front which won an Oscar. Bravo to Kubrick. Even the WW1 veterans who I knew who had seen the film said that it was very realistic and that it brought back some bad memories. My great grandfather who served in WW1in a number of battles, never watched any war films. It was too awful for him to remember. He already suffered from nightmares concerning WW1.
This was trench warfare. It is a battle of attrition. Whoever can withstand the shelling, bullets, and awful conditions the longest. Gains were in the order of yards per charge, with thousands of men maimed and butchered. Battlefields blown to pieces, water filled shell holes, gas, mud, rats, lice, fleas, barbed wire, stinking rotting corpses everywhere all over the battlefield. In fact they are still pulling the bodies out of the battlefields, even today. Just plain slaughter of good fine men on both sides. My great grandfather would never allow WW1 to be called a war. He always referred to it as a carnage of good fine men, and such a damn waste.
Hey James, there's a war film titled "All Quiet on the Western Front" (1930). It predates all WW2 Movies.
Lowkey the biggest mic drop of this film is managing somehow to pack everything into this movie and it's still less than 90 GD minutes.
Such a great film possibly my favourite Kubrick movie...the sad thing was this film was banned in France until something like the eighties just goes to show the power of great art was still scaring the powers that be 20 to 30 years later
Two war films with very similar themes that I think you'd enjoy are:
Gallipoli directed by the great Peter Weir and starring a young Mel Gibson.
Breaker Morant directed by another great, Bruce Beresford. In fact Beresford is a director you might want to dive into. He has an amazing range : Driving Mrs. Daisy, Black Robe, Mister Johnson, Tender Mercies, The Fringe Dwellers, just to name a few.
I've suggested Gallipoli to several reactors... nobody yet... hopefully James will ;-)
6:26 - The stalemates could last for months or years. "Victory" for a Western Front "battle" in WWI is a weird idea. In Verdun, for example, the Germans either lost or they won - depending on which General you believe (the French stopped the Germans from holding Verdun; the French inflicted hundreds of thousands of casualties on the Germans, but the Germans also did that to the French.)
Verdun lasted for 11 months, which is mind boggling.
@@AlexG1020 And it was the principal driver of the French Army mutiny of 1917, which meant that the British troops, including all of their Empire troops, had to pick up the attack, such as Passchendaele and Ypres.
@@brettcoster4781 To be honest it was the failed Nivelle Offensive that was the primary driver behind the mutiny. Though there was a lot of pressure on that one, because of Verdun.
@@AlexG1020 Thanks for your comment. I'd forgotten about Nivelle's offensive in early 1917.
A visit to Verdun is quite an experience. Seeing the land still chewed up. Walking around the monument, through the 16000 gravestones, to the Ossuary where the bones of about 130,000 French and Greman soldiers are held, now mixed together. It's closing in on 40 years since I last visited and I still recall that vast field of graves.
Notes:
- Joe Turkel, who played the soldier picked by lot, also played Lloyd the bartender in The Shining
- The actor playing the general with a scar had that scar in real life as a result of a car accident; this is the only film he showed it in, in all his other roles he covered it up with extensive makeup.
Thank you for this watch. Like you I stumbled blindly into this movie not knowing anything about it and came away stunned.
By interpretation of the final scene is that the melody is familiar regardless of nationality and makes the soldiers realize that we are not all that different.
Trench warfare in WWI was won by a combination of attrition and being able to seize and hold enemy positions. Battles on average also didn't last days, try months! It got so bad that both sides were trying to find ways to break the deadlock: the Central Powers introduced gas, the Allies introduced tanks.
Love this history...another WWI film you'd recommend?
@@jennyruth5620 I'd suggest Gallipoli... with a very young Mel Gibson 🙂
@@jennyruth5620 War Horse, 1917, All Quiet On the Western Front, They Shall Not Grow Old, and the Lost Battalion.
I'd recommend also Bertrand Tavernier's 'Capitaine Conan', to my mind the best WWI alongside Paths Of Glory
The final scene always brings a tear to my eye.
My favorite Kubrick movie right here. We get some early examples of his trademark style but the story is still pretty tight compared to his later masterpieces. To go with that we get gorgeous black and white cinematography and some powerhouse performances from Kirk Douglas and the rest of the cast
To answer of your question, WW1 stopped with an armistice. The french and german governments recalled their soldiers to the trenches after years of atrocious fighting and massacres. Winning a battle was a matter of conquering the enemy's trench. That is, an advance of 30 metres more or less. That's not much when you consider that each side ended up taking their position in turn and that it cost thousands of men each time. In short, a huge waste for not much. And I'm not even talking about the hygiene and diseases that were spread in there. This was the deadliest war France has ever seen. I hightly recommand you the movie See You Up There, a french movie that take place in Paris in the 20s. This movie talks about PTSDs from WW1, what it cost to a character who lost his face and became an artist who makes masks after that. The director, Albert Dupontel, is a friend of Terry Gilliam who loved the movie. The Dupontel style is between a Jean-Pierre Jeunet and T. Gilliam movie. I know it's your type of movie, that's why i hightly recommand it to you. :))
I discovered this one at the height of my film buffery, and I was blown away by it. Nice to see your film buffery is hitting new strides with films like this. 🙌🏻
Stalingrad 1993 is an excellent movie that no one else has reacted to. Superb anti-war movie
@@benjaminramsey498 Don't entirely agree with your assessment but yes, Downfall is a masterpiece.
Let's go! I have been dutifully checking this box on the polls for weeks!
I would say that this is the earliest example of Kubrick's genius as a film maker, but I also love his film "The Killing". That's the earliest work of his that I'm familiar with though there were a few others.
"The Killing" - definitely some dated stuff in that one (i remember the narrator feeling a bit silly at times), but never the less a wholy entertaining crime thriller. Reservoir Dogs definitley was inspired a lot by it.
This movie is interesting because most of Kubrick’s motifs did not quite emerge-even though his style, combining Realism and Impressionism, did take shape in Paths of Glory.
But what’s interesting is that the “Kubrick Stare” only in fragments. The obvious first characteristic is the actor staring into the camera, which occurs during the execution scene, but also during the General’s tour of the trench. It also happens by the construction of the trial sequence. The Privates are in the background, whereas the tribunal is in the foreground. It makes it appear as though the Privates are looking toward the camera, toward we the audience.
It raises questions about what the purpose of the “Kubrick Stare” are, broadly and within the film. Obviously, the change in perspective between the tribunal and the Privates is meant to invite the audience to morally weigh the military command in the same way they are weighing the soldiers. But the execution sequence, breaking the fourth wall by directing the actors to look into the camera, the use of that motif almost frames the stern faces as their own Stare. As though the military command is no different than the psychopaths that emerge in later Kubrick films.
Especially when the first instance of breaking the fourth wall occurs in the sequence involving the soldier with PTSD. Who is really insane, the psychically scarred soldier? Or the General who orders him to his death?
@@The90slim90 dated? The Killing dated? 🤦♂ It's a perfect masterpiece, timeless!
it's not just "entertaining", it's meaningful and waay much more complex than amateur Tarantino atempt... you don't freaking deserve watching any other movie in your life
@@JulioLeonFandinho Damn Roger Ebert, who hurt you?
@@The90slim90 you hurt me with your ignorance, goodbye
Kubrick was great at twisting the knife late in his films. When General Broulard presumes that Dax was merely angling for a promotion and not sincerely caring for the condemned men is one such case.
Dude, I think this is my favorite reaction you've ever done, you are SO on point, every single thing.....right from the beginning, you're noticing how he's using the camera during that opening conversation, where he's convincing him to take the hill. Dude, this is a movie that NEVER gets old! People REALLY took notice of Kubrick after this, although it was Strangelove that really clinched it, and then 2001 which blasted him even higher....and Clockwork Orange didn't hurt! I can't pick a favorite Kubrick film, but this is DEFINITELY a contender. It's the only Kubrick film you can recommend to just about anybody. Kubrick was a chess master, and man oh man, this entire movie is like a chess game. They're literally sitting on a chess board during the trial sequence. THANK YOU FOR DOING THIS ONE, MAN!!!!! No one does it!!!! You're the first!!!!
This has always been one of my favorite Kubrick films. Loved the German girls song at the end sung by Kubrick's wife. Thumbs up! 👍
The movie is a series of battles against inevitable defeat. The first is the general trying to resist his superior. Then the attempt to take the Ant Hill. Then the trial. Then the man’s walk to the firing squad. Then the troops against the singing woman. Each battle starts off with a tumultuous attempt to assert their will until they inevitably come to their defeat
Love the breadth and depth of reactions. Would love to see your take on “all quiet on the western front”. That movie, along with reruns of Blackadder’s last series made a significant chunk of our education about WW1 in secondary school.
Appreciate that! Usually these films bring out the most thoughtful of the commentaries. I’d love to check some of those out!
One of my favorite Kubrick films. Great acting and scenes. The woman that sings at the end of the film eventually became Stanley Kubrick's wife, Christiane in 1958.
Amazing choice paths of glory has Kirk Douglas, he's a centenarian and he is one of the last surviving stars of the film industry's golden age he died on February 5th 2020 at the age of 103 Douglas will be missed, anyways I recommend you to react to citizen Kane (1941) this classic movie will be super interesting if you haven't seen it, its considered one of the greatest movies ever made.
PTSD was called shell shock in WWI, battle fatigue in WWII.
So glad to see you review this film. Another early work of Kubrick is Spartacus. And from David Lean, The Bridge Over The River Kwai. Keep going James. I enjoy your reactions to the classics.
Dude! Between this, and Lawrence of Arabia, and Rashomon. And Stalker come to think of it.... And others.
You are boldly staking out new ground in the YT movie reaction community. "I'm gonna do interesting movies I want to see, not just MCU, DCEU, and middlebrow movies starring Tom Hanks for the views."
I gotta respect that. Much, much respect, actually. It takes stones to do that. Cut against the grain. Not doing the exact same shit everybody else is doing. No offense to MCU movies many of which really quite well and lovingly made, nor to Mr. Hanks who kicks butt 99% of the time.
I love Brandon, I love Simone & George from CineBinge, I love Dasha's pure empathetic heart. I really like Cultured Bubble and VKunia.
But, you, my lad, (and Brandon too) seek out interesting shit outside of the usual lot of the same list of YT reaction movies.
I like that a lot. I applaud it. There are thousands like me who are dying for it. Of course, it might fail miserably, but it'd be a fun ride.
Keep on keeping on, my dude!
My man! This comment is awesome man. I genuinely enjoy these films because I’m learning and sharpening my knowledge as a filmmaker. Happy that these films, granted not popular view wise, can still produce value and commentary!
Talking about long stalemates, the Battle of Verdun lasted 9 to 10 months. Truly insane to imagine the amount of firepower poured into one location. Flamethrowers, round the clock artillery bombardment, chemical weapons. I read somewhere that the opening bombardment by the Germans was like 2 millions shells
One of the great anti-war films of all time. Up there with "Johnny Got His Gun," "Full Metal Jacket" (another Kubrick film), Birdy, "All Quiet On The Western Front" "Come and See"...
kubrick’s large scale techniques were expanded in barry lyndon. kubrick was deep into developing a napoleon movie but eventually fell apart. sad to think we were robbed of some epic battlefield scenes. and to answer the trenchwar question: it came down to the will to fight. even with horrific and very lethal weapons, neither side had a decisive advantage or superior tactics. it all came down to attrition and willpower
Sometimes I forget Barry Lyndon was from him. Legendary!
Paths of Glory is my second favorite Kubrick film only behind 2001. This film is just on another level from most of his other films to me. 1957 was a great year for film, but I genuinely think this is the best film that came out that year.
As far as trench warfare goes, a good illustration of how it would of played out can be found in the Charge scene from All Quiet on the Western Front: One side would use artillery to try to destroy as much as the other side's fortifications as possible, and then the infantry would charge in. The defender's artillery and machine guns would try to kill as many attackers as possible while the attackers would try to overcome that and enter the defender's trenches. A close quarters fight would ensue where either the attackers would win the trench and the defenders retreat to the next line of trenches, or the attackers would be driven off and the defenders would try to use this opportunity to take the attacker's trenches. Repeat until both sides are too exhausted to continue fighting.
Now, commanders at the time did not think this was a good strategy. The ideal strategy would be to instead outflank and outmaneuver an enemy trench line, but because neither side had capabilities like tanks or motorized infantry to create and exploit gaps in an opponent's defense, what happened in WW1 was that once both sides reached the Swiss border and the English Channel, they had no choice but to attack. Even when one side was able to create a gap in the trench lines that could be used to outflank the other, because communications technology was still fairly primitive, by the time commanders realized they created a gap and moved reinforcements into the area, the enemy would have recovered enough to continue resisting.
Tactics and training evolved at the end of WW1 to try and defeat the supremacy of trench warfare. Instead of mass waves, better trained infantry would learn fire and maneuver, where fireteams would pin down a defender while another element would maneuver to attack. Better communications made artillery and air support more effective, and better designed tanks would be able to create gaps in an opponent's line that would be able to exploited by quick moving motorized elements.
Great answer. The development of the fire and manouvre tactics, alongside the coordination of tanks, aircraft, artillery, and soldiers, was crucial to the last 100 days of the war. It was first used at the Battle of Hamel, on 4 July, 1918 (coincidently one of the earliest uses of US troops) under General John Monash, of the Australian Imperial Forces. He originally planned that the battle would last 90 minutes; it actually lasted 93. The Hamel battle plan was later used in Officer training in the British army. Monash, and the Canadian commander General Currie, continued developing the tactics until the German surrender in November, 1918.
A revised version was developed by German officers into WW2's blitzkrieg, based on better tanks and aircraft. They had learn't the hard way, but took great notice.
Nice to se Joe Turkel in his second of three movies with Kubrick.
Tiny in The Killing and Lloyd in The Shining.
You are killing it with these movie choices! Keep up the great work!
Banned in France for many years. The late Barry Norman wrote an excellent illustrated analysis of this and other Kubrick films. Maybe available on ebay.
One of the finest movies I've ever seen and one of the best war flicks hands down
It is my favorite Kubrick movie, and very few react to it, so kudos. Another great movie about the French army in that war (and there are many) is Jean-Pierre Jeunet's A Very Long Engagement.
Concerning warfare on the "Western" front (along the German-French-Belgium border), from the end of 1914 to the spring of 1918 the front was mostly static despite major offenses by the Entant (British-French-Belgium) forces in each of those years, and the German offensive at Verdun in 1916. In 1918, after Germany knocked Russia out of the war, they turned the bulk of their army to a series of offensives on the Western front in the spring of 1918. They gained more ground than anyone had since 1914, but failed to achieve a strategic result. The Entant, now including the USA, reversed the gains in the summer and autumn against the bled white German army. Coupled with the collapse of the Ottoman and Austria-Hungarian Empires (Germany's allies), and the crippling effects of the British naval blockade (German citizens were starving from lack of food), Germany sued for an armistice, which took effect 11/11/1918 at 11:00am ("The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year"), which is the US's Veterans' Day, originally called Armistice Day.
YES ! A very long engagement is a fantastic movie ! One of my all time favorite
Now check out the 1930 film "All Quiet on the Western Front" for a look at the war from a German point of view. It made Lew Ayres a star and won director Lewis Milestone the 3rd ever Best Director Oscar for his work on it. The 2006 Library of Congress restoration of the film is stellar. The realism of the film is astounding, as is its message. The film might surprise you by showing what they could put on film back then.
As someone who's only recently come to understand the gravity of the first world war, I implore you to watch some videos on it or better yet, read/watch "All Quiet on the Western Front" Trench warfare is absolutely bonkers, just some of the most insane stuff we've ever put human bodies through. Month long battles involving tens of thousands of deaths (sometimes tens of thousand in a single push) only to gain a couple kilometers and dig in again. There's a saying "Hell is not fire, Hell is mud." that I believe comes from the war. They literally couldn't remove bodies from no-man's land; you would push and pass by corpses from a push 2 years earlier. Also the evolution of technology and the sheer whiplash the commanders faced when charging thousands of cavalry into precision artillery and brand new machine guns. Just, look into it.
The French and Belgians are still finding bodies from the First World War. Australian and British bodies from the Battle of Fromelles, in 1916 were found just a couple of years ago.
Oh man, what a great movie, I haven't seen this in probably 25 years but watching this bought it all back. The cinematography is gorgeous.
That stalemate didn't last for days. It lasted for four years. The front lines changed over the course of the war, but not by much. There were battles with tents of thousands killed and the front advanced on average a couple dozen yards. One side surrendered when they realized that the other would be able to keep the bloodshed going on for they themselves could. It was accelerated when their own troops started to mutiny against them.
The reason for the stalemate was because defensive capabilities far outweighed the offensive. It wouldn't be obsolete until improvements in artillery, air strikes, and armor could break up the static lines.
Saw this film as a child. Great film! Thumbs up!
Ayo, I love this movie. Wasn't expecting this today, thanks James.
Anytime Daniel! 👍🏽
This film is amazing and heartbreaking. I'm glad you're delving into these classics.
I watched it for the first time two years ago, and that ending hit hard. Kubrick was definitely on another level. Great reaction.
Thank you for this, as always, stay awesome, stay genuine... much love
I don't recall you having gotten to 2001 yet. It's my favourite Kubrick film, and in fact, my favourite film ever. I'll be interested in seeing your reaction to it. There isn't any other film that it can really be compared to, it's unique in cinema.
This is Kubrick first showing the influence Of Max Ophuls . I think the single greatest directed film is "Le Plaisir " The direction of the middle story is continuously astonishing . Please , please review it .
Very happy to see you react to this one. It made a big impression on me the first time I saw it (probably in my 30's?).
Another that I had not heard of, but also made a big impression was The Young Lions. I think you'd like that one, too.
This really happened in 1917 at the Nivelle offensive. The troops mutinied and 554 were executed.
FINALLY!!
This film TRANSFORMED me as a film watcher in the 90s.
I FELT the fear of an Impending End inspite of Innocence
Kubrick is amazing! Hoping you watch 2001 A Space Odyssey
Definitely working on getting to that!
Yoooo what an awesome surprise. Let's go!
From Kirk Douglas' autobiography "The Ragman's Son": I met the director, Stanley Kubrick. He said he had a script called PATHS OF GLORY. I read the script and fell in love with it. "Stanley, I don't think this picture will ever make a nickel, but we HAVE to make it." I got financing. It wasn't easy. When I arrived in Munich, I was greeted with a completely rewritten script. "Stanley, did you write this? " "Yes." "Stanley, why would you do that?" He very calmly said, "To make it commercial. I want to make money." I hit the ceiling. "You come to me with a script. I love THAT script. I got the money, based on THAT script. Not this shit!" I threw the script across the room. "We're going back to the original script, or we're not making the picture."
Great film from a period when film makers really knew their craft, exceptional characters portrayed by exceptional actors.
HEY I JUST MADE A VIDEO ABOUT THIS FILM! Perfect timing. I like your channel man!
James...... You are hitting the good stuff now!!!!!
This film was banned in France for decades. It hit kinda close to home for the French. Their army did suffer from a large scale mutiny, do to the fact that they were so poorly led.
And that lack of leadership also carried through twenty years later
In answer to your question at 6:30, trench warfare like this became invalid when tanks became common; tanks can get people and arms over enemy trench positions very quickly. Most of WWI, stalemates like this continued until one side or the other ran out of men or money-years of slaughter.
Nice choice, James. This was my father's favorite film.
Paths of Glory is one of my favorite films, thank you for watching it
Love the content James ! You've introduced me to plenty quality war films that went under my radar. A great film I don't see anybody really cover is Heaven Knows What. It is one of the earlier Safdie brothers films which is a true story written and acted by the woman who it's about! They encountered her while scouting for potential actors for an entirely different film in the Diamond District. They were so taken back by her story and appearance that they asked her to write her life story down which was adapted into Heaven Knows What! Would love to see that film get the credit it deserves. It's similar to requiem for a dream
Thanks, James. I'm glad you're continuing to explore some of the older films. A couple of great movies looking at the 'other side of war' are The Hill (1965) with Sean Connery and Breaker Morant (1980) with Edward Woodward: a true story set during the Boer War. Both are brilliantly acted with some memorable confrontations and a great insight of how rank and politics crush the ordinary soldier of whom you could say have the better morals. Breaker Morant is available free on YT.
David Simon has said this film was a major influence on his depiction of individuals' futile struggle against unjust institutions in The Wire.
This movie is badass! Colonel Dax is great character… I was brought to tears at the ending.
YES THIS IS MY FAVORITE MOVIE NEXT TO GOODFELLAS AND THE GODFATHER!!! So glad you watched this, underrated as hell.
This is one of the greatest movie of all time.
Kubrick made the definitive film of each genre. He was directing a western but quit because of Marlon Brando and never did a western. The Killing is a super great Film Noir with Sterling Hayden. You'll see early tracking shots like the battle scene here.
Don't know if anyone caught this but the shot with the men coming out of the trench ( 8:48 ), at the top left corner in the distance beyond the smoke, you can see a bunch of people standing in the open field especially someone in a white shirt. Even great filmmakers can have mistakes.
HELL YES!!! This is such an well made film. I’m very, Very happy you watched this
The tragedy of WW1 is that trench warfare was often a stalemate. Not for days, for YEARS in some cases. Ultimately, yes, they would be overrun mostly due to the “losing” side choosing not to reinforce the lines. Keep in mind that WW1 was unique because battle tactics were from the 1800’s but the technology was modern day. The result, in the beginning, was soldiers marching in ranks toward the enemy but the enemy had machine guns. What makes this film brilliant is the attitudes of the general staff. Very much old men with outdated ideals trying to win a modern war. Knowing all this should really hammer home the tragedy of this war.
I think the British Navy’s blockade of Germany did the most damage- Germany was slowly starving- food and material.
Learning how to use combined arms (artillery, infantry, tanks, aircraft all together) was what was breaking the stalemate.
If you like this, to get a feel for the situation on the ground in the war please watch "They Shall Not Grow Old", peter jackson made it and as ever his stuff is its awesome.
I've only given 5 movies a complete 10/10, and this is one of them.
This was the first war where the technology vastly outpaced the leaders (with many layers of bureaucracy slowing down the process further) ability to come up with new tactics. It was a stalemate as you say and the first use of "Trench warfare." Today you hear the phrase "In the trenches" and similar phrases to explain brutal fighting or struggle if only literal. That comes from this war, known initially as "The Great War." PTSD was largely discovered after this war and referred to as "Shell Shock." The "Winners" were the countries who could afford to remain there in terms of both money and lives. There was never a tactical win, there was simply countries (like Germany, etc) who ran out of money and had to surrender. This movie was initially banned in France.
Trenches would attack each other until they either took the other trench or until they ran out of men. WWI is well known as a meat grinder, with tons of soldiers dying to gain very little territory. Part of that too was the increase in technology with airplanes, machine guns, and tanks. Not to mention chemical warfare, which I'm pretty sure was officially outlawed only after WWI because of how much it was used. Also I think I've recommended it before but it kind of fits here, Cranes are Flying. A Russian movie (also from the 50s, the same year as Paths of Glory) about WWII that is similarly straightforward and bittersweet with great, artistic cinematography. All Quiet on the Western Front is another good WWI movie too. And it came out between WWI and WWII, which imo is really interesting, because so much of the pop culture that most people are aware of came out with WWII as part of history.
The best thing about this movie in my opinion, is the way that it effectively uses the French military's chain of command as a metaphor for how hierarchies work in society. David Simon, who created The Wire, said that Paths of Glory was the main inspiration for him in portraying how often social institutions like the police, media, unions and schools, can become dysfunctional and sclerotic due to various conflicts of interest from people working at every level of the organisational chain. The fact that the French General Staff will scapegoat the rank and file soldiers to cover up for their own incompetence and/or to achieve their own ends, is a textbook example of this dynamic. Colonel Dax represents kind of an upper middle class/middle management figure, in that on the one hand he's not officially part of the General Staff - military top brass - because he's only a Colonel but it's more than likely that he has a lot in common with them in terms of personal status and cultural values, and on the other hand he's also not your average enlisted rank and file guy because he's a military officer and also a lawyer in civilian life, but he also clearly cares about his men enough to go to bat for them even if it means costing him a promotion in the future. Therefore, he perfectly represents the dilemma that a lot of people face of being caught between a rock and a hard place by swimming against the tide in order to do the right thing.
I am so glad you took the time to watch/review this masterpiece of an anti-war war film. The singer at the end of the film became Mrs. Stanly Kubrick.
Amazing film and an amazing choice!
This is what happened in a nutshell during the Nivelle Offensive.
Where the French Army decided it had enough and mutinied, and did not preform offensive fighting until the French Army charged their treatment of their soldiers.
…and the agitators were executed.
Kubrick and Lumet are my favorite directors. Kubrick, especially, because its truly viable debate as to which film is his masterpiiece when he essetially has more than one: Paths of Glory, Dr. Stragelove, 2001, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining...
P.S., the girl singer at the end, Suzanne Christian, later became Christianne Kubrick, and married Stanley Kubrick, and was his wife until he passed. The best thing to come out of "Paths Of Glory".
nice reaction! please do The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, 2001), truly one of the best European films ever
Kubrick was asked if Full Metal Jacket was his Anti-War movie. He said that "no, Paths of Glory was".
Best Ant-War Film Ever! On the strength of this Douglas gave Kubrick the Director's seat for the Epic "Spartacus"!
excellent choice - great reaction and commentary. you might be interested in another (lesser known) Kubric movie from the previous year - 'the Killing' which stars Sterling Hayden in a superior heist movie.
My favorite movie of all time...
One of my all time favourite films! Especially love those tracking shots through the trenches. Thanks for reacting to this, makes me want to watch it again.
I speak on that!! Happy to hear people enjoying this video.
Possibly his best film. I also believe it was his first MAJOR budget production. Based on his work on this film Kirk Douglas picked Kubrick to take over Sparticus.
The book Storm of Steel by Junger perfectly displays how these battles were fought and won
The captured German girl being forced to perform for the "good guys" at the end speaks to the truth of war.
The ending left me breathless the first time I watched it
The young German Woman, who sings, at the end, became Stanley's wife; Christine outlived him.. This film was made in Germany, as France was too "sensitive" for this movie, it was not shown in France at first.
The thin solider, who is tied to the stretcher, returned to work for Kubrick again, in The Shinning, as the Bartender of the Hotel. The actor was also in Blade Runner. He died recently.
One article that I read in in film magazine, years ago, compared "Paths" to "Full Metal J" - one aspect between that I recall, is that both films end with a Woman -one who sings, and disturbs the macho mood of the soldiers, and the other film where a Woman is the sniper, who takes down several soldiers; music or violence. There are a number of War movies, where Women are barely seen or heard.