Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Paths Of Glory / USA / 1957

Kubrick’s first genuine masterpiece, and one of his angriest and most honest- Barry Lyndon notwithstanding, what is it about war pictures that brought out the passionate agitator hidden beneath that glassy surface? In fact, it’s interesting to draw parallels between Paths Of Glory and Full Metal Jacket- both films focus on the trials of sane men in an insane world, men who face death, losing their minds and their courage in the face of eternity. Both films depict the ordinary soldier as vital, lustful, unfocussed but ultimately valiant, as opposed to the scheming, cold- hearted generals (the characters whom one would perhaps expect Kubrick the director to associate himself with- maybe there’s a level of self examination here, even social jealousy). Both films position their central character midway between one group and the other, allied to neither side, a disassociated observer.

The final scene of the film is one of the very finest in American cinema, entirely irrelevant to the preceding narrative but still somehow inevitable, a compact, complex study of humanity under intense pressure, as the weeping, terrified German singer transforms from an object of lust and derision to a uniting force, worshipped almost, from whore to mother in under three minutes. It’s little wonder Kubrick married her; after subjecting her to such a devastating emotional examination, he might have spent the rest of his life apologising.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: 35mm Print
22 Feb 2006 4:51 AM | Submit Comment