Cinema
Paths of Glory
Stanley Kubrick · 1957
Synopsis
1916, on the French front. General Broulard asks General Mireau to take the “Anthill”, a German position reputed to be impregnable, holding out the prospect of a promotion. Mireau accepts and entrusts the assault to Colonel Dax's regiment. The day before, he walks through the trenches and asks the men whether they are ready to kill Germans. In the morning, the attack bogs down and one company does not leave the trench. Mireau orders his artillery to fire on his own troops; the captain commanding it refuses without a written order.
Context
The film comes from a novel by Humphrey Cobb published in 1935, which its director had read in his youth in his father's library. It was shot in Bavaria, at Schleissheim castle and at the Geiselgasteig studios, near Munich, where it was first shown. In France, the distributor refrained from submitting it to the censorship board, and the film was not released there until 1975; Belgium accepted it only with a warning, Switzerland waited until 1978 and Spain until 1986. Its author later married the actress who sings at the end, Christiane Harlan.
Who it is for
One hour twenty-six minutes in black and white: the attack on the trenches, then the court martial that follows it.
Prizes and reception
Kept from release in France for eighteen years without any official ban; added in 1992 to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry.
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