Kubrick later married the actress who played the German woman at the end of the film. They were together until Kubrick passed away in 1999. Pretty cool.
And she is definitely German, not only playing one, singing in German without any accent. Wich is easily explained. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiane_Kubrick
The accomplished director of photography of the movie, Georg Krause, was from Germany.Shortly before this movie he had also photographed two parts of the classic trilogy of the "o8 / 15" - movies, which were among the first movies made in Germany about WW2 in 1954/55. He was known and appreciated for his particularly crisp and gritty black&white cinematography. ( Actually he'd never made a single movie in color.) Some further interesting bits of trivia about this movie: Kirk Douglas played not only the lead role, but served also as producer of the movie thru his own production company, Bryna-Productions. The movie was completely shot on a pretty tight budget ( close to 1 Million $ ) at the Bavaria Studios, Munich-Geiselgasteig, and some nearby surroundings in Bavaria/ Germany. The trenches were built and the battle scenes filmed on a field near Munich-Pullach. The "New Castle Schleißheim" in Oberschleißheim is the location, where the execution scene was filmed in front of, and also the trial scenes were filmed inside that same castle. The specialist providing the (then still solely ) practical pyrotech effects was the famed German FX-man, Karl "Charlie Boom Boom" Baumgartner, who'd provide the pyrotech effects for some thirty years for many international movies, among them "The Longest Day" (USA 1962), "Dunkirk 1940" ( France 1964), "The Bridge at Remagen" (USA 1968), "Waterloo" ( Italy/USSR 1970), "A Bridge too Far" (GB 1977), "Steiner - The Iron Cross" ( Germany 1977) and "Das Boot" (Germany 1979/80/81) To save the production some money ironically all the ( non-speaking ! ) extras playing French soldiers were actually German policemen recruited from the state police of Bavaria, because they got payed by the Bavarian federal state and were by law not allowed to earn some extra money, because, as said, they were state officials. There really lies some irony in the fact, that all the extras playing French soldiers were actually Germans, doesn't it !? ;) This was a rather cheap method for the Bavarian goverment to promote the movie production facilities in Munich to foreign producers and attract them to produce their movies there. The policemen would be sent to the movie set during their official work hours and got paid by the state. Another advantage of hiring policemen as extras was, that they were naturally used to handle arms, so the production had not to spend considerable time in giving unexperienced extras some training lessons in it. ( Five years later another classic American war movie would be produced here as well : "The Great Escape" with an all star cast. And in 1979/80 another classic, "Das Boot", this time as a complete German production.) But it is pretty likely, that most of these men had also actually fought as soldiers, the older ones in WW1 ( and maybe they were even forced to fight again in the "Volksturm" during the last months of WW2 ) and the younger men probably in WW2. So most of the non-speaking extras certainly knew the song and could fully understand the lyrics. So it was probably no big acting deal for them to tear up, when Christiane Kubrick had sung it in front of them so movingly and in such plain fashion like a German mother from a hundred years ago would have sung it to her little child. There lies so much "innocence" in the unpretentious way she sings this simple tune, that you can't help but being deeply touched by it. Btw. Kirk Douglas had quite a relation to Bavaria and the movie studios in Munich there. He would make three movies there in the second half of the fifties and at the beginning sixties. This one and then immediatly after that "The Vykings" ( yes, that movie was actually shot for the most part on and near a lake in the Bavarian Alpes, the Walchen Lake, which was quite a convincing stand-in for a Norwegian fjörd, and the battle scenes actually in the Normandy/France.The Harlangerfjörd in Norway was only used for a few establushing shots by a second-unit camerateam, because the Vyking-ships-replica were actually not ocean-going; and in 1961, "Town without Pity", a movie, that had felt into rather oblivion today ( probabably due to its even more controversial subject), and where Kirk played a very similar role, but this time an American military lawyer. And of course Kirk Douglas got good connections to Germany since in 1954 he'd married his second wife, Anne, who was from Hannover. Kind regards from a classic movie buff from Germany !
I think one important thing here is that the General first wanted to execute 100 men. Dax got that figure down to 3. So in the end he saved 97 people. I think Dax is a good man who tries to do his best within the system. As a German that makes me think about WW2 and the Nazis, you can revolt against them and you can get killed, or you can try todo good within the system and maybe save a few people. Which one of the two ways is morally superior ? Revolting / getting killed or saving people within the system ? Hard to say, but you have to applaud both. And btw, you can see how close to home the move hit by the fact that it was forbidden in France for a long, long time.
I think since it's his fault for giving the other general the impossible task of taking ant hill, the least he could do was lower the amount that would be fire squadded. But I personally don't believe that excuses him for being any less responsible and awful for giving the order which essentially sent them to their death.
I agree. I saw it first when the CBC pulled it out of the archives sometime in the early 1960s and advertised it in advance with a newspaper or newsmagazine article that praised it and emphasized how obscure it had been since its release. I think they showed it after a Saturday night hockey game. My father let me stay up to watch it. Since then, I think it has gained a great deal of acclaim in at least the English-speaking part of the world.
The first time I saw this movie, I stayed angry the entire time. The injustice of three innocent and brave men being executed for what amounts to no good reason got to me. It is very well filmed and acted-Kubrick is, of course, a genius. Fun fact: The (villain) general with the scarred face actually appears in Kim Newman’s book The Bloody Red Baron, a sequel to Anno Dracula, which depicts a world where Dracula killed Van Helsing and married the queen of England-a historical piece featuring fictional and historical characters from the period in question. These are fun reads-a bit like Alan Moore’s and Kevin O’Neil’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and they inspired Moore’s books, I believe. Regarding your assessment that Douglas’ character is an enabler. I never felt like he had many choices in the matter. He was steamrolled by the political machine with no recourse, and did his best to save his men. I do think I would’ve done more to save them, but I recognize that in the time period in question, the kind of rebellion I’d be willing to commit was almost unthinkable. Most ppl did just follow orders. Words like ‘loyalty’ and ‘duty’ have been used to manipulate the masses for a long time. I doubt Douglas’ character could’ve quit outright-even today that’s a court martial, and during war time it would be a bigger deal. Idk. I think it says more about the system: Douglas tried to use the court system to exonerate his men, only to find the system itself was corrupt, ruled by corrupted men. Either way, the film is heartbreaking. And don’t watch it if you’re having problems at work with a superior, lol. Good stuff.
Read Humphrey Cobb's book "Paths of Glory", and you will see thatColonel Dax is a different character than the film. He is much more accomodating to the system.
Despite calling myself a Kubrick fan, I just watched this film for the first time last night. I was brought to tears during the end scene. I didn’t bother trying to examine why I was so moved by the scene. That was until today; my initial theory was that the scene was meant to be more sentimental than the rest of the movie. Your explanation of the contrast of the cynicism most of the movie displays against the hope the last scene displays kind of confirms my theory. Nevertheless, wonderful movie and great breakdown. You deserve more subscribers! Keep up the great work.
thank you. I am reading Kubrick's later cynicism, quite evident in his future films, back into Paths of Glory. It could be that the singing men are all we have left, rousing sentiments, which spur on the Kirk Douglas character. So maybe the movie is portraying the singing and the emotions that it causes as some kind of the hope in the face of madness. very much appreciate this comment. thanks again.
@@LearningaboutMovies It's also possible that Kubrick didn't want audiences to walk out of the theaters completely depressed. So many of his films end on a down-beat (Johnny Clay is beaten, Spartacus is defeated, Humbert is imprisoned, the world is obliterated in thermonuclear annihilation, Alex is more vicious than ever, Jack is frozen, Pvt. Pyle eats lead, I guess I could go on). It's anybody's guess whether the final beat of 2001 is up or down.
The sad song at the end of the movie is very haunting. Their eyes & expressions show ice cold fear & the 1000 yard stare. A war which was about very little, caused massive death for little gain. It's still hard to comprehend the bravery & stupidity of it all...
This is such an amazing movie. I think it's in a toss up for which Kubrick film is criminally underrated (the other being Barry Lyndon). Both are masterpieces but are rarely mentioned as people's favorite Kubrick movie. Paths of Glory speaks strongly to my personal beliefs about the US military empire and my general skepticism/disdain for unjust bureaucracies. It's all so tragic. Sadly, you can understand the dilemma Dax faces. When you're just a cog inside of a big machine, raising a fuss is really only going to lead to your own personal demise and end up accomplishing nothing.
It' "underrated" because of generations who refuse to watch black-and-white films. Anti-intellectual jerks who believe they've discovered something new under the sun because they ignore history.
i was so angry and hated those generals throughout the movie hoping theyll get what they deserve but it ended with a bitter yet realistic tone. saddest part is... this stuff really happened... often during the war. men who fought valiantly then got shell shocked were abused. men who even recovered were sent back to the front lines and were physically unable to move were tried and executed for "cowardice" So infuriating that such brave men who fought for that war were treated as enemies. its a great movie with an accurate recounting on how the politicians and elites "fight" these wars. you did a great analysis. good job!
Could you please not begin your videos saying that you're going to tell us "how to think about it". The whole point of art is to let it be something special for each individual, and I love to hear how different people have different takes on movies, books, music, etc.
I can modify that. The videos aim to help those who don't comprehend much or want more to think about. They are the beginnings, or launching pads, for further study. I don't intend to say that they are the only way to think about the movies.
My favorite part about it is that it actually covers the French. It’s always about the Americans, British, or Germans. I find it really annoying how they never talk about nations like France, Italy, Ottomans, et cetera. The French were really brave and I’m happy they cover them.
Some bits of trivia about the song, that the young German woman sings in the last scene and the marching band plays during the end credits: It's actually a soldiers-/folk song, this melodic version at least even stands in the march metrum, therefore the singing blends in the marching band version without any effort at the end credits. The song the girl ( played by Kubrick's later wife, Christiane, they both had met for the first time on the set of this movie )is singing, is the Austrian/German folk- or soldier- song "Der treu' Husar" ( "The Faithful Husar"), that had first appeared around 1820 and was printed in several German folk song editions throughout the 19th. century with half a dozen different text and melodic versions, but all tell the same story at the core. The version to be heard here is certainly the most popular and famous one, but interestingly Kubrick allowed himself a slight anachronism here, since that version in march rhythm was only composed and released shortly AFTER the end of WW1 by the Colognian composer , Heinrich Frantzen ( 1880 - 1953 ). And ironically it became hugely popular as a Carneval song in Cologne INSPITE its actually bittersweet and sad lyrics. Today it's a sort of "National Hymn" of the city of Cologne and its melody is played each hour by the Glockenspiel at the house of 4711 in Cologne. By the time Kubrick had made the movie it had become quite popular also in the USA, since no other than Louis Armstrong had released a cover version just recently. There is also an English cover version by Vera Lynn. Here are the three verses of the song Christiane is singing : ( I admit my translation has no poetic quality at all, since it's just literal and regards no rhyme- or metric pattern.) ========================== 1. Es war einmal ein treuer Husar, Der liebt’ sein Mädchen ein ganzes Jahr, |: Ein ganzes Jahr und noch viel mehr, Die Liebe nahm kein Ende mehr. :| ( Once there was a faithful husar, who loved his girl one whole year. One whole year and much much more, the love never came to an end.) ( she is leaving out this verse : 2. Der Knab’, der fuhr ins fremde Land, Derweil ward ihm sein Mädchen krank, |: Sie ward so krank bis auf den Tod, Drei Tag, drei Nacht sprach sie kein Wort. :| ( The lad, he went to a foreign land, while by that time his girl became ill. She became so ill, ill onto death, so that she spoke not a single word for three days and three nights.) ) (And she directly jumps to verse 3:) 3. Und als man ihm die Botschaft bracht, daß sein Herzliebchen im Sterben lag, |: da ließ er all sein Hab und Gut, und eilte seinem Herzliebchen zu :| ( And when he got the message, that the dearest to his heart would lay down onto death. he left all his belongings at the spot and hurried to his dearest of heart.) 4. Ach bitte, Mutter, bring' ein Licht, Mein Liebchen stirbt, ich seh’ es nicht, |: Das war fürwahr ein treuer Husar, Der liebt’ sein Mädchen ein ganzes Jahr. :| ( Ach, Mother, please, bring a light, my dearest is dying, and I can't see her ! That was truly a faithful husar, who loved his girl one whole year. ) ========================== There are some more verses, that are not sung in this scene telling, how the girl eventually dies and the mourning husar is looking for six strong young peasant men as pallbearers for her funeral. But Christiane simply sings only three of the first verses and after that she just starts to repeat the same verses from the beginning. While the first verse had ended: "The love came never to an end., the very last refrain ( as said not sung in this scene ) profoundly ends: "The grief came never to an end " Really a sad song indeed ! And the blending of the sung version into the military march version played by a big brass band, when the end credits are rolling, is perhaps the last and perfect hint without words by Kubrick to the audience, that this short moment of relief for these men was only a short, peaceful reconnection with their human heart, before they were thrown again without mercy into the trenches, where they would soonly have to mutate into fiercly fighting beasts again in order to survive. Btw. this kind of big-brass-marching-band arrangement during the end credits is just of the same kind as those, one can hear in Cologne during the sessions of the big carneval societies there, when the big carneval gardes are marching into the festivity halls. There is even a famous garde in Cologne named after this song, "Der treu' Husar" ! Kind regards from Germany !
Your point about Col. Dax being courageous to criticize but also being an enabler is well put. In my limited career and exposure to the military I noticed many very competent and sincere officers who ignored service politics rarely advanced passed the O5 (Lt. Colonel rank). Honesty and frankness is not often rewarded. The founders where suspect of a permanent military but we have let what Eisenhower called "the military industrial complex" to flourish.
My greatgranfather was killed on April, 1918, near the Belgian border. His body was never to be found, like thousends of others. His wife spent 2 years looking for his final resting place. My granmother, born in 1914, had no memories of her father. 1939 came, and her recent wedding husband went to war.Luckily, he made through it safe. Their son spent 2 years in Algeria, during the war with that country. So, when you call us "cheese eating surrender monkeys", i am prone to break your face.
the person who called the French that was a stupid neoconservative pundit. In my view, France's military has been among the most badass of the last 200 years. I would not want to mess with them.
I've just watched Paths of Glory, and I am still trying to form my opinion and perspective of it. I wish there were more videos like this to analyze and tear it down. A fantastic film, to the brim with emotion, politics and ethics. It does not drag for a moment, and I was mesmerized the instant we were cut from that European mansion to the reality in the trenches. Amazing cinematography, a film ahead of it's time, as stated in the video.
Kirk Douglas: 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, why would you do that?"
There are a few movies and videos that should be REQUIRED VIEWING for every citizen, and this is one of them. Our nation has been at war 224 of 247 years of its miserable existence. The scene where Douglas tells off his superior is one of my top ten scenes of cinema. Kubrick, the man who produced the moon landing footage and fooled the world, is one of the great directors.
"miserable existence" is it? Perhaps a move to another country would remedy your misery? All countries have pluses and minuses. Overall, the U.S. has been pretty decent, but at this date 7-7-23, I myself am contemplating a move, and it isn't due to the military.
Hi, nice video! I think the meaning of the final scene, the one with the German girl singing, is that common people can relate with one another even if they don't understand the words they're saying, whereas armies and governments can't.
In addition to the almost obligatory tracking shots following Dax through the trenches, or when he is scrambling over rough terrain during the attack on the Ant Hill, the high point was meeting Christiane Kubrick singing in the bar at the film's end.✔✔✔ Evidently, she met Kubrick on set and they were married after the film's release.
Kubrick is a master in his craft. I always get stunned about how he even made a black and white film from the 1950s look so beautiful and detailed. I dream about being a director for an epic film for a studio but some of Kubrick works intimidate me. He was too good for words.
What grabbed me at first was the gorgeous cinematography, then the stellar cast. It's up there with "All Quiet on the Western Front" as far as its statement about war, in general.
Interesting points made on the movie’s ending scene. Another way I interpreted it was that the masses/ordinary soldiers are just puppets in a larger dispute between elites. The captured German girl serving as “entertainment” was a sign of how easily distracted and how easily they’re able to forget about the injustices the generals impose upon them. Before the men show compassion and start humming along to the German song, you can see this on Colonel Dax’s face when he reacts to the crowd being rambunctious, as if they had already forgotten about the executions. He knows that this system will carry on with or without idealists like him.
6:24 You said "Can he just quit? Well maybe, maybe not." To be clear, in the French military system in World War One, there was no chance of anyone being able to quit. Most militaries don't allow people to quit during war, and France was suffering enormous casualties. France suffered 1,150,000 killed and 4,266,000 wounded, out of a total population of 40 million, so something like 25% of the male population was killed or wounded. So that's something like 50% of the adult male population killed or wounded. So.....no-one was allowed to leave, or they'd be shot for dissertation. Dax went back to command his men because both because he had no choice, but also because his men had the most chance of surviving with him there, probably.
Exactly. He overlooks the historical context. This wasnt just a faraway conflict, France had been invaded by a foreign power and they were fighting for their country's survival. Just quitting would have got Dax the same firing squad, he was already a front line officer so how else could they punish him? Among other things this film is about the futility of that war, how misguided, out of touch old fools from a bygone age sent millions to their deaths to further themselves.
George McCready from Providence, R.I. as General Mireau, was just just awesome in this film, while enhanced, his facial scar was very real...Dax was a damn, good, officer who followed his orders...
Hours before the 11/11/2018 armistice was scheduled to begin, attacks were still being ordered, positions fought over that would soon be surrendered. Several thousand men were needlessly sacrificed. Dax was operating consistent with military protocol. You can disagree behind the scenes but must ultimately obey orders. That's why the attacks continued as previously mentioned. The French army mutinied in 1917 for a short time. Fortunately the Germans didn't find out.
One of my personal favourites in Kubrick's filmography. This film is a transcendentally humane war movie with impressive protracted battle sequence and a knock-out ending. I give this film a 9.2/10. Happy New Year Dr. Josh. Cheers!!! 🍹 🍹 🍹
The final scene's song is called "The Faithful Hussar", that were hugely famous at WW1 era... it's not random and it's lyrics is about a knight that is put in a conundrum pretty relatable with the three soldiers story. This is the reason that the soldiers got triggered... because they related with their executed comrades. The morale of the scene is that the girl gave a huge slap in the face of her captors
this historical information is excellent. The question is if Kubrick, who was never sentimental and often undermined the sentimental (e.g., see the end of Strangelove) was affirming it or not at the end of this movie.
@@LearningaboutMovies IMHO, both stories are related by the dichotomy between the individual and collective. How far a collective can ask individuals for sacrifice, whatever it is the love for the woman of your life or the preservation of your own integrity (and your comrades). It's the sense of duty that couldn't belong (in both stories) fully to the military. It's not only sentimentalism, the soldiers probably were on the edge and the excessive effusive and expansive attitude they displayed at the pub could be a signal that something like that was about to happen. Kubrick's movies may not be "sentiment oriented" (as in a soap opera), but surely that all of them go deep on the psychology of the characters. For me, Paths of Glory end may have been the first insight of a Hollywood movie deeply representing something that goes in the way of PTSD... I saw broke men since the very beginning of this scene. Cheers!
I don't know if it is schmaltzy. The historical backdrop is the great mutiny of the French Army during WWI. The French Army almost broke down. The French soldiers by the thousands were going AWOL. The French army executed hundreds of soldiers. I believe it was 1917. It's not to hard for a soldier to have empathy for those men and (as you said) feel a sad joy that those men showed the girls something other than hatred and lewdness.
the individual vs. the masses is among the most common dilemmas, philosophically and culturally, of the early 20th century. On that basis I made my comment. See Unamuno, Ortega y Gasset, Camus, etc., etc.
No matter how many times I have watched the film I still get teary eyed at the final scene with the German barmaid singing to the soldier, who in turn get teary eyed. They don't know the lyrics to the song but understand that for some this might be the last female they will ever see or hear something other than bombs exploding. After this film Kubrick didn't get very emotional with his characters. The films of his later years are mostly satires on the failure of human behaviour but in Paths of Glory it is a straightforward drama about the merciless nature of war. It is a great film and filled with many outstanding performances. I'd rank this among my top five favourite Kubrick films....probably ranking at number 3 after 2001 and Barry Lyndon.
Just think, 100 years ago or so we ( the U.S. ) didn't have a military industrial complex. It took one year to train a military sufficiently to fight in that war.
Paths of Glory is right up there with the 1930 version of All quiet on the Western Front. Both excellent movies about WW1. The ironic thing those films share is that the Germans were killing Frenchmen, and the French were killing French, too.
AT 04:24 :Sorry to be that guy, but the Germans were not NAZI in World War 1. And i think i made the same comment a year ago. Anyway thank you for video.
@@LearningaboutMovies you actually say "we gona defeat the Nazis, defeat the Germans".. but just before you exlain that "it's common depiction of Generals in WWI and WW2 movies" so no, you were not wrong as you talk about WWII movies as well ;)
great new commentary on Paths of Glory in your Substack; i was watching the new All Quiet on the Western Front again last night and of course Paths of Glory came to mind - the eternal return of man to war, or so we still trod
To say that Colonel Drax was ultimately an enabler is, to me, a tragic misunderstanding. He did everything in his ability to save those men, bordering on the insubordinate which could’ve landed him in a court martial the same as his men. He even managed to drop the number of men that would be tried for cowardice from 100 to 3. Would you say that Oskar Schindler was an enabler because he couldn’t save every Jew in Płaszów? One of the things that this film captures brilliantly is that military justice is very different from civilian justice. In the military it is a crime to not do your job, that cannot be said of the civilian world. This is a sad reality of war, and sometimes, as shown in the film, it gets muddled. It was also a much different time. The lines which divided class were much more rigid than today. And yet the Colonel Drax crosses this line with graceful ease. He sees in his men the humanity and dignity that we all deserve. The film even takes great pains to show The Colonel being the first man to jump over the line and lead the charge right there with the men, an act which almost certainly guaranteed his death. Unfortunately he had not the power to save his men, but he tried damnit, and that means something. Would you say that it would’ve been more honorable for him to have ended up facing a firing squad to uphold these virtues? If so you’re no different than the evil generals portrayed in the film. The generals who so callously executed these men for some measure of “honor”. This “honor” which can’t be quantified or defined anymore than the wound to their pride that the failed attack in the Ant Hill inflicted.
Not only Kubrickian cynicism needs to be taken into account, but also cultural cynicism regarding the war machine of the state was around in the mid-century zeitgeist, in all manner of artworks, preceding the more obvious countercultural ideas of the 1960s. just read Smedley Butler or the Beats. The question is whether this is a plausible viewing of the movie, not whether it is morally correct. Your first question Is one of those absurd ad Hitlerums. The movie asks a fascinating question about whether the sentimentality of the demos erases any lessons we have learned during the film, and whether it enables the war machine. It is a very short jump from this to the satire of Dr Steangelove, a few years later.
His confrontation with the general after the execution was quite evident of his disdain. I doubt his career would advance any further. In reality, he future was indeed bleak. He lead from the front, and odds of survival for two more years were mighty dim.
thanks for a nicely explained take on a compelling film. I don't think i've been so infuriated whilst watching a film as i was when those 3 men were executed. I guess i'm used to the eleventh hour reprieve where the right thing is ultimately done ie. the men are saved but no Kubrick follows through on this bleak and cynical vision and for that i applaud him but man it was a tough watch. Like you said the cinematography is outstanding i marvelled at the crispness and stunning contrasts. The decision to shoot black and white added an another layer entirely and the way Kubrick moves the camera around and about the trenches is sublime. That ending i wasn't quite sure of at first but rewatching it here and listening to your opinion i can see how the men are tamed by the folk singer and taken out of their world of shit just for that moment and how Dax ultimately needed to witness it for his own sanity to remain intact. I wonder though how a man such as Dax, a learned man, can really sleep that night knowing that absolute disdain with which those men are treated. Fascinating film and great vid. Thanks
I'd like to point out that hierarchy even though begins from the generals point... In the middle goes to one of the soldiers ordered to be executed, kills a cockroach and says "now you got the edge of im' " I think thats one of the depth points kubrick used to portray.
Who knows? Colonel Dax may be an enabler but my reading on this is that the military unit is better led into battle by him than to risk that a different leader could very well be more of the corrupt ineptness he has had to deal with recently.
A lot of emphasis on the message, but I think some mention should have been made of the acting here. Both generals are tremendous. The weasely old man, the pompous hypocrite and his suck-up subordinate. They're perfectly cast and hit just the right note of despicability. And they're not cartoon exaggerations; you need time to see their true depths. Kirk Douglas has incredible emotional intensity that just pops off the screen, because his character has it.
fine to mention this in the comment. One, the videos can't talk about everything that everybody wants. Two, this channel emphasizes messages, interpretations, and viewer responses, over and above typical discussions of technical achievements.
This movie has been a Masterpiece ever done. With High noon and The man who shot Liberty Valance a tris of black & white masterpieces to save for the eternity.
You have to do a video about "Ballad of a Soldier" which has some of the same elements but also the most breathtaking and heartbreaking love stories of any film I've seen. Anyone who loves movies has to see it.
Interestingly, I recently watched a documentary specifically about these morale executions during WW1 and it appears that the British excelled in this mistreatment of their soldiers. So here is a movie based specifically on three executions perpetrated by British officers, created by a British movie studio that depicts the tyrants as French officers executing French soldiers. I wonder if the French were incensed by this film in 1957?
@@charliewest1221 Thanks for the answer. I thought it was pretty gutsy to depict the tyrants as French and I wouldn't have even had an awareness of this had I not seen the documentary I recently watched.
Are you aware that the French army faced widespread mutinies in the spring of 1917 with hundreds of courts martial and several dozen executions? Maybe not
Interesting discussion about Colonel Dax maybe not being a hero because he still goes along with the system. But I would disagree though, because I don’t see how he has any other reasonable paths to take. What is he expected to do, try and take his men and stage mutiny? Would that be heroic? Or maybe he should resign his post, if even can, but then who takes it over? Who is now responsible for those men’s lives? It’s unlikely to be another Colonel Dax. He fights for his men’s lives and when he loses, he does the selfless thing and goes back to his post to do what he can for the men he still has, even though he disagrees. It’s not reasonable to ask one man to change the world and Dax is not in any position to do so. He did all he could, in my opinion.
The man caught without recourse to any other option -- as if no moral choice exists -- is a Kubrick favorite. I agree that Dax could do nothing, except quit, which probably equals desertion and thus death if caught.
Please someone agree that the scene where the soldier Arnauld confronts the priest before their death sentence And burst into rage is Inspired from "The Stranger" of Albert Camus like cmon just everything about the movie is so Camus
You missed the point about Dax entirely! He's trapped in this system as much as his men are. It's 1916 not 2021! Dax is a hero because he does the best he can for his men! I'd guess you never served in the Military? Bucking that system is as tough as it gets. And the further back in history you go the harder it was! .... See : "The Life of Emile Zola" which highlights the Dreyfus Affair if you want a true picture of French Justice!
I think you missed an exclamation point or two. You should watch Kubrick's filmography carefully to see whom, and what, he criticizes (or seems to) for inaction. The "just following orders and can't do no other" excuse gets hammered quite hard, and partly that's because he's working just after WW2. You have to consider "Paths" as a post-WW2 movie probably as much or more so than as a WW1 movie.
I think that you calling the end schmaltzy is cynical too. This was the only point of the movie where the men saw the enemy as human. (If you are to assume they understood the German, the song is about a soldier who runs home to his love). However, you are so right about bbureaucracies where the people on the lower level are punished by the higher-ups. An important point you missed was that the commanding general knew about the plot to shell the friendly troops, but kept silent about it (which would have saved the three men's lives) and got that other general Court martialed for the attack and potential shelling
In the 1950s, and long before, a whole lot of people were deeply cynical about WW1. Just watch the Marx Bros "Duck Soup." I read the end of this movie in that vein, but it is subtle.
@@LearningaboutMovies I don't wholly disagree In fact, you have that fat soldier, that took them to the execution, tell the man who was selected because he would out the officer as a coward "Stand up. Many of us will be joining you soon. Think of your family. The media is here." I will say I have a whole new perspective on the movie now
From trial to execution, I felt very bad and nauseous, as if I was being tried and would be executed. A Soldier killed under the open sky, it seems as if his soul is going straight to heaven.
Dax lived by a code of honor that wasn't situational. He was going to be honorable and adhere to his code even if the system wasn't. That wasn't "enabling" but it is was used against him. That's the key to Paths of Glory. The only issue s that war movies always show soldiers as a bunch of middle aged men. That's not the case.
yes, someone needs to cast movies younger. Too hard to do. There was a good Danish WW2 movie recently, "Land of Mine," in which the soldiers look like teenagers.
I think though in this setting it is somewhat accurate. The French army suffered such high losses in the first two years of WWI that many older men were called up to fill the ranks
Interesting discussion of cynicism in this movie... did not see that angle. Usually when Kubrick is discussed I think of the modern cynicism, not the cynicism of olde, but it makes totally sense what you say. Josh, are you in any way familiar with the early work of Peter Sloterdijk? I don't know if he's discussed in any way outside of Europe.. Colonel Dax as an enabler... love the discussion that this view sparked here in the comments as well. In some way this struggle of individual values and his idea of what his occupation/organization (the military) should be versus organizational structures/management (the staff of generals) reminded a bit of The Wire. The Wire also does not simplify the story to a values-driven individual who can overcome the systemic pressure against all odds, but lets the tension stick and leaves us in murky moral grounds.
@@LearningaboutMovies Assuming you're a busy man - not that much tbh. He is somewhat of a blabbermouth with output per year similar to Zizek. I recommend you skim his "Critique of Cynical Reason" ( www.wikiwand.com/en/Critique_of_Cynical_Reason ). 'You must change your life' is quite fun too.
Not only the substance of the story told and the characterisation within it, but also the manner in which the story is told. The opulence of the commanding General's offices is juxtaposed with the grubby and war-torn dugout occupied by the soldiers under his command. The muck and gore of the battlefield contrasts with the spotless dress uniforms of the courts martial. These collide only twice during the film: during the corp commander's tour of inspection, where he encounters a front-line soldier exhibiting symptoms of shell shock; and when the three soldiers selected are executed before the regiment. The senior officers prefer to distance themselves from the orders they give, and the effect of those orders on human beings.
You asked for a comment; Excellent review of a film I wasn't even aware of and I thought I knew all of Kubrick's films. I won't get all emotional right now, but the cruelty and Injustice that you are describing here, comes across at a time when I have been watching pieces of American news items and I think maybe we haven't learned anything. Kubrick had searing social messages. I wish he was still around so he could do the definitive film to portray trump, Alex Jones, Bannon, all the rest of them as the slithering devils that they are. But, great film review. My dad was a war veteran and told me many times there is no madness worse than the military mind.
I disagree with your reading of Dax at the end, he stays because his men have no choice but to do so and they have in their humanity proven themselves worthy of being lead by someone who at least cares about them, unlike the generals.
this is reasonable, and probably even the best way to view the ending, if you just look at the movie itself, backed by certain cultural expectations. I agree. As I said in the video, though, because it is Kubrick and we know his body of work -- plus the low opinions on WW1 and mass warfare in general at that time -- I tend to think he's subverting what we think the film is saying.
@@LearningaboutMovies It could be seen as a bit both, Colonel Dax is in a moral quandary in that by staying he supports the courpt system, yet if he leaves his men will be even more exposed to the corruption and cruelty of the army culture/bureaucracy. He's like the good cop in a bad police department, a trope of many films and TV shows. Overall the film is very anti-war no matter how you view Dax's dilemma and choices. Overall I very much enjoyed this thoughtful video, it's a great film. 🙂
A tragic masterpiece by a genius. Should be an eye opener for all those "proud" about themselves, or their offspring, being wheeled off as cannon fodder and then receiving a half of a dog tag and a piece of starstriped cloth in return. Kubrick's genius was led up the path to more glories and eventually up the garden path leading to his greatest cinema masterpiece of his career, the filming of the moon hoax.
Kubrick 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."
Dang, old Kirk was as much of a badass in real life as he was on film! Granted, Kubrick was in his early years during Paths of Glory but once he was a firmly established director, people were terrified of him. Just look at what happened to Shelley Duvall. Even Jack Nicholson couldn't bear to work with Kubrick more than once while Kirk Douglas did it twice and, unlike Joe Turkel and Philip Stone, he was the leading man both times.
Acho que quando os soldados começam a chorar quando a garota canta a música triste, mostra uma solidariedade que somos todos seres humanos e por que estamos lutando entre si?
Commentator lost the poignancy of the last scene by deeming it too sentimental . Embarrassed by emotion ? The point of the whole movie is in that last scene . Kirk Douglas as commander shows compassion and empathy by allowing his men a few moments more without recognition of this good. 🤔
I didn't "deem" it too sentimental -- I am saying that is exactly Kubrick's critique of the sentimental. It's often a trick used to get you to stay loyal to The Man/The State, etc. Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon and Dr. Strangelove show you Kubrick's very strong distrust in modern institutions of power, chief among them would be the state and its military apparatus.
I don't think Dax is an enabler as much as a victim, he is the voice of the audience crying foul and being ignored. The only thing that could have made it more realistic would be a child soldier being one of the executed.
The best military officers, are those who salute smartly when given orders. Even if those orders are a frontal attack. If you believe in the Bible, death will be more exciting than life. But only for those who trust in the Lord. Charge!
Excellent analysis, I loved this movie. I completely agree with your analysis that Dax is also an enabler. I think this is supported early in the movie: when they are attacking the ant hill, he is continually trying to rally his men to keep pushing, and to get more men to join, even though he knows it’s impossible, and sees the attack crumbling before him. This immediately stood out to me as Dax playing along with the corrupt military structure
thank you. I wish Dax the best, and it is wartime, yet he's facing a bureaucracy willing to kill his own men and cover it up. What should he do? That Kubrick chose an insane war (WWI) makes Dax's dilemma that much worse. If it were a WW2 movie, we would quickly forgive Dax because what's at stake is worth fighting for.
Kubrick later married the actress who played the German woman at the end of the film. They were together until Kubrick passed away in 1999. Pretty cool.
excellent, thank you!
And she is definitely German, not only playing one, singing in German without any accent. Wich is easily explained. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiane_Kubrick
@@tommuller218 Yeah, I know. I am German myself.
So when they say "Who'd you sleep with to get the part" - she say's the Director.
I loved Full Metal Jacket.
The accomplished director of photography of the movie, Georg Krause, was from Germany.Shortly before this movie he had also photographed two parts of the classic trilogy of the "o8 / 15" - movies, which were among the first movies made in Germany about WW2 in 1954/55.
He was known and appreciated for his particularly crisp and gritty
black&white cinematography.
( Actually he'd never made a single movie in color.)
Some further interesting bits of trivia about this movie:
Kirk Douglas played not only the lead role, but served also as producer of the movie thru his own production company, Bryna-Productions.
The movie was completely shot on a pretty tight budget
( close to 1 Million $ )
at the Bavaria Studios, Munich-Geiselgasteig,
and some nearby surroundings
in Bavaria/ Germany.
The trenches were built and the battle scenes filmed on a field near Munich-Pullach.
The "New Castle Schleißheim" in Oberschleißheim is the location, where the execution scene was filmed in front of, and also the trial scenes were filmed inside that same castle.
The specialist providing the
(then still solely ) practical pyrotech effects was the famed German FX-man, Karl "Charlie Boom Boom" Baumgartner, who'd provide the pyrotech effects for some thirty years for many international movies, among them
"The Longest Day"
(USA 1962),
"Dunkirk 1940"
( France 1964),
"The Bridge at Remagen"
(USA 1968),
"Waterloo"
( Italy/USSR 1970),
"A Bridge too Far"
(GB 1977),
"Steiner - The Iron Cross"
( Germany 1977) and
"Das Boot"
(Germany 1979/80/81)
To save the production some money ironically all the ( non-speaking ! ) extras playing French soldiers were actually German policemen recruited from the state police of Bavaria, because they got payed by the Bavarian federal state and were by law not allowed to earn some extra money, because, as said, they were state officials.
There really lies some irony in the fact, that all the extras playing French soldiers were actually Germans, doesn't it !? ;)
This was a rather cheap method for the Bavarian goverment to promote the movie production facilities in Munich to foreign producers and attract them to produce their movies there.
The policemen would be sent to the movie set during their official work hours and got paid by the state.
Another advantage of hiring policemen as extras was, that they were naturally used to handle arms, so the production had not to spend considerable time in giving unexperienced extras some training lessons in it.
( Five years later another classic American war movie would be produced here as well :
"The Great Escape"
with an all star cast.
And in 1979/80 another classic,
"Das Boot", this time as a complete German production.)
But it is pretty likely, that most of these men had also actually fought as soldiers, the older ones in WW1 ( and maybe they were even forced to fight again in the "Volksturm" during the last months of WW2 ) and the younger men probably in WW2.
So most of the non-speaking extras certainly knew the song and could fully understand the lyrics.
So it was probably no big acting deal for them to tear up, when Christiane Kubrick had sung it in front of them so movingly and in such plain fashion like a German mother from a hundred years ago would have sung it to her little child.
There lies so much "innocence" in the unpretentious way she sings this simple tune, that you can't help but being deeply touched by it.
Btw. Kirk Douglas had quite a relation to Bavaria and the movie studios in Munich there.
He would make three movies there in the second half of the fifties and at the beginning sixties.
This one and then immediatly after that "The Vykings" ( yes, that movie was actually shot for the most part on and near a lake in the Bavarian Alpes, the Walchen Lake, which was quite a convincing stand-in for a Norwegian fjörd, and the battle scenes actually in the Normandy/France.The Harlangerfjörd in Norway was only used for a few establushing shots by a second-unit camerateam, because the Vyking-ships-replica were actually not ocean-going;
and in 1961, "Town without Pity",
a movie, that had felt into rather oblivion today ( probabably due to its even more controversial subject), and where Kirk played a very similar role, but this time an American military lawyer.
And of course Kirk Douglas got good connections to Germany since in 1954 he'd married his second wife, Anne, who was from Hannover.
Kind regards from a classic movie buff from Germany !
thank you
I think one important thing here is that the General first wanted to execute 100 men. Dax got that figure down to 3. So in the end he saved 97 people. I think Dax is a good man who tries to do his best within the system. As a German that makes me think about WW2 and the Nazis, you can revolt against them and you can get killed, or you can try todo good within the system and maybe save a few people. Which one of the two ways is morally superior ? Revolting / getting killed or saving people within the system ? Hard to say, but you have to applaud both.
And btw, you can see how close to home the move hit by the fact that it was forbidden in France for a long, long time.
I think since it's his fault for giving the other general the impossible task of taking ant hill, the least he could do was lower the amount that would be fire squadded. But I personally don't believe that excuses him for being any less responsible and awful for giving the order which essentially sent them to their death.
In my consideration, this is the best war movie ever with strong acting by Kirk Douglas
I agree. I saw it first when the CBC pulled it out of the archives sometime in the early 1960s and advertised it in advance with a newspaper or newsmagazine article that praised it and emphasized how obscure it had been since its release. I think they showed it after a Saturday night hockey game. My father let me stay up to watch it. Since then, I think it has gained a great deal of acclaim in at least the English-speaking part of the world.
Spielberg thought the woman singing was the best in cinema of all time.
The singer is also Kubrick's real life wife I believe.
@@johnr.7906 I heard that too !
The first time I saw this movie, I stayed angry the entire time. The injustice of three innocent and brave men being executed for what amounts to no good reason got to me. It is very well filmed and acted-Kubrick is, of course, a genius.
Fun fact: The (villain) general with the scarred face actually appears in Kim Newman’s book The Bloody Red Baron, a sequel to Anno Dracula, which depicts a world where Dracula killed Van Helsing and married the queen of England-a historical piece featuring fictional and historical characters from the period in question. These are fun reads-a bit like Alan Moore’s and Kevin O’Neil’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and they inspired Moore’s books, I believe.
Regarding your assessment that Douglas’ character is an enabler. I never felt like he had many choices in the matter. He was steamrolled by the political machine with no recourse, and did his best to save his men. I do think I would’ve done more to save them, but I recognize that in the time period in question, the kind of rebellion I’d be willing to commit was almost unthinkable. Most ppl did just follow orders. Words like ‘loyalty’ and ‘duty’ have been used to manipulate the masses for a long time. I doubt Douglas’ character could’ve quit outright-even today that’s a court martial, and during war time it would be a bigger deal.
Idk. I think it says more about the system: Douglas tried to use the court system to exonerate his men, only to find the system itself was corrupt, ruled by corrupted men.
Either way, the film is heartbreaking. And don’t watch it if you’re having problems at work with a superior, lol. Good stuff.
great comment, thank you.
You would have done less.
The villain is the great actor George McCready.
Have you seen "Breaker Morant?" I think you'll love it.
Read Humphrey Cobb's book "Paths of Glory", and you will see thatColonel Dax is a different character than the film. He is much more accomodating to the system.
Despite calling myself a Kubrick fan, I just watched this film for the first time last night. I was brought to tears during the end scene. I didn’t bother trying to examine why I was so moved by the scene. That was until today; my initial theory was that the scene was meant to be more sentimental than the rest of the movie.
Your explanation of the contrast of the cynicism most of the movie displays against the hope the last scene displays kind of confirms my theory. Nevertheless, wonderful movie and great breakdown.
You deserve more subscribers! Keep up the great work.
thank you. I am reading Kubrick's later cynicism, quite evident in his future films, back into Paths of Glory. It could be that the singing men are all we have left, rousing sentiments, which spur on the Kirk Douglas character. So maybe the movie is portraying the singing and the emotions that it causes as some kind of the hope in the face of madness.
very much appreciate this comment. thanks again.
@@LearningaboutMovies It's also possible that Kubrick didn't want audiences to walk out of the theaters completely depressed. So many of his films end on a down-beat (Johnny Clay is beaten, Spartacus is defeated, Humbert is imprisoned, the world is obliterated in thermonuclear annihilation, Alex is more vicious than ever, Jack is frozen, Pvt. Pyle eats lead, I guess I could go on). It's anybody's guess whether the final beat of 2001 is up or down.
Its in my compilation video of great endings.
The sad song at the end of the movie is very haunting. Their eyes & expressions show ice cold fear & the 1000 yard stare. A war which was about very little, caused massive death for little gain. It's still hard to comprehend the bravery & stupidity of it all...
This is such an amazing movie. I think it's in a toss up for which Kubrick film is criminally underrated (the other being Barry Lyndon). Both are masterpieces but are rarely mentioned as people's favorite Kubrick movie.
Paths of Glory speaks strongly to my personal beliefs about the US military empire and my general skepticism/disdain for unjust bureaucracies. It's all so tragic. Sadly, you can understand the dilemma Dax faces. When you're just a cog inside of a big machine, raising a fuss is really only going to lead to your own personal demise and end up accomplishing nothing.
one wonders if Dax turned into Smedley Butler. If you don't know that is, you should look him up and his essay "War is a Racket."
@@LearningaboutMovies Smedley Butler was pre-WW i. This film is WW I.
It' "underrated" because of generations who refuse to watch black-and-white films. Anti-intellectual jerks who believe they've discovered something new under the sun because they ignore history.
i was so angry and hated those generals throughout the movie hoping theyll get what they deserve but it ended with a bitter yet realistic tone. saddest part is... this stuff really happened... often during the war. men who fought valiantly then got shell shocked were abused. men who even recovered were sent back to the front lines and were physically unable to move were tried and executed for "cowardice" So infuriating that such brave men who fought for that war were treated as enemies. its a great movie with an accurate recounting on how the politicians and elites "fight" these wars. you did a great analysis. good job!
thank you very much.
Calm down it was a movie just that.
Before I watch the video I will say "Thank you". You are helping to keep these works of art out there in a very jaded, stagnant world.
thank you. that is one of the goals of this channel.
You are great. I love movies, I love your channel and I love you ...BUT!
Could you please not begin your videos saying that you're going to tell us "how to think about it". The whole point of art is to let it be something special for each individual, and I love to hear how different people have different takes on movies, books, music, etc.
I can modify that. The videos aim to help those who don't comprehend much or want more to think about. They are the beginnings, or launching pads, for further study. I don't intend to say that they are the only way to think about the movies.
My favorite part about it is that it actually covers the French. It’s always about the Americans, British, or Germans. I find it really annoying how they never talk about nations like France, Italy, Ottomans, et cetera.
The French were really brave and I’m happy they cover them.
Some bits of trivia about the song, that the young German woman sings in the last scene and the marching band plays during the end credits:
It's actually a soldiers-/folk song,
this melodic version at least even stands in the march metrum, therefore the singing blends in the marching band version without any effort at the end credits.
The song the girl ( played by Kubrick's later wife, Christiane, they both had met for the first time on the set of this movie )is singing, is the Austrian/German folk- or soldier- song "Der treu' Husar"
( "The Faithful Husar"),
that had first appeared around 1820 and was printed in several German folk song editions throughout the 19th. century with half a dozen different text and melodic versions, but all tell the same story at the core.
The version to be heard here is certainly the most popular and famous one, but interestingly Kubrick allowed himself a slight anachronism here, since that version in march rhythm was only composed and released shortly AFTER the end of WW1 by the Colognian composer ,
Heinrich Frantzen
( 1880 - 1953 ).
And ironically it became hugely popular as a Carneval song in Cologne INSPITE its actually bittersweet and sad lyrics.
Today it's a sort of "National Hymn" of the city of Cologne and its melody is played each hour by the Glockenspiel at the house of 4711 in Cologne.
By the time Kubrick had made the movie it had become quite popular also in the USA, since no other than Louis Armstrong had released a cover version just recently.
There is also an English cover version by Vera Lynn.
Here are the three verses of the song Christiane is singing :
( I admit my translation has no poetic quality at all, since it's just literal and regards no rhyme- or metric pattern.)
==========================
1. Es war einmal ein treuer Husar,
Der liebt’ sein Mädchen ein ganzes Jahr,
|: Ein ganzes Jahr und noch viel mehr,
Die Liebe nahm kein Ende mehr. :|
( Once there was a faithful husar,
who loved his girl one whole year.
One whole year and much much more,
the love never came to an end.)
( she is leaving out this verse :
2. Der Knab’, der fuhr ins fremde Land,
Derweil ward ihm sein Mädchen krank,
|: Sie ward so krank bis auf den Tod,
Drei Tag, drei Nacht sprach sie kein Wort. :|
( The lad, he went to a foreign land,
while by that time his girl became ill.
She became so ill, ill onto death,
so that she spoke not a single word for three days and three nights.) )
(And she directly jumps to verse 3:)
3. Und als man ihm die Botschaft bracht,
daß sein Herzliebchen im Sterben lag,
|: da ließ er all sein Hab und Gut,
und eilte seinem Herzliebchen zu :|
( And when he got the message, that the dearest to his heart would lay down onto death.
he left all his belongings at the spot
and hurried to his dearest of heart.)
4. Ach bitte, Mutter, bring' ein Licht,
Mein Liebchen stirbt, ich seh’ es nicht,
|: Das war fürwahr ein treuer Husar,
Der liebt’ sein Mädchen ein ganzes Jahr. :|
( Ach, Mother, please, bring a light,
my dearest is dying,
and I can't see her !
That was truly a faithful husar,
who loved his girl one whole year. )
==========================
There are some more verses, that are not sung in this scene telling, how the girl eventually dies and the mourning husar is looking for six strong young peasant men as pallbearers for her funeral.
But Christiane simply sings only three of the first verses and after that she just starts to repeat the same verses from the beginning.
While the first verse had ended:
"The love came never to an end.,
the very last refrain ( as said not sung in this scene ) profoundly ends:
"The grief came never to an end "
Really a sad song indeed !
And the blending of the sung version into the military march version played by a big brass band, when the end credits are rolling, is perhaps the last and perfect hint without words by Kubrick to the audience, that this short moment of relief for these men was only a short, peaceful reconnection with their human heart, before they were thrown again without mercy into the trenches, where they would soonly have to mutate into fiercly fighting beasts again in order to survive.
Btw. this kind of big-brass-marching-band arrangement during the end credits is just of the same kind as those, one can hear in Cologne during the sessions of the big carneval societies there, when the big carneval gardes are marching into the festivity halls.
There is even a famous garde in Cologne named after this song,
"Der treu' Husar" !
Kind regards from Germany !
thank you
Apparently, Churchill said that the film portrayed accurately, the story as it went down. I just recently saw this film on PBS...
Your point about Col. Dax being courageous to criticize but also being an enabler is well put. In my limited career and exposure to the military I noticed many very competent and sincere officers who ignored service politics rarely advanced passed the O5 (Lt. Colonel rank). Honesty and frankness is not often rewarded. The founders where suspect of a permanent military but we have let what Eisenhower called "the military industrial complex" to flourish.
thank you.
My greatgranfather was killed on April, 1918, near the Belgian border.
His body was never to be found, like thousends of others.
His wife spent 2 years looking for his final resting place.
My granmother, born in 1914, had no memories of her father.
1939 came, and her recent wedding husband went to war.Luckily, he made through it safe.
Their son spent 2 years in Algeria, during the war with that country.
So, when you call us "cheese eating surrender monkeys", i am prone to break your face.
the person who called the French that was a stupid neoconservative pundit. In my view, France's military has been among the most badass of the last 200 years. I would not want to mess with them.
outstanding analysis of the end scene
One of the greatest movies, period. It's a shame it's rarely listed among Kubrick's best works. I put it in his top 3.
I've just watched Paths of Glory, and I am still trying to form my opinion and perspective of it. I wish there were more videos like this to analyze and tear it down. A fantastic film, to the brim with emotion, politics and ethics. It does not drag for a moment, and I was mesmerized the instant we were cut from that European mansion to the reality in the trenches. Amazing cinematography, a film ahead of it's time, as stated in the video.
thank you.
Kirk Douglas: 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, why would you do that?"
thanks, interesting!
@@LearningaboutMovies That quote is from KD's autobiography, THE RAGMAN'S SON
Kirk Douglas was fucking awesome. Directors he worked with noted that, unlike most actors, he was actually intelligent too.
I could never figure out why the last scene of the men humming was emotional until this video, thank you mate
you're welcome.
There are a few movies and videos that should be REQUIRED VIEWING for every citizen, and this is one of them. Our nation has been at war 224 of 247 years of its miserable existence. The scene where Douglas tells off his superior is one of my top ten scenes of cinema. Kubrick, the man who produced the moon landing footage and fooled the world, is one of the great directors.
"miserable existence" is it? Perhaps a move to another country would remedy your misery? All countries have pluses and minuses. Overall, the U.S. has been pretty decent, but at this date 7-7-23, I myself am contemplating a move, and it isn't due to the military.
I've been keeping track of remarks that this or that should be required reading or viewing and there's just too much of it.
Likewise. Keep playing the lottery and so far..."snake eyes". When I hit the big one, it's a sailboat and "I'm outta here!"
Hi, nice video! I think the meaning of the final scene, the one with the German girl singing, is that common people can relate with one another even if they don't understand the words they're saying, whereas armies and governments can't.
In addition to the almost obligatory tracking shots following Dax through the trenches, or when he is scrambling over rough terrain during the attack on the Ant Hill, the high point was meeting Christiane Kubrick singing in the bar at the film's end.✔✔✔ Evidently, she met Kubrick on set and they were married after the film's release.
yes, very interesting.
Kubrick is a master in his craft. I always get stunned about how he even made a black and white film from the 1950s look so beautiful and detailed. I dream about being a director for an epic film for a studio but some of Kubrick works intimidate me. He was too good for words.
we're all mortals, and that's okay. you can't imitate the masters, and yet they can inspire us to create.
Another excellent film of a similar theme is 'Breaker Morant', set in the earlier conflict, The Boer War, which is well worth anyone's time to view.
What grabbed me at first was the gorgeous cinematography, then the stellar cast. It's up there with "All Quiet on the Western Front" as far as its statement about war, in general.
All directors should aspire to make a movie like this one…
Interesting points made on the movie’s ending scene. Another way I interpreted it was that the masses/ordinary soldiers are just puppets in a larger dispute between elites.
The captured German girl serving as “entertainment” was a sign of how easily distracted and how easily they’re able to forget about the injustices the generals impose upon them.
Before the men show compassion and start humming along to the German song, you can see this on Colonel Dax’s face when he reacts to the crowd being rambunctious, as if they had already forgotten about the executions.
He knows that this system will carry on with or without idealists like him.
See "12 Angry Men," also from 1957.
thanks for the clever insights.
Thanks for making this. Definitely deserves more views, one of my favorite movies
you're welcome.
6:24 You said "Can he just quit? Well maybe, maybe not."
To be clear, in the French military system in World War One, there was no chance of anyone being able to quit. Most militaries don't allow people to quit during war, and France was suffering enormous casualties.
France suffered 1,150,000 killed and 4,266,000 wounded, out of a total population of 40 million, so something like 25% of the male population was killed or wounded. So that's something like 50% of the adult male population killed or wounded. So.....no-one was allowed to leave, or they'd be shot for dissertation.
Dax went back to command his men because both because he had no choice, but also because his men had the most chance of surviving with him there, probably.
And yet it is a movie.
Exactly. He overlooks the historical context. This wasnt just a faraway conflict, France had been invaded by a foreign power and they were fighting for their country's survival. Just quitting would have got Dax the same firing squad, he was already a front line officer so how else could they punish him? Among other things this film is about the futility of that war, how misguided, out of touch old fools from a bygone age sent millions to their deaths to further themselves.
George McCready from Providence, R.I. as General Mireau, was just just awesome in this film, while enhanced, his facial scar was very real...Dax was a damn, good, officer who followed his orders...
What a christmas gift! Happy holidays from Sweden!
same to you!
Hours before the 11/11/2018 armistice was scheduled to begin, attacks were still being ordered, positions fought over that would soon be surrendered. Several thousand men were needlessly sacrificed.
Dax was operating consistent with military protocol. You can disagree behind the scenes but must ultimately obey orders. That's why the attacks continued as previously mentioned. The French army mutinied in 1917 for a short time. Fortunately the Germans didn't find out.
You meant to say 11/11/1918.
One of my personal favourites in Kubrick's filmography. This film is a transcendentally humane war movie with impressive protracted battle sequence and a knock-out ending. I give this film a 9.2/10. Happy New Year Dr. Josh. Cheers!!! 🍹 🍹 🍹
thank you, happy new year to you too!
Thank you Sir.🎉
You're welcome
The final scene's song is called "The Faithful Hussar", that were hugely famous at WW1 era... it's not random and it's lyrics is about a knight that is put in a conundrum pretty relatable with the three soldiers story. This is the reason that the soldiers got triggered... because they related with their executed comrades. The morale of the scene is that the girl gave a huge slap in the face of her captors
this historical information is excellent. The question is if Kubrick, who was never sentimental and often undermined the sentimental (e.g., see the end of Strangelove) was affirming it or not at the end of this movie.
@@LearningaboutMovies IMHO, both stories are related by the dichotomy between the individual and collective. How far a collective can ask individuals for sacrifice, whatever it is the love for the woman of your life or the preservation of your own integrity (and your comrades). It's the sense of duty that couldn't belong (in both stories) fully to the military. It's not only sentimentalism, the soldiers probably were on the edge and the excessive effusive and expansive attitude they displayed at the pub could be a signal that something like that was about to happen. Kubrick's movies may not be "sentiment oriented" (as in a soap opera), but surely that all of them go deep on the psychology of the characters. For me, Paths of Glory end may have been the first insight of a Hollywood movie deeply representing something that goes in the way of PTSD... I saw broke men since the very beginning of this scene. Cheers!
I don't know if it is schmaltzy. The historical backdrop is the great mutiny of the French Army during WWI. The French Army almost broke down. The French soldiers by the thousands were going AWOL. The French army executed hundreds of soldiers.
I believe it was 1917. It's not to hard for a soldier to have empathy for those men and (as you said) feel a sad joy that those men showed the girls something other than hatred and lewdness.
the individual vs. the masses is among the most common dilemmas, philosophically and culturally, of the early 20th century. On that basis I made my comment. See Unamuno, Ortega y Gasset, Camus, etc., etc.
After watching this film many times, I've only just realised that it's Richard Anderson taking the General's coat.
The men had to protect and defend their country (France)from invasion. They had to see it through.
The movie depicts them possibly being killed by their own country purely because of the vanity of their own leaders.
@@LearningaboutMovies"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity" .
You know, I think he had a point.
No matter how many times I have watched the film I still get teary eyed at the final scene with the German barmaid singing to the soldier, who in turn get teary eyed. They don't know the lyrics to the song but understand that for some this might be the last female they will ever see or hear something other than bombs exploding. After this film Kubrick didn't get very emotional with his characters. The films of his later years are mostly satires on the failure of human behaviour but in Paths of Glory it is a straightforward drama about the merciless nature of war. It is a great film and filled with many outstanding performances. I'd rank this among my top five favourite Kubrick films....probably ranking at number 3 after 2001 and Barry Lyndon.
thank you.
It very possible many of the French solidiers DID understand the lyrics as Germany was/is the Eastern neighbor.
Just think, 100 years ago or so we ( the U.S. ) didn't have a military industrial complex. It took one year to train a military sufficiently to fight in that war.
Kubrick was brilliant as a battle scene director.
Paths of Glory is right up there with the 1930 version of All quiet on the Western Front. Both excellent movies about WW1. The ironic thing those films share is that the Germans were killing Frenchmen, and the French were killing French, too.
thank you.
AT 04:24 :Sorry to be that guy, but the Germans were not NAZI in World War 1. And i think i made the same comment a year ago. Anyway thank you for video.
does the video say Nazis? if so, obviously that is wrong!
@@LearningaboutMovies you actually say "we gona defeat the Nazis, defeat the Germans".. but just before you exlain that "it's common depiction of Generals in WWI and WW2 movies" so no, you were not wrong as you talk about WWII movies as well ;)
That is wrong!
great new commentary on Paths of Glory in your Substack; i was watching the new All Quiet on the Western Front again last night and of course Paths of Glory came to mind - the eternal return of man to war, or so we still trod
thank you
To say that Colonel Drax was ultimately an enabler is, to me, a tragic misunderstanding. He did everything in his ability to save those men, bordering on the insubordinate which could’ve landed him in a court martial the same as his men. He even managed to drop the number of men that would be tried for cowardice from 100 to 3. Would you say that Oskar Schindler was an enabler because he couldn’t save every Jew in Płaszów?
One of the things that this film captures brilliantly is that military justice is very different from civilian justice. In the military it is a crime to not do your job, that cannot be said of the civilian world. This is a sad reality of war, and sometimes, as shown in the film, it gets muddled.
It was also a much different time. The lines which divided class were much more rigid than today. And yet the Colonel Drax crosses this line with graceful ease. He sees in his men the humanity and dignity that we all deserve. The film even takes great pains to show The Colonel being the first man to jump over the line and lead the charge right there with the men, an act which almost certainly guaranteed his death. Unfortunately he had not the power to save his men, but he tried damnit, and that means something.
Would you say that it would’ve been more honorable for him to have ended up facing a firing squad to uphold these virtues? If so you’re no different than the evil generals portrayed in the film. The generals who so callously executed these men for some measure of “honor”. This “honor” which can’t be quantified or defined anymore than the wound to their pride that the failed attack in the Ant Hill inflicted.
Not only Kubrickian cynicism needs to be taken into account, but also cultural cynicism regarding the war machine of the state was around in the mid-century zeitgeist, in all manner of artworks, preceding the more obvious countercultural ideas of the 1960s. just read Smedley Butler or the Beats.
The question is whether this is a plausible viewing of the movie, not whether it is morally correct. Your first question Is one of those absurd ad Hitlerums.
The movie asks a fascinating question about whether the sentimentality of the demos erases any lessons we have learned during the film, and whether it enables the war machine. It is a very short jump from this to the satire of Dr Steangelove, a few years later.
I find a lot of similarities in the character Kirk Douglas plays in this movie and the character he plays in Seven Days in May.
thank you.
No: Colonel Dax can't do anything about the trial verdict, but he does try anyway, at risk to his own career.
I know.
His confrontation with the general after the execution was quite evident of his disdain. I doubt his career would advance any further. In reality, he future was indeed bleak. He lead from the front, and odds of survival for two more years were mighty dim.
thanks for a nicely explained take on a compelling film. I don't think i've been so infuriated whilst watching a film as i was when those 3 men were executed. I guess i'm used to the eleventh hour reprieve where the right thing is ultimately done ie. the men are saved but no Kubrick follows through on this bleak and cynical vision and for that i applaud him but man it was a tough watch.
Like you said the cinematography is outstanding i marvelled at the crispness and stunning contrasts. The decision to shoot black and white added an another layer entirely and the way Kubrick moves the camera around and about the trenches is sublime.
That ending i wasn't quite sure of at first but rewatching it here and listening to your opinion i can see how the men are tamed by the folk singer and taken out of their world of shit just for that moment and how Dax ultimately needed to witness it for his own sanity to remain intact. I wonder though how a man such as Dax, a learned man, can really sleep that night knowing that absolute disdain with which those men are treated. Fascinating film and great vid. Thanks
thank you. great comment!
I agree, this is a superb movie. Thank you for this review.
you're welcome. thanks for watching.
I'd like to point out that hierarchy even though begins from the generals point...
In the middle goes to one of the soldiers ordered to be executed, kills a cockroach and says "now you got the edge of im' "
I think thats one of the depth points kubrick used to portray.
thank you.
great intro, will watch thanks
you're welcome.
Who knows? Colonel Dax may be an enabler but my reading on this is that the military unit is better led into battle by him than to risk that a different leader could very well be more of the corrupt ineptness he has had to deal with recently.
thanks, makes sense.
"The men died beautifully!"
he says 'your men..'
A lot of emphasis on the message, but I think some mention should have been made of the acting here. Both generals are tremendous. The weasely old man, the pompous hypocrite and his suck-up subordinate. They're perfectly cast and hit just the right note of despicability. And they're not cartoon exaggerations; you need time to see their true depths. Kirk Douglas has incredible emotional intensity that just pops off the screen, because his character has it.
fine to mention this in the comment. One, the videos can't talk about everything that everybody wants. Two, this channel emphasizes messages, interpretations, and viewer responses, over and above typical discussions of technical achievements.
Ce film est "great" parce qu'il s'inspire de faits réels.
Et parce que c'est Kirk Douglas.
This movie has been a Masterpiece ever done. With High noon and The man who shot Liberty Valance a tris of black & white masterpieces to save for the eternity.
One of the greatest anti war movies ever made. It makes me sick to see how vile and useless war is.
war serves the state more than anything.
And Putin is fucking it up right now. Old wine in new jars.
You have to do a video about "Ballad of a Soldier" which has some of the same elements but also the most breathtaking and heartbreaking love stories of any film I've seen. Anyone who loves movies has to see it.
thank you.
Underrated Kubrick movie
I think so too.
Great stuff, keep it on!!
Thank you.
Interestingly, I recently watched a documentary specifically about these morale executions during WW1 and it appears that the British excelled in this mistreatment of their soldiers. So here is a movie based specifically on three executions perpetrated by British officers, created by a British movie studio that depicts the tyrants as French officers executing French soldiers. I wonder if the French were incensed by this film in 1957?
They were. The film was banned for many years in countries with French sympathies.
@@charliewest1221 Thanks for the answer. I thought it was pretty gutsy to depict the tyrants as French and I wouldn't have even had an awareness of this had I not seen the documentary I recently watched.
Are you aware that the French army faced widespread mutinies in the spring of 1917 with hundreds of courts martial and several dozen executions? Maybe not
The beatings will continue until morale improves!
The singing woman at the end was kubricks real life wife.
Interesting discussion about Colonel Dax maybe not being a hero because he still goes along with the system. But I would disagree though, because I don’t see how he has any other reasonable paths to take. What is he expected to do, try and take his men and stage mutiny? Would that be heroic? Or maybe he should resign his post, if even can, but then who takes it over? Who is now responsible for those men’s lives? It’s unlikely to be another Colonel Dax. He fights for his men’s lives and when he loses, he does the selfless thing and goes back to his post to do what he can for the men he still has, even though he disagrees. It’s not reasonable to ask one man to change the world and Dax is not in any position to do so. He did all he could, in my opinion.
The man caught without recourse to any other option -- as if no moral choice exists -- is a Kubrick favorite. I agree that Dax could do nothing, except quit, which probably equals desertion and thus death if caught.
There are few here that seem to take than view. I am one of them too.
Please someone agree that the scene where the soldier Arnauld confronts the priest before their death sentence
And burst into rage is Inspired from "The Stranger" of Albert Camus like cmon just everything about the movie is so Camus
You missed the point about Dax entirely! He's trapped in this system as much as his men are. It's 1916 not 2021! Dax is a hero because he does the best he can for his men! I'd guess you never served in the Military? Bucking that system is as tough as it gets. And the further back in history you go the harder it was! .... See : "The Life of Emile Zola" which highlights the Dreyfus Affair if you want a true picture of French Justice!
I think you missed an exclamation point or two. You should watch Kubrick's filmography carefully to see whom, and what, he criticizes (or seems to) for inaction. The "just following orders and can't do no other" excuse gets hammered quite hard, and partly that's because he's working just after WW2. You have to consider "Paths" as a post-WW2 movie probably as much or more so than as a WW1 movie.
Excellent
thank you.
I think that you calling the end schmaltzy is cynical too. This was the only point of the movie where the men saw the enemy as human. (If you are to assume they understood the German, the song is about a soldier who runs home to his love).
However, you are so right about bbureaucracies where the people on the lower level are punished by the higher-ups.
An important point you missed was that the commanding general knew about the plot to shell the friendly troops, but kept silent about it (which would have saved the three men's lives) and got that other general Court martialed for the attack and potential shelling
In the 1950s, and long before, a whole lot of people were deeply cynical about WW1. Just watch the Marx Bros "Duck Soup." I read the end of this movie in that vein, but it is subtle.
@@LearningaboutMovies
I don't wholly disagree
In fact, you have that fat soldier, that took them to the execution, tell the man who was selected because he would out the officer as a coward "Stand up. Many of us will be joining you soon. Think of your family. The media is here."
I will say I have a whole new perspective on the movie now
From trial to execution, I felt very bad and nauseous, as if I was being tried and would be executed. A Soldier killed under the open sky, it seems as if his soul is going straight to heaven.
great point about his death scene.
His greatest movie
Dax lived by a code of honor that wasn't situational. He was going to be honorable and adhere to his code even if the system wasn't. That wasn't "enabling" but it is was used against him. That's the key to Paths of Glory.
The only issue s that war movies always show soldiers as a bunch of middle aged men. That's not the case.
yes, someone needs to cast movies younger. Too hard to do. There was a good Danish WW2 movie recently, "Land of Mine," in which the soldiers look like teenagers.
I think though in this setting it is somewhat accurate.
The French army suffered such high losses in the first two years of WWI that many older men were called up to fill the ranks
France banned it until 1975
They didnt like the idea of
Cannon fodder
Troops wasted on impossible
Missions!
How I should feel about it? I think I can work that out for myself!
Welcome to the Internet. You must be new here. You may never have heard anybody talk about art ever in your life. Enjoy!
Interesting discussion of cynicism in this movie... did not see that angle. Usually when Kubrick is discussed I think of the modern cynicism, not the cynicism of olde, but it makes totally sense what you say. Josh, are you in any way familiar with the early work of Peter Sloterdijk? I don't know if he's discussed in any way outside of Europe..
Colonel Dax as an enabler... love the discussion that this view sparked here in the comments as well. In some way this struggle of individual values and his idea of what his occupation/organization (the military) should be versus organizational structures/management (the staff of generals) reminded a bit of The Wire. The Wire also does not simplify the story to a values-driven individual who can overcome the systemic pressure against all odds, but lets the tension stick and leaves us in murky moral grounds.
Have not read Sloterdijk -- what do you recommend?
@@LearningaboutMovies Assuming you're a busy man - not that much tbh. He is somewhat of a blabbermouth with output per year similar to Zizek. I recommend you skim his "Critique of Cynical Reason" ( www.wikiwand.com/en/Critique_of_Cynical_Reason ). 'You must change your life' is quite fun too.
Hey man. I just found your channel... It looks good. I'll subscribe. 👍🏻
I hope your channel grows more! Great content..!
thank you very much, and welcome.
I saw this on first release as a 9-year-old at the drive-in.
wow, great!
Not only the substance of the story told and the characterisation within it, but also the manner in which the story is told. The opulence of the commanding General's offices is juxtaposed with the grubby and war-torn dugout occupied by the soldiers under his command. The muck and gore of the battlefield contrasts with the spotless dress uniforms of the courts martial. These collide only twice during the film: during the corp commander's tour of inspection, where he encounters a front-line soldier exhibiting symptoms of shell shock; and when the three soldiers selected are executed before the regiment. The senior officers prefer to distance themselves from the orders they give, and the effect of those orders on human beings.
excellent comment, thank you.
You asked for a comment;
Excellent review of a film I wasn't even aware of and I thought I knew all of Kubrick's films. I won't get all emotional right now, but the cruelty and Injustice that you are describing here, comes across at a time when I have been watching pieces of American news items and I think maybe we haven't learned anything. Kubrick had searing social messages. I wish he was still around so he could do the definitive film to portray trump, Alex Jones, Bannon, all the rest of them as the slithering devils that they are.
But, great film review. My dad was a war veteran and told me many times there is no madness worse than the military mind.
thank you.
Have you seen the film “ *It happened tomorrow* ” ?
no, but the premise looks intriguing.
European mansions could be anywhere French chateau is the thing you're looking for
Great movie, if you like this one check out Breaker Morant.
Great movie .
Because my dad showed me this movie.
I disagree with your reading of Dax at the end, he stays because his men have no choice but to do so and they have in their humanity proven themselves worthy of being lead by someone who at least cares about them, unlike the generals.
this is reasonable, and probably even the best way to view the ending, if you just look at the movie itself, backed by certain cultural expectations. I agree.
As I said in the video, though, because it is Kubrick and we know his body of work -- plus the low opinions on WW1 and mass warfare in general at that time -- I tend to think he's subverting what we think the film is saying.
@@LearningaboutMovies It could be seen as a bit both, Colonel Dax is in a moral quandary in that by staying he supports the courpt system, yet if he leaves his men will be even more exposed to the corruption and cruelty of the army culture/bureaucracy. He's like the good cop in a bad police department, a trope of many films and TV shows. Overall the film is very anti-war no matter how you view Dax's dilemma and choices. Overall I very much enjoyed this thoughtful video, it's a great film. 🙂
A tragic masterpiece by a genius. Should be an eye opener for all those "proud" about themselves, or their offspring, being wheeled off as cannon fodder and then receiving a half of a dog tag and a piece of starstriped cloth in return.
Kubrick's genius was led up the path to more glories and eventually up the garden path leading to his greatest cinema masterpiece of his career, the filming of the moon hoax.
Would not agree with the assessment of the ending. This was war. Dax simply had no choice but to go back. At least this has always been my assumption.
Thank you. The point is not about Dax, in a sense, but about the viewers relationship to sentimentality.
Kubrick 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."
heh, I hope Douglas paid Kubrick!
Dang, old Kirk was as much of a badass in real life as he was on film! Granted, Kubrick was in his early years during Paths of Glory but once he was a firmly established director, people were terrified of him. Just look at what happened to Shelley Duvall. Even Jack Nicholson couldn't bear to work with Kubrick more than once while Kirk Douglas did it twice and, unlike Joe Turkel and Philip Stone, he was the leading man both times.
Acho que quando os soldados começam a chorar quando a garota canta a música triste, mostra uma solidariedade que somos todos seres humanos e por que estamos lutando entre si?
Really good video, got more out of the film after watching this
thank you, that is all I can ask for -- much appreciated.
Commentator lost the poignancy of the last scene by deeming it too sentimental . Embarrassed by emotion ? The point of the whole movie is in that last scene . Kirk Douglas as commander shows compassion and empathy by allowing his men a few moments more without recognition of this good. 🤔
I didn't "deem" it too sentimental -- I am saying that is exactly Kubrick's critique of the sentimental. It's often a trick used to get you to stay loyal to The Man/The State, etc. Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon and Dr. Strangelove show you Kubrick's very strong distrust in modern institutions of power, chief among them would be the state and its military apparatus.
I don't think Dax is an enabler as much as a victim, he is the voice of the audience crying foul and being ignored. The only thing that could have made it more realistic would be a child soldier being one of the executed.
thank you.
Or maybe he decided to not leave the men to the generals so he could fight for them again
yes, very good!
The best military officers, are those who salute smartly when given orders. Even if those orders are a frontal attack. If you believe in the Bible, death will be more exciting than life. But only for those who trust in the Lord. Charge!
Have to see this great movie....why the fuck Netflix doesn't have these gems on.
definitely money. I saw this on Criterion awhile back, but they've probably shuttled it off.
None today questions authority. Sad.
Interessante
Excellent analysis, I loved this movie. I completely agree with your analysis that Dax is also an enabler. I think this is supported early in the movie: when they are attacking the ant hill, he is continually trying to rally his men to keep pushing, and to get more men to join, even though he knows it’s impossible, and sees the attack crumbling before him. This immediately stood out to me as Dax playing along with the corrupt military structure
thank you. I wish Dax the best, and it is wartime, yet he's facing a bureaucracy willing to kill his own men and cover it up. What should he do? That Kubrick chose an insane war (WWI) makes Dax's dilemma that much worse. If it were a WW2 movie, we would quickly forgive Dax because what's at stake is worth fighting for.