Paths of Glory

Paths of Glory (in Latin America, La patrulla infernal; in Spain, Paths of Glory) is a 1957 American film, whose action takes place during the First World War. Directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Kirk Douglas, it is based on Humphrey Cobb's novel of the same name, published in 1935.

In 1992, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Synopsis

Picture of the film trailer:
Adolphe Menjou and Kirk Douglas.

The story takes place on the French front, in 1916.

The suicide attack by the French Army against the German positions on Ant Hill, a strategic point of vital importance for the development of the First World War, turns into a resounding failure. To chastise the troops with an exemplary punishment, General Mireau (George Macready), one of the main people responsible for the attack and its resounding failure, convenes a council of war: three soldiers chosen at random by their superiors are falsely accused of cowardice. before the enemy and face the death penalty by firing squad.

Cast

The role of the German girl at the end of the film is played by German actress and artist Christiane Kubrick (credited as Susanne Christiane), who began a romantic relationship with Kubrick during the filming of the film and became his third wife and companion until the director's death. The song she sings is "Der treue Husar" ("The Faithful Hussar"), a popular German love song about a hussar who loves a beautiful young woman for a whole year, until she dies of an illness.

Production

Pahts of glory, Christopher Nevinson's "retired" picture of the exhibition in Leicester Galleries in 1918 that named Stanley Kubrick's homonymous film.

Initially, Paramount bought the rights to the novel with the idea of taking the action to Czarist Russia, but the project never came to fruition. The script went through several studies where it was rejected. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer came close to taking on the project, even offering the lead role to Gregory Peck, who accepted it once Kirk Douglas had agreed to it. It was thanks to Douglas that the project was able to go ahead, for when he read the script, he used all his influence to move the project forward, and, already with his support, United Artist decided to finance it with a short budget of 850,000 USD.

Producer James B. Harris and Stanley Kubrick commissioned novelist Jim Thopmson and screenwriter Calder Willingham to write the script. film, and it never saw the light of day, since it was more a means of preserving the real conclusion and obtaining the approval of the production company, United Artist, whose members, enthusiastic about the film, did not reread the final script and did not They protested the change.

The film was shot in Bavaria (Germany), at the Geiselgasteig studios (Bavaria Filmkurst Studios), given the difficulties of being shot in the United States and, of course, in France. The war and trench sequences were shot between April and May 1957 in the vicinity of Puchheim, near Munich.

Royal inspiration

Both the film and the original novel are partially inspired by real events: the execution during World War I, for insubordination, of four soldiers from the 119th Infantry Brigade of the French Army. The executions were declared inadmissible, and the soldiers were rehabilitated in 1934, after their families complained, two of whom received compensation of one franc, while the other two received no compensation. The brigade commander, General Géraud Réveilhac, showed evident disregard for the lives of his men. In February 1915, after three failed attempts to take an enemy position, he ordered the artillery to bombard the French trenches to force his troops to attack, to which that the commander of the batteries refused without a written order; Later, he ordered a repeat attack, arguing that the percentage of casualties considered acceptable had not been reached that day.

During the war, the French army, like those of most belligerents, did carry out firing squads for cowardice. However, the central framework of the film is the practice of executing randomly selected soldiers, as punishment for the misdeeds of their entire unit. This practice goes back to that used in the Roman legions, in which tithing consisted of killing one in ten legionaries as a disciplinary measure. Although it was an isolated event, it was also adopted in the French Army: the Tenth Company of Battalion number 8 of the Mixed Regiment of Algerian Shooters was decimated on December 15, 1914 in Zillebeke (Belgium), for having disobeyed the order to attack.

Reception

Despite its modest take, the film was a critical success, still considered today one of Kubrick's best films and a timeless anti-military classic. For Roger Ebert, critic of the Chicago Sun-Times , Paths of Glory “was the film with which Stanley Kubrick entered the rank of great directors, which he did not abandon never".

The fact that it starkly portrayed the dirty reality of war, in which the death of human beings is often used to satisfy personal ambitions and rise up the command hierarchy, made it an extremely uncomfortable film. Although it was released without problems in the US, the film began to have problems when it was released in Europe. Its projection, in 1958, in Brussels, unleashed major incidents due to pressure from the French authorities and the associations of French and Belgian ex-combatants, who refused to accept the image projected of the French army. Pressure from the French consulate led to the suspension of the film's screening, which in turn ignited anti-militarist protests.

French pressure got United Artists to call the suspension of the projection to insert an explanatory note and the hymn of "La Marseillaise" at the beginning and end of the film. With this addition, the film was shown again in Brussels. However, Switzerland prohibited its projection and United Artists simply did not dare to present the film in France until 1972. It was finally released in the French country in 1975. In Spain it was necessary to wait until October 1986 for it to be screened as a retrospective of Kubrick, since the Franco regime had censored it for its anti-militarist content. The tape was also banned in Morocco and Canada.

The film does not convey any message. In no case is it a film that goes against or in favor of the army. At the most, it is a film against war, which can lead men to such conflicts of conscience.

Stanley Kubrick

Influence

The theme of the bombing of the trenches themselves also appears in the cartoon C'était la guerre des tranchées (1983) by the Frenchman Jacques Tardi.