Review: Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory on KL Studio Classics 4K UHD

Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory gets a superlative 4K transfer and an enlightening commentary track from Kino Lorber.

Paths of GloryStanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory should be Exhibit A in defense of the filmmaker against those who think he lacks human feeling. Though a minor achievement, it’s certainly his most humane film. Unfortunately, it also seems like it could have been directed by that other prominent Stanley of the period: Stanley Kramer.

After two electrifying noirs, Killer’s Kiss and The Killing, Kubrick decided to take on a project with more overtly “important” themes—that of the irrationality of war, the cruelty of the death penalty, and the indifference of France’s old-world aristocracy. Set during WWI, Paths of Glory opens in the style of Kubrick’s early short documentaries with a news-like voiceover functioning as exposition and establishing the setting—a palatial military headquarters far from the front.

The opening scene of Generals George Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) and Paul Mireau (George Macready) discussing battle strategy is pitched at the level of court intrigue, with Mireau’s initial proclamation that he values the life of his men above all else quickly (and somewhat humorously) giving way to his desire for a promotion—even if it means sacrificing thousands of lives to take a meaningless German fortification called the Anthill. Conversing in a cavernous hall, the two men walk around and circle one another as if in a highly formal dance. Kubrick’s deterministic worldview expresses itself through his careful blocking of his actors. If his films have a claustrophobic quality, it’s due to how carefully he choreographs his actors’ movements to show that they’re not completely in control of their actions; they’re driven by irrational egocentric urges and/or a desire to conform to social norms, or they’re subjected to the cruel whims of the powerful.

Advertisement

When the attack on the Anthill inevitably fails, Mireau has his subordinate officers select three soldiers (Ralph Meeker, Timothy Carey, and Joe Turkel) to stand trial for cowardice, scapegoats onto whom blame for his own failure can be placed. Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas, at his most self-righteous) defends the men, and the trial itself becomes a metaphor for the madness of war. From here, the film becomes a series of monologues for Douglas to puff out his chest and argue against injustice. At last, Kubrick delivers his final, smug declaration about the “brotherhood of man” in the closing scene, in which a lustful rabble of French soldiers whistle and jeer at a German peasant girl. Of course, her sweet singing of “The Faithful Hussar” tames their hearts and makes them rediscover their humanity. Its simplistic call for unity isn’t any more sophisticated than that of West Side Story. If only Kubrick could have found a way to visualize these themes, rather than merely convey them through dialogue.

The script also clumsily incorporates exposition. Instead of finding out about Dax’s background through his actions, we hear it through Mireau: “But we mustn’t forget, the colonel was perhaps the foremost criminal lawyer in all France.” Like The Hurt Locker’s presentation of its main character, Paths of Glory has it both ways with Dax: We’re supposed to admire him because he protests the misguided attack on the Anthill and defends the three soldiers, but he’s also presented as a heroic warrior, climbing up the edge of trenches during the battle, risking his life to rally his men. When he stoically walks through the trenches as shells are exploding around him, you know we’re supposed to think he’s one cool badass.

Kubrick’s call for a new humanity is fundamentally at odds with his highly objective visual style, especially during the battle scenes. During the attack on the Anthill, when his documentary style could have been most effective, he stages the movement of the French soldiers from right to left across the battlefield, while the camera slowly tracks along to follow them, keeping the actors squarely in long shots. Unlike Roberto Rossellini’s war films, he never mingles with the combatants. There’s no immediacy to these scenes, no subjectivity. Thankfully, though, Kubrick would discard the salvation of mankind as a theme in his later, more accomplished films and return to the style of The Killing, with its less prescriptive but more profound study of humans in denial of the universe’s inescapable entropy.

Advertisement

Image/Sound

Kino’s 2160p transfer, made from a 4K scan of the original camera negative, looks incredible. It’s a definite improvement over Criterion’s already excellent Blu-ray from 2010. Clarity of detail gets a major upgrade, especially in the many low-lit or nighttime scenes, and there’s considerable added depth to the image overall. The disc offers a Master Audio two-channel mono mix that works admirably to deliver clean dialogue, actively conveys the ambient effects of shell- and gunfire, and vigorously promotes Gerald Fried’s rousingly martial score.

Extras

Novelist and critic Tim Lucas provides a deep dive into the film’s production history, covering every aspect of the filmmaking from conception to reception. He conveys a lot of very detailed information about the differences between the film and the Humphrey Cobb source novel, down to quoting from the book and various script drafts. Lucas shines a spotlight on cult actor-director Timothy Carey, who also turns up in Kubrick’s earlier The Killing, and whom he hilariously describes as having “the face of an undead Beatnik.” Lucas does a commendable job of tracing out themes of institutional failure that run throughout Kubrick’s films.

Overall

A deeply ironical rumination on the madness of war, Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory gets a superlative 4K transfer and an enlightening commentary track from Kino Lorber.

Advertisement
Score: 
 Cast: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready, Wayne Morris, Richard Anderson, Joseph Turkel, Christiane Kubrick, Jerry Hausner, Peter Capell, Emile Meyer, Bert Freed, Kem Dibbs, Timothy Carey  Director: Stanley Kubrick  Screenwriter: Stanley Kubrick, Calder Willingham, Jim Thompson  Distributor: Kino Lorber  Running Time: 88 min  Rating: NR  Year: 1957  Release Date: August 23, 2022  Buy: Video

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.