A shattering masterpiece by one of the medium’s greatest artists, Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory announced the definitive arrival of a towering figure in cinema.
In the French front lines of World War I, after giving the order for an impossible and disastrous mission to capture a nearby stronghold, the upper ranks move to save face by having three randomly selected soldiers held and tried for cowardice under pain of death. Their leader, Colonel Dax (in a powerhouse performance by Kirk Douglas) a former lawyer in civilian life, handles their defence against overwhelming odds.
A stylistically astonishing, emotionally overwhelming anti-war drama, Paths of Glory is one of the screen’s most brilliant condemnations of the power structures guiding warfare.
"Of perhaps equal interest now is Paths of Glory's place in Kubrick's own development as a filmmaker: the dramatic compositions, expansive tracking shots, and ability to corral high-prestige actors into risky material. More to the point, Paths of Glory remains a model of narrative precision”. - The Guardian
"A visual masterpiece." - Time Out
"A reminder both of [Kubrick's] extraordinary formal virtuosity and his powers as a satirist." - Independent (UK)
"The scenes of trench warfare are frighteningly vivid, and Kirk Douglas gives a searing performance as the officer assigned to the hopeless task of defending the three men." - Total Film
"Kirk Douglas and Timothy Carey are outstanding among the troops on the front line, while Kubrick's relentlessly probing camera offers constant evidence of a film-maker at the height of his powers." - Radio Times