Everything has come to a halt, trench warfare has taken over World War I in France, and the fronts have hardened. General Mireau is given the order to seize a crucial German position and although an attack on “Anthill” might send a significant message to the French public, it would be nothing short of a suicide mission. Sure enough, after the inevitable failure of the attack, General Mireau finds himself in desperate need of a scapegoat. Three soldiers of Colonel Dax’s regiment are sentenced to death, intended to serve as an example of everyone’s supposed “cowardice”. However, Dax tries to prevent the soldiers’ execution in court, in a last, desperate attempt…
Paths of Glory was meant to play during the Berlinale in 1958. However, the French general responsible for the Berlin sector banned its screening due to the alleged negative representation of the soldiers. In Switzerland, Kubrick’s anti-war film only premiered in 1970, in France not even until 1982, while being cut and censored in several other countries. Hence, this excellent anti-war film (in both form and content) did not receive its well-deserved attention until much later. Today, no movie-bucket-list is ever truly complete without Kubrick’s masterpiece!
Alexander Streb
Übersetzung: Alicia Schümperli
