Paths Of Glory (1957/Criterion Collection Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B     Sound: C+     Extras: B+     Film: B+

 

 

After delivering two of the last great Film Noirs in the end of the original era, Stanley Kubrick (with the help of Co-Producer James B. Harris), took on a larger project and the result was a critical and commercial success.  Paths Of Glory (1957) is one of the greatest films about War ever made, an anti-War film that is far more complex than that, Kubrick reached a new level of excellence in this WWI tale of a group of soldiers trapped between policy, orders and an impossible situation who are about to be thrown away for no good reason for the amusement of the elite they serve.

 

In between these soldiers and the men who intend to use them Colonel Dax, played by Kirk Douglas in one of his greatest roles and performances.  Dax has these men under his command and will soon find himself taking on the whole system as it is becoming more apparent to Dax that the upcoming inner-legal proceedings will be too predictable for its own good, leaving him taking on his bosses one by one.

 

Based on the Humphrey Cobb novel (all Kubrick films are based on books), Kubrick co-wrote the screenplay with legendary novelist Jim Thompson and writer Calder Willingham (Little Big Man, Thieves Like Us, One-Eyed Jacks, The Graduate) and just the screenplay alone offers exceptional construction, but Kubrick takes the film further in its visual compositions, ideas and themes that would grow in importance in all of his films including failed intellectualism, man’s inhumanity to man, the nature of people and systems that take on a life of their own ruining everything and everyone in their way.

 

Though they are all playing French soldiers, the actors are all English speaking for the most part and include the infamous casting of Adolphe Menjou (who had participated in the HUAC witch hunts of that decade) as the corrupt general Dax takes on, Ralph Meeker (Kiss Me Deadly, The Detective), Bert Freed (Hang ‘Em High, Billy Jack), Richard Anderson (Gettysburg, Seconds, Seven Days In May), Joe Turkel (Blade Runner and a Kubrick regular) and Wayne Morris are among the great actors who bring to life one of the most realistic films about war ever made and certainly the most realistic up unto that time.

 

Many have compared it to that other great WWI film, Jean Renoir’s Grand Illusion (1938) and it is that great, but it is Douglas who must carry the film as the man who must carry the burden of the ugly realities unfolding and he delivers one of the great lead performances of all time as a result.  Paths Of Glory is a work of genius and its arrival in such an exceptional edition is a big surprise to film fans who never expected MGM and Criterion to work together again, but through Fox (who has been doing discs with Criterion for a while now), have delivered one of the best Blu-ray releases of the year.

 

 

The 1080p 1.66 X 1 digital High Definition image comes from a new 35mm fine grain master positive print was used to make this new High Definition master, transferred on a HD Spirit 2K telecine and the film has never looked better in any video format.  The result is very film-like with excellent Video Black, Video White, depth and detail.  Grain can be seen, but it is minimal and Director of Photography Georg Krause was pushing the limits of the film stock of the time, resulting in a one-of-a-kind classic look to what turned out to be a classic film.  The PCM 1.0 Mono sound will show up on home theater systems as a center-channel-only track and it sounds very good for its age down to Gerald Fried’s impressive music score.  A 35mm monaural magnetic track was actually available to remaster in 24-bit digital sound and the result is a fine step-up form previous DVDs and the old Criterion 12” LaserDisc.  All has also been cleaned up without compromising the presentation.

 

Extras include a booklet with tech information, illustrations, and a fine essay on the film by James Naremore, while the Blu-ray has the original theatrical trailer, a fine feature length audio commentary by critic Gary Giddings, Excerpt from a 1966 audio interview with Kubrick, 1979 TV interview with Douglas, French TV look at the actual case that inspired the film and book and new video interviews with Kubrick’s longtime executive producer Jan Harlan, the film’s producer Harris and actress Christiane Kubrick.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo