Paths of Glory (1957)
What I found interesting with this classic anti-war film is how effective I found it, despite it being very blunt with its message. A thing I tend to shy away from, yet here it works because it doesn’t hold anything back in showcasing the absolute madness and complete lack of respect for human life from these generals. In a way it felt almost like satire. It reminded me a good deal of Dr. Strangelove in that regard - just without the humor.
While everyone here is putting on a stellar performance, we are not given much time with these characters emotions with how dialogue heavy it is, but that just have the effect of letting us work our thoughts out ourselves. At least it left me with a great deal of empathy - not so much for the specific characters in the movie, but for soldiers in general. It is not a personal story, but a story about the absurdity of war logic and how it removes all compassion when human beings are stripped down to pieces in a strategy.
The cinematography is sort minimalist and the black and white underlines the sense of not really existing as real human beings in the trenches. Especially compared to officers in their big roomy bright castles contrasting the cramped space of the trenches.
Rating: 4.5