Snapshots From a Dream

What is this thing that builds our dreams yet slips away from us ....

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Great Moments From Cinema - 41


Song Sung Blue

Movie: Paths Of Glory (Bryna Productions and Harris-Kubrick Productions; 1957)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Screenplay: Humphrey Cobb (book) and Stanley Kubrick, Calder Willingham & Jim Thompson
Major Cast: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolph Menjou and George Macready

Film Synopsis: Set during WWI, a French Colonel (Douglas) has to defend his men against charges of cowardice

My Favorite Moment: A young German girl singing in a bar full of French soldiers

Why I Like It: Hollywood has had its share of ‘War’ films which eventually preach anti-war sentiments. Several actions scenes are usually punctuated with emotional bonding between the soldiers and the strife they face everyday. But in just one scene, far removed from the battle front, Kubrick does more for illustrating the human side of war than any other movie. It is one of the most poignant endings to a film since City Lights, and if that movie gave the audience an emotionally satisfying closure, this one leaves them with a heart-breaking image. It is without a question the greatest war film ever made.

A French General played by Menjou, orders his subordinate General (Macready) to carry out an impossible mission of capturing a German stronghold. Driven by his own ambition, Macready passes on this task to Douglas who pleads with him to reconsider. The mission has a limited chance of success and would cost the French huge casualties. Macready disagrees and as Douglas’s men proceed with the attack; as expected it leads to failure and death. The surviving troops retreat, seeing which, a furious Macready even orders the artillery to fire on their own men. In order to teach them a lesson, he commands Douglas to select 3 men to be tried for cowardice and executed. Douglas tries in vain to defend them in a farcical court martial where he is not given a fair chance at defense. As a last straw, he goes to Menjou and gives him proof of Macready’s order to fire on his own people. But Menjou is politically correct and the 3 soldiers are executed as planned. The next day Menjou launches an inquiry against Macready and promotes Douglas to Macready’s post. As he congratulates him, Douglas tells Menjou to stuff the promotion and walks out in disgust. It is then when he hears loud cheering coming from the dining hall.

A German girl has been captured and she is brought out in front of a jeering and rowdy French crowd. She is frightened as there are some disparaging remarks made against her and is forced to sing and entertain the soldiers. She starts singing a song in German and even though they don’t understand the lyrics, slowly the shouting stops and the soldiers start humming the tune. In the end all of them join in and several of them start weeping under all the emotional strain they are forced into every day. Douglas is clearly moved and he lets them share this brief moment of catharsis before ordering them back to the trenches. It goes on to show that it is not the politicians or the top army officials, but common men who lay down their lives and for what? Just so that some other people can chalk out new geographical lines on the map? The soldiers identify with that frightened girl and they see themselves on the stage with no hope of escape. In the end all of them including the girl are human, irrespective of their lineage. If they are allowed to remember that by their superiors, then there would be no need for bloodshed.

1 Comments:

Blogger nmagesh said :

you know, I just saw "Full Metal Jacket" this weekend, and it doesn't measure half up to Paths... (even though the first half has its moments and intensity)

3:18 PM  

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