The ‘Paths of Glory’ shot that tells us everything we need to know about Stanley Kubrick
He may have already had three features under his belt before beginning production on Paths of Glory, but the 1957 wartime epic would see Stanley Kubrick introduce several traits, characteristics, and stylistic flourishes that would eventually become recurring motifs and famed hallmarks of a legendary filmography.
In fact, a single shot encapsulates everything anyone could ever hope to know about his personal and professional tendencies, with Kirk Douglas’ Colonel Dax taking an ominous walk through the trenches, establishing a handful of what would soon become known as Kubrickian signatures at once.
For one minute and 45 seconds, the camera is either positioned from Dax’s POV or placed directly in front of him, with one fluid take displaying not just the horrors of war from his perspective but the quiet air of authority the military officer both exudes and commands from the soldiers under his authority.
Tracking shots and one-point perspective would soon become a distinct part of Kubrick’s filmmaking oeuvre, with 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, and Eyes Wide Shut all following key characters in enclosed spaces. In a similar vein to Paths of Glory, the importance was more than just aesthetic, with each subsequent example in his films utilising the technique for the purpose of creating a sense of claustrophobia and unsettlement around the character they followed.
Wide-angle shots and lengthy takes would become a staple part of his cinematic arsenal in the aftermath of Paths of Glory, while many of his following features explored his fascination with not just the grotesque side of humanity but the irrational nature of the people making decisions, and how they affect those lower on the ladders they occupy. The fog of war is literal in the case of Paths of Glory, but its influence on Kubrick, the director, was undeniably figurative as he continued to deploy the same techniques and repeat the same overarching themes, albeit with a distinctly unique twist every time.
Regarded as an anti-war film, Paths of Glory‘s pacifist tendencies marked another of Kubrick’s favoured thematic threads notably rearing its head, with the filmmaker continually exploring how a larger organisation – in this case, the military and government – limits the expression of an individual who finds themselves at odds with what’s required of them. In this case – and in a similar vein to his obsession with taking aim at the dynamic of power – it’s Dax knowing he’s been ordered to effectively send his men to their deaths, although the sentiment would frequently recur in years to come.
As well as Paths of Glory‘s General Mireau, Dr. Strangelove‘s General Turgidson is painted in a negative light as a figure at the top of the chain of command concerned only with their well-being, ordering their subordinates to carry out questionable actions. That sense of selfishness would parlay into Full Metal Jacket, too, developing Kubrick’s steadfast belief that corruption and an absence of morals become increasingly prevalent towards the top of the ladder, with war being the unifying factor in all three.
In his own worldview, the universe is frequently depicted as being unequivocally indifferent to moral or philosophical quandaries, when the people with the real power are only concerned with self-preservation and maintaining their grip on control. Any victory achieved by a single protagonist in isolation is more often than not treated as minuscule, unimportant, and ineffective in the grand scheme of things.
Kubrick once famously said in a Playboy interview that “the very meaninglessness of life forces a man to create his own meaning”, and that personal perspective shone through in his work. Dax finds his meaning by defending his men in a court-martial, but the meaninglessness is apparent in the tracking shot where the commanding officer stoically patrolled through the trenches with the full knowledge of what was to come.
Existentialism in Kubrick’s catalogue has taken on different meanings over the decades as it evolved from humanity’s desire to uncover the secrets of the known and unknown universe in 2001: A Space Odyssey to the way in which The Shining deals with freedom – or lack thereof – caused by familial, societal, and external circumstances, via the borderline optimism of Eyes Wide Shut exploring human nature, the sanctity of marriage, sexuality, and the concept of choice. And yet, the overriding belief of the individual forging ahead to carve out their own destiny through sheer force of will first manifested on-screen in Paths of Glory.
It’s less than two minutes of screentime in total that follows a single character without a single word uttered until right before Dax climbs the ladder and urges his men to take to the battlefield, but the shot composition, framing, camera techniques, underlying themes, and evocation of the futility about to unfold against its central figure’s better judgement nonetheless tells the viewer everything they’d need to know about Kubrick, his beliefs, mastery of the art form, and the next 42 years of his output in one fell swoop.
