A series of events triggered by the recent THAAD deployment somehow reminded me of the movie "Paths of Glory".
Many old movies on the IMDb list are full of the characteristics of the era, highlighting the peaks that film art could reach at that time. No matter what the theme of this "Road to Glory" is, when appreciating the roles played by the legendary great actors, the overall style of the film is concise, clear, carefree, and neat, with almost no extra shots. A lot of things in between don't have any on-camera descriptions, but they don't affect your understanding of how events unfold at all. Compared with some movies now, the audience is regarded as mentally retarded, lest you not understand, and compared with the master Kubrick, the judgment is made.
In 1916, the war between France and Germany was stalemate. France needed a victory to promote the war process. Facing the seemingly impossible task of conquering the Ant Hill stronghold, General George threw out the bait for promotion to Paul. Paul said in a high-sounding manner: "My soldiers come first." "A soldier's life is more to me than any medal." Showing that he is a general who loves soldiers like a son, but in fact, all this is just a bargaining chip for his career promotion. And the upper echelons pushed the war only to relieve the public opinion and public pressure they faced. After failure, some scapegoats must be found to cover up the mistakes of the strategy. Only the soldiers at the bottom, with the honor of being a soldier, become pawns who fight for no reason.
Look at the picture of the general inspecting the scene, the confident and proud general, with domineering scars on his face, implying outstanding military exploits, with a soldier-like heroism, nodding, waving, and greeting the soldiers cordially, but the steps are so mechanical , the dialogue is so repetitive and pale, with the drumming of the military music in the background and the occasional gunshot, giving it a comical feel.
The Colonel's field command room is so simple against the splendid general's office. The general also said, "You are really small and neat here." He clearly knew in his heart that it was impossible to take down the ant hill, and then issued an order to the major. At the time, he deliberately used a relaxed tone and gently tapped the combat map. It seemed that winning a victory was as simple as playing soot. When the colonel tried to refuse politely, the general directly took out the big stick of dismissal. , an ultimatum for a man with a high sense of honor in the military profession.
Although the scenes of the battle and charge are incomparable with the wars filmed in modern times, the cruelty revealed will not be reduced at all. Those monotonous cannonballs, clumsy soldiers, seemingly repeated images, and gunshots that are not real at all, seem to be talking about the boring and indifferent of war from the perspective of a cold third party.
One of the climaxes of the show begins with the Colonel's visit to the cell to visit three hapless men who have been chosen as scapegoats, and continues through the courtroom debate. As the movie says, sometimes, whether you want to or not, whether you're innocent or not, for no reason, your life is on the judgment seat. Especially in the final summary statement, the Colonel's pacing back and forth is firm and steady, his attitude is neither humble nor arrogant, his voice is relaxed and powerful, and his tone is light and heavy, which can be used as a wonderful monologue when reading a classic in English:
… crime to haunt each of you …… till the day you die. I can't believe that the noblest impulse of man, his compassion for another …… can be completely dead here. A
principled artillery captain, integrity honor honest and resourceful emotional intelligence The colonel who broke the watch is no match for the sophisticated general, and the three innocent lives must become victims on the chessboard.
The second climax occurred in the conversation between the colonel and General George after the verdict. After the general failed to win over the colonel, he justly discussed the necessity of war, and the colonel's simple "You don't know the answer to this question, I pity you" The answer, so natural and powerful, submits the best commentary on the justice and justice held in its heart.
I don't want to talk about the deep anti-war theme of the movie. I just want to borrow a sentence from the movie. I hope that when we encounter real events, we can use our brains and think independently.
"You are an idealist, unfortunately I think you are a fool"
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