The priest representing the religion cannot redeem people, the war court representing the law cannot bring justice to the soldiers, and the exchange of terms representing the game of interests cannot bring the hope of survival to citizens.
A truly valuable war film must be anti-war. In Kubrick’s very early work in 1957, it uses methods that surpass the conventions of anti-war films. "Road to Glory" provides a A coherent, convincing, sharp and eternal perspective on human interaction. This movie is no longer just a combination of sound and light, but carries the weight of humanity.
I can’t forget Colonel Dax’s protest and anger in the military court at the end of the film (translated from the Tencent video version of "Road to Glory"): "There are times when I am ashamed. to be a member of the human race and this is one such occasion)...I have no chance to protest at all...The noblest compassion of mankind is dying today (I can't believe that the noblest impulse in man, his compassion for another, can be completely dead here. ).....The defeat yesterday was not a stain on the honor of France. The attack yesterday morning was no stain on the honor of France. , but this court-martial is such a stain)..."
The whole movie is adapted from Humphrey Cobb's novel of the same name, and is full of irony.
The first is the irony of war, as Karl von Clausewitz (masterpiece "On War") famously said: "war is merely an extension of the policies of peace." This is The philosophical arguments and logical contradictions that all wars in ancient and modern China and foreign countries cannot get rid of.
The second is the irony of the structure of human society. In "Road to Glory", the world seems to be cruelly divided into the leader and the led. The officers plot their cunning and insidiousness in the magnificent rooms and halls of a huge castle, while ordinary French men have to go to the trenches and battlefields, just like office workers and workers in peacetime going to offices or factories. And the attack on Ant Hill described in the film is mainly a series of life-like, no emotional ups and downs of cannonballs falling. People fell in the mud countless times, climbed up countless times, moved forward countless times, and stopped after countless hesitations. It presents the pride of seeing death as home and never switching - and it seems like a terrible reminder: the interpretation of war? To put it simply, it is to kill a lot of the repeated confirmation of the social structure by the leader. The film created a vivid visual contrast between the brutal battlefield massacre and the spacious and luxurious palace ball. It left a heart-wrenching gap between the shots of three soldiers being shot and the switching of two generals enjoying breakfast on an exquisite dining table. .
The irony of these two aspects is actually the same thing in essence: the beginning, progress, and end of the war have nothing to do with the leader, their life, and even more with their soul-it’s just the leader’s time and time again. "The extension of the peace policy", this extension is the "patriotism" repeatedly emphasized by the two generals in "Road to Glory." After all, the war has a death rate of 55%, but the general still ordered troops to be sent for two more stars on his chest. Dax once opposed the offensive, which is impossible, but the general said: "If this is impossible, the only evidence is their bodies lying at the bottom of the trenches. The survivors are obviously cowards, because they are still alive."
Therefore, when the general completely replaced human life with mathematical probability and made the definition of "possibility", living becomes cowardly, and death is glorious. For the general, he felt that imposing the death penalty on a coward who defected was an act of morale boosting, and he would kill his own soldiers from time to time—"There are few things more fundamentally encouraging and stimulating than seeing someone else die ...You see, Colonel, troops are like children. Just as a child wants his father to be firm, troops crave discipline. And one way to maintain discipline is to shoot a man now and then."
It's chilling.
Let’s talk about Kubrick’s technique in this film.
First, many long shots were used in the film. For example, from the beginning Dax inspected the army in the trench, and then the three soldiers walked to the execution post. We were deeply impressed: the persistence of the trench warfare and the destruction of the attack. Sex, the hypocrisy of the ruling class, the fear of death. Audiences don't need to speak, they just need to follow the camera in the black and white picture, and embark on this "honorable" road defined by what kind of power.
Second, there is an echoing relationship in the film. At the beginning, the general went to the trench and laughed at Dax and said, "I think you are a criminal defense lawyer" (this dialogue should have appeared in the first 15 minutes of the movie, I remember), and finally, it was Dax, who went for 3. A completely innocent soldier defended in a military court. It stands to reason that Dax should not be a defender. He is a colonel and a commander, but he voluntarily asked to be a defender, just like an angry spectator who has been unable to restrain himself and wants to grievance for the victimized leader. I have to say that Dax's move is noble and selfless. When General George finally wanted to promote Dax as a general, Dax was surprised and said, "This is not what I wanted," but General George wondered—did you report that General Adolphe ordered the shelling of his soldiers? Is it for yourself? Dax sighed: If you don't know the answer, I feel pity for you. At this moment, through this exquisite question and answer dialogue, Kubrick has created a foolish and insensitive general and leader who is completely incomprehensible. It is no wonder that this 1957 film was banned in France for many years and was not unblocked until 30 years after the end of World War II in 1975.
Then, let’s talk about the ending of the film, which is the plot of Kubrick’s wife (Christiane Harlan, later called Christiane Kubrick of course) who plays the captured German girl (the two get married after the filming ends) singing in the soldier’s camp— —What is this setting for? In the beginning, these French soldiers were very rude and frivolous to criticize the girl. Later, as the girl’s German singing began to melodious, the soldiers shed tears again. After tears, Kubrick gave the scene. It is extremely stable, capturing the facial expressions of many soldiers.
Then, there must be some questions from the film audience: French soldiers can't understand German, why are they crying? There are two explanations, and I prefer the latter (but in fact, the two explanations can be parallel and not contradictory). Explanation 1: This German ballad was also sung by the homesick German soldiers when the German and French armies confronted each other in the middle of the night. I listened to it a lot and felt the ruthlessness of the war with the two countries. The irreversible fate of soldiers as cannon fodder. Explanation two, even if the language is not clear (this movie is in English, isn't Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" also in English, the United States uses its own language to tell other people's stories, haha), but the feelings conveyed by women It can cross languages, that is, Sympathy is an act of imitation, and every act of imitation is an act of becoming, while listening to women singing—the first and only feature of "Road to Glory" in the whole film Female images (women in Kubrick movies are mostly marginalized). When the audience looks at this helpless girl, every soldier’s imagination for carnal desire disappears, and his warmth towards human nature Good imagination has revived. After a whole day of bloody war, they remembered their wives, sisters and daughters. German women can be captured, and French women can't? This girl is not only a German girl, but also a girl, not only a girl, but also a living person, a person in a group... When the soldier in the film is lost in thought, watch the movie We are also lost in thought.
Therefore, in the film, Dax first heard the soldiers roaring in a mess outside the door, and then saw their crying red eyes, stopped their footsteps, facing a new round of combat instructions, Dax said: "Let them rest for a while. "(To the effect). Therefore, human nature is noble, although people often forget this.
Finally, I want to say that this plot of watching a German girl singing is actually nested in the entire "Road to Glory", and even a highly condensed version of the theme of the entire film. Soldiers’ attitude towards girls, hostility (because they are German) — sarcasm (because they feel weak) — sympathy (weeping). The three-stage convergence of this attitude is not just in a war Did the combatants' emotions change? From fighting and destroying the opponent, to the complacency and impatient preparation for the next show of force after winning the battle, to the huge hollow and trauma left by guns and cannons, blood and tears, it has been a long time that I can’t calm down, but it starts again. Remembering everything, the dead of both the enemy and ours began to doubt the meaning of war...
In my eyes, this is a good start for me to watch the Kubrick series (ashamed). In fact, after this film, Kubrick has entered the ranks of world-class directors in one fell swoop, even he himself Once said in an interview: "There's a picture that will always be good, years from now. I don't have to wait 50 years to know that; I know it now."
Why is the film titled "Road to Glory"? What do the screenwriters and Kubrick want to convey? What is glory? Are you a war hero? Or ordinary people who still go to war after seeing the essence of war? Or a general who is eager to get more medals?
I think it’s most appropriate to use the lyrics of "I" to answer: "I will always love me like this. Happiness is that there is more than one way to be happy. The most honored is that everyone is the glory of the Creator."
View more about Paths of Glory reviews
