Sightlines · reception
How Paths of Glory was received
1957 · Stanley Kubrick · Paths of Glory on Sightlines
The arc
In 1957 it was a commercial disappointment that so angered the French establishment it went unreleased in France until 1975 — now it's routinely called one of the greatest anti-war films ever made and sits near the top of Kubrick rankings.
What’s debated
Film fans love to argue whether this — not 2001 or Barry Lyndon — is actually Kubrick's best, precisely because its open emotion cuts against his 'cold and clinical' reputation.
Its footprint
The relentless tracking shots through the trenches are among the most imitated camera moves in cinema, and the final scene with the singing German girl is a fixture of 'endings that destroy you' lists.
Where it stands
A stone-cold 'you must have seen this' — a Criterion staple and one of the highest-rated films on Letterboxd, often the answer to 'what's the best film under 90 minutes?'
Did you know? The German girl who sings in the final scene is Christiane Harlan — Kubrick married her shortly after, and they remained together until his death in 1999.