One of the best war films of all time is available to stream on Amazon Prime. It comes from master director Stanley Kubrick. And no, it’s not Full Metal Jacket
Films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Clockwork Orange have made Stanley Kubrick immortal as a filmmaker. However, his breakthrough came with Paths of Glory, in which he turned to anti-war films even before Full Metal Jacket. To this day, the film is considered one of the best representatives of its genre, although it was initially not allowed to be shown everywhere.
Paths to Glory by Stanley Kubrick is now available in the streaming flat rate on Amazon Prime Video.
Excellent war film on Amazon Prime: professional ambition at the cost of soldiers’ lives in Paths of Glory
During the First World War, soldiers on the Franco-German front fight for a long time without clearly gaining ground. Blinded by the prospect of promotion, French General Mireau (George Macready) orders the storming of a German fortress. But the soldiers refuse, the regiment’s condition is too poor.
Here you can watch the trailer for Wege zum Ruhm:
In order to persuade the regiment to attack after all, the general looks for scapegoats among the soldiers and wants to have them executed for “cowardice before the enemy”. The regiment commander Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) goes to court martial to bring the real culprits to justice: the generals.
You can now stream Paths of Glory on Amazon Prime
Masterpiece war film by Stanley Kubrick: Protests against Paths of Glory in France
With Paths of Glory, Kubrick made a film with a strong anti-military stance and a clear statement against the death penalty. Today, it is considered a masterpiece and one of the best films on this subject. The film has also been positively reviewed on Moviepilot. However, the work was not so well received everywhere.
In France in particular, the film was seen as an attack on the honor of the French army. The film was not shown there until 1975, i.e. for 18 years. Although there was no official ban, the distributors did not even attempt to submit the film to the censorship authorities. In other countries, the film was banned outright
War film scandal: Paths to Glory was kicked out of the Berlinale and banned for 29 years
Like many other war films, Wege zum Ruhm was also the subject of controversy. In the French sector of Berlin after the Second World War, the city commander in charge imposed a screening ban on Wege des Ruhms in June 1958. After several appeals, including from the Berlin Senate, the film was even withdrawn from the Berlinale festival program.
Read more: Further details on the bans on Paths of Glory
In other countries such as Switzerland and Israel, the film was banned for screening. The film was banned for the longest time in Spain, where it was shown for the first time in 1986 after 29 years.
In the meantime, all bans have been lifted by governments. The film was also subject to editing restrictions in some countries. But regardless of this, Paths of Glory is one of the best anti-war films ever
