Starring Kirk Douglas in one of his most resounding roles, Stanley Kubrick’s second feature Paths of Glory is a scathing account of military injustice, adapted from Humphrey Cobb’s novel on the true Souain corporals affair of the First World War. In the trenches of Northern France, Colonel Dax (Douglas) and his men refuse suicidal orders to attack the heavily defended German “Anthill”, even as they are bombarded by their own artillery. Later, Dax makes a stand for his men as they are accused of cowardice and threatened with the firing squad.

Lauded by many as one of the greatest anti-war films of all time, Paths of Glory takes aim at the inhuman bureaucratic structures of war; pulling the conduct of the French Army in World War One into sharp scrutiny. Banned in France, Spain, Switzerland and U.S. military establishments for many years – even pulled from the Berlin Film Festival – this film hit a nerve at the time and continues to lay bare the hollow core and pointless waste of war with a cast of moving performances bolstered by Kubrick’s burgeoning craft, keen attention to detail and wry sense of humour.

This film screens as part of our Required Viewing series: a course of must-see masterpieces from some of the greatest filmmakers of all time.