“Glory” & “Paths of Glory”
Film History
Justice Dominique
October 7, 2014

In "Paths of Glory" war is observed in positions of command. This film about an accurate affair in World War I mingles the idea that status differentiations are more significant than nationwide differences with the way soldiers were viewed or treated as dispensable in combat of war, the philosophy that soldiers are simply ragdolls in the paws of generals who put on a production of what war is if it were just a mere game, and meant absolutely nothing. In the whole film, it seems that the only upper class officer who even cared about his men was Col. Dax, who even spoke for the three men that were about to be put to death, for no reason at all. In “Glory” Captain Robert Shaw, 23, was an officer in the Federal Army throughout the American Civil War who came forward to lead the first establishment of colored soldiers. Shaw was compelled to go through with the prejudices of both the rival (who had commands to execute commanding captains of the new colored recruits) and of other officers who were even on the same side as himself (when the blacks were not allowed to fight or even own a pair of shoes), until Shaw, once again, stepped up. To prove his recruits had what it took to fight, Shaw sacrificed the 54th regiment to lead the charge on the impenetrable Battery Wagner, located on Morris Island.
The characteristics of war are seen in moth of these films. In “Paths of Glory,” the common enemy that is clearly known in the film isn’t the Germans who were the actual physical enemy, but the real enemy in the film is actually the upper class officers of the French. In this film Gen. Paul Mireau orders his men on a practical suicide mission, and since the fire against them is too heavy and can’t leave the trenches, the General orders his own men to fire at them to try and get them out. This exact topic also shows that the upper officers are not only conniving, but heartless especially when the three innocent men are executed.
Another characteristic being is that the good guys endure severe loss before they succeed. In the film “Glory” all of the colored soldiers went through so much before they could even fight in the war. One example I am currently thinking of is when none of the black soldiers had gotten the correct shoes that would help them with not only marching, but just help them with the physical labor they were being forced to do, and fighting even when they were not going to be allowed to go into battle. In the film Trip played by Denzel Washington, wondered away from all the other recruits only to get flogged for trying to search for a pair of quality shoes for himself.
Glory is high notoriety or morality won by noteworthy accomplishments. In the film “Paths of Glory” I believe the glory in this film comes from Col. Dax. Dax was a very respectful, loyal, and wise man of the upper officers. Even though he is an upper officer, he cares enough for his man to speak against officers above him to get his point across.
In the film “Glory” The glory is all in the soldiers as well as Shaw, and what they stand for. No matter how much the odds were against them, they persevered to do whatever they could to fight for their country. The enemy was forced to practically kill any colored soldier and their upper officers if they were confronted by them, but regiment 54 didn’t give up. They kept their heads held high no matter what the hardship was and sacrificed themselves to lead probably one of the most dangerous charges of all time.
Now in “Paths of Glory” I was truly sickened by the upper officers. Not only did the three men not get a fair trial, but they were executed for no good reason at all, and it was all the upper officers’ fault. They all knew those men would never be able to get to the “Ant Hill”, but they still sacrificed all of those men’s lives on a simple hunch. Another part of this film that truly bothered me was when the upper officer who black mailed Cpl. Philippe Paris had suddenly decided to apologize to him right before he had the man put to death. That whole part of the movie just made me sick. I mean, I’m pretty sure I’ve never wanted to punch a character in a movie any more than in just that moment.
I must say “Glory” was probably my favorite movie we have watched in class so far, and that isn’t just because some of the greatest actors of all time (Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman) were stars in this dramatic war film. This film really made me think of my ancestors and what some of them on my father’s side must have went through during this day and age. It’s still such a depressing thing that things such as all this hatred had really happened and to this day, in some places still is. I just think this movie was very well put together, and had great camera shots. This film will probably be in my top 10 for a very long time.