PATHS OF GLORY (2) vs. PASSCHENDAELE (15)

VS.

PLOT:    “Paths of Glory” is a court room (court-martial) drama set on the Western Front in 1916.  Although a fictional tale, it realistically portrays the state of the French army at the time and the incompetent and merciless leadership of the high command.  A French unit is forced to make a suicidal attack by a general seeking a promotion.  When the attack predictably fails, he insists on putting three random soldiers on trial for cowardice.  Their humane commanding officer defends them in the trial.  The plot is outstanding.  Although mainly concentrating on the trial, it does manage to set the scenario up with one of the great combat scenes as the unit makes its futile assault across a very realistic no man’s land.  Never have the machinations of WWI commanders been portrayed as perceptively.  GRADE  -  A+

“Passchendaele” is a romance set in WWI.  A Canadian soldier performs heroically on the Western Front, but his post traumatic stress disorder lands him back in Canada on recruitment duty.  He falls in love with a nurse.  In a parallel plot line, her brother is attempting to get himself sent to the front partly to win the hand of a local girl.  When he succeeds, the hero goes back to watch over him.  The nurse also ends up near the front lines.  “Passchendaele” is obviously not a true story as it bends itself into a pretzel to facilitate the plot arc.  It is very unrealistic, but does feature a balls to the wall combat scene at the end.   GRADE  -  C+

FIRST QUARTER SCORE:  Paths  -  10    Passchendaele  -  7

ACTING:  “Paths of Glory” has no weak performances.   Douglas is his usual charismatic self, even more so because he was passionate about the project.  His Dax is one of the great anti-authority figures in war movie history and ahead of his time in the genre.  He runs the gamut of that stereotype.  Sarcasm, slow-burns, seething, and finally snapping.  The supporting cast is not intimidated.  MacReady and Menjou are all-time slimy.  Two great villains in one movie.  Morris (who was a highly decorated ace in WWII) creates one of the great cowards in war movie history.  Ralph Meeker does his best work in an underrated career.  The most fascinating character is Ferol.  The eccentric Carey plays him to the hilt and his scene stealing aggravated the rest of the cast.   GRADE  -  A+

“Passchendaele” was written, directed, and starred in by Paul Gross.  Gross made a name for himself in the cult show “Due North” and brings some charisma to the role.  He’s no Kirk Douglas, but he is not bad.  The rest of the cast is far from stellar.  Credit is due for keeping a straight face through some of the ludicrous aspects of the plot.  Although the movie was the most expensive Canadian production up to that time, it does not show in the acting.

GRADE  -  C+

HALFTIME SCORE:  Paths  -  20    Passchendaele  -  14

COMBAT:  “Paths of Glory” is not a combat movie.  It only has about seven minutes of combat.  However, it uses two combat scenes to set up the court-martial.  The first is a night raid that is short on action, but is crucial for character development.  The highlight of the movie is the iconic assault through no man’s land.  Stanley Kubrick is at his best in this fabulous scene.  The bombardment effects are noisily realistic.  The camera tracks Dax as he leads his men through the shell-cratered landscape.  It is probably the most authentic rendering of the doomed assaults associated with the war.  I show it every year in class to prepare my students for their trench letter assignment.  Watching the scene leaves no doubt as to why the French army would face a mutiny problem.  GRADE  -  A

“Passchendaele” seems to have realized that it needed to compensate for its lame romance with some high octane action.  It has a total of 21 minutes of combat which puts it among the leaders in that category of quantity.   Surprisingly, the quality is not bad.  The final battle goes on for fifteen minutes and is graphic if cartoonish.  It is in the style of “Saving Private Ryan”.  There is even a bout of hand-to-hand with any weapons available.  You won’t be eating your popcorn during this scene.  It is far from realistic, but entertaining for the guys who brought their chicks to see a romance.  Hell, the Germans charge into no man’s land to meet the Canadians!  The movie is really strong on artillery fire, but so are most WWI movies.  GRADE  -  B

THIRD QUARTER SCORE:  Paths  -  29    Passchendaele  -  22

ANTI-WAR:  Have you seen “Paths of Glory”?  If so, you know where this is going.  Some WWI movies are famous for the Nazis banning them.  “Paths” was not banned in France, but the French government discouraged its debut there for two decades. It is easy to see why.  The movie is an indictment of the French brass that crassly sent thousands to their deaths while sipping claret in their chateaus.  The movie is more anti-command than anti-war.  No major character dies in combat.  It is the best movie ever made to show how the war was made horrific not only by the use of modern weaponry, but this was compounded by incompetent, uncaring generals who refused to adjust tactics to the realities of trench warfare.  GRADE  -  A+

“Passchedaele” is not the first WWI movie that comes to mind when you think of war criticism.  However, it actually is not just a feel-blood kind of movie.  The main character is cynical and only fights for love of Sarah.  The movie makes a point of showing the naivete of the new recruits and the recruiting head is a main villain.  The pressure to join the adventure is a theme.  The ending is heart-tugging.  GRADE  -  A

FINAL SCORE:  Paths  -  39    

                Passchendaele  -  31

MATCH ANALYSIS:  Everyone saw this outcome from a mile away.  “Paths” will be a strong contender for the championship and is one of the all-time great war movies.  “Passchendaele” is a relatively unknown movie that had no pretensions to grandeur.  I’m sure it was just happy to make the tournament.  It put up a decent fight, but never stood a chance.

DUELING MOVIES: Passchendaele vs. The Trench

        “Passchendaele” is a Canadian movie written, directed, and starred in by Paul Gross. It was the most expensive Canadian movie when released in 2008. The movie begins with an impressive set piece that has Sgt. Michael Dunn’s (Gross) unit in house to house fighting. With “Saving Private Ryan” type cinematography, the action is intense. It culminates with Dunn stabbing a German in the face and then being wounded by an artillery shell. He ends up in the hospital as the sole survivor. This incident was based on a story told to him by Gross’ grandfather. The story inspired the movie.


       Mike is sent back to Canada to recuperate from shell shock and to recruit. He meets a nurse named Sarah (Caroline Dhavernas). She is a morphine addict who has been ostracized from the local community because her father joined the German army and died at Vilmy Ridge. Her brother David (Joe Dinicol) wants to enlist to clear the family honor, but is prevented by his asthma. The head of recruiting is a loathsome super-patriot named Dobson. He hates Mike (a coward) and David (a Hun). He enlists David, but Sarah mistakenly blames Mike. He returns to combat to protect him. Three months later, the foursome is on the Western Front. It’s a small world!

       The Battle of Passchendaele arrives with Mike and David in the front lines. Specifically, a shell crater full of muddy water. Their unit is ordered forward, but in a misunderstanding the unit they are reinforcing assumes they are being relieved and withdraws leaving the much smaller unit in the front. It’s back to SPResque action. A soldier loses an arm, there is a stretch without sound. The blood and guts and mud and rain are realistic, but the artillery fire is much too accurate. Those Germans could hit a fly! The violence is very graphic, especially the hand-to-hand with whatever weapon is handy.

The scene takes a bizarre turn when David goes running to the German trench and leaps in. Is he a traitor or does he want to negotiate an end to the war? Before we can find out, an explosion lifts him out of the trench and onto a crucifix-shaped wooden form. Mike goes after him with every German on the Western Front shooting at him. One of them hits, but the German commander orders the army to cease-fire. The entire battle stops as Mike carries the cross back to his lines. He is doing his best Jesus imitation. Cue the rain ceasing, sun coming out, hawk soaring overhead.

      “Passchendaele” is an entertaining, but implausible movie. You really have to suspend disbelief to enjoy it. The acting is pretty good and you have to admire their ability to keep a straight face. The combat is some of the best filmed and is a worthy Canadian attempt to replicate the feel of “Saving Private Ryan”. What sets the movie apart is the overt religiousity of the crucifix scene. Did I say overt? I meant heavy-handed and ridiculous.

      “The Trench” is a British movie released in 1999 and written and directed by Paul Boyd. It stars a pre-superstardom Daniel Craig. The movie is set in the Somme valley in 1916 in the days leading up to the battle. The action is confined to a trench and the movie has the feel of a play to it. It is fairly realistic in its look, but too sanitary and lacking in mud. It also has a lot of talking like a play. The soldiers sit around and chat in their thick British accents.

       A British soldier looks through a loophole and describes the bucolic no man’s land. The trench faces a green hill. You wouldn’t think there would be snipers in all that green. Oops! The Colonel arrives to boost morale and get filmed doing it. He assures them “you’ll be able to go over the top with a walking stick”. Sure! Then we get more conversating. Unfortunately, most of it is boring. The soldiers are mostly stereotypes. Sgt. Winter (Craig) is gruff, of course. The captain is alcoholic and disillusioned, of course. Cliches are on display. For instance, Winter shows off a picture of his wife and kids. Several women in the audience faint from foreboding.

       As the battle approaches, tensions rise. They will be in the first wave. The captain gives each company a soccer ball – first to kick it into the German line wins beer. One soldier shoots himself in the calf. I guess he doesn’t like beer. The bombardment begins which is bad enough, but the rum ration gets destroyed. The lieutenant provides his private stash of whiskey to give the men “Dutch courage”. Now it’s all about the waiting. The audience also waits to see if there will ever be any action in this movie.

         “The Trench” would be better as a play. That way you would not expect any action. However, you would expect better dialogue and acting. The soldier talk is trite and boring and gives little insight into soldier life. The acting is average and even Daniel Craig is not at his best. He does dominate over the rest of the cast, however. The scenario is not realistic. The trench is too wide and pristine. They are supposedly in a very dangerous position, but other than a sniper shot, nothing really happens.

        “Passchendaele” is a better movie than “The Trench”. They approach the war from different perspectives. “The Trench” wants to be about the soldiers. “Passchendaele” is aiming more at the stress of combat. It also is more melodramatic and romantic. Subtle, it isn’t. “The Trench” is too subtle. More importantly, “Passchendaele” does a better job giving the viewer an idea of what that battle was like than “The Trench” teaches about the Battle of the Somme.

WINNER:  Passchendaele

Passchendaele - no man's land



The Trench - sniper scene