|
''Paths of Glory'' is a 1957 American anti-war film〔http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/191157|0/The-Big-Idea-Paths-of-Glory.html〕 by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb.〔(Paths of Glory, Film Reviews, Variety, Accessed November 2007 ).〕 Set during World War I, the film stars Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax, the commanding officer of French soldiers who refuse to continue a suicidal attack. Dax attempts to defend them against a charge of cowardice in a court-martial. ==Background== Cobb's novel had no title when it was finished, so the publisher held a contest.〔 The winning entry came from the ninth stanza of the famous Thomas Gray poem of 1751 "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard".
The book was a minor success when published in 1935, retelling the true-life affair of four French soldiers who were executed to set an example to the rest of the troops. The novel was adapted to the stage the same year by World War I veteran Sidney Howard.〔 The play was a flop on Broadway because of its harsh anti-war scenes that alienated the audience. Nonetheless, Howard continued to believe in the relevance of the subject matter and thought, it should be made into a film, he wrote, "It seems to me that our motion picture industry must feel something of a sacred obligation to make the picture."〔Phil McArdle. ("Sidney Howard: From Berkeley to Broadway and Hollywood" ), ''The Berkeley Daily Planet'', December 18, 2007〕 Fulfilling Howard's "sacred obligation", Stanley Kubrick decided to adapt it to the screen after he remembered reading the book when he was younger. Kubrick and his partners purchased the film rights from Cobb's widow for $10,000. ''Paths of Glory'' is based loosely on the true story of four French soldiers, executed 1915 during World War I under General Géraud Réveilhac for failure to follow orders and rehabilitated in 1934. The novel is about the French execution of innocent men to strengthen others' resolve to fight. The French Army did carry out military executions for cowardice, as did most of the other major participants, excluding the United States of America and Australia.〔http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/desertion/〕 The United States sentenced 24 soldiers to death for cowardice, but the sentences were never carried out. However, a significant point in the film is the practice of selecting individuals at random and executing them as a punishment for the sins of the whole group. This is similar to the Roman practice of decimation, which was rarely used by the French Army in World War I. A little known exception is the French decimation (the shooting of every tenth person in a unit) of the 10e Compagnie of 8 Battalion of the Régiment Mixte de Tirailleurs Algériens. During the retreat, at the beginning of the war, these French-African soldiers refused an order to attack. They were shot on December 15, 1914, near Zillebeke in Flanders.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Paths of Glory」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|