Paths of Glory

“Military justice is to justice what military music is to music.” Before Spartacus, Kirk Douglas and Stanley Kubrick collaborated on this story of military justice set in World War I. The movie follows the court martial of three soldiers, picked at random to stand trial for cowardice. It becomes clear that the orders they didn’t follow were unreasonable but the trial has too much momentum. To pardon the men would require too many admissions of ineptitude from too many officers. Kubrick devastates with relentless storytelling about the corruption of power. The movie is under 90 minutes, a good choice for a busy evening.