‘Paths of Glory‘ has something special. More than 50 years later, it is watchable and completely original. Was it the best film of 1957? The Academy didn’t think so, giving it zero Oscar nominations. It’s no ‘Twelve Angry Men’, but it’s definitely among the best.
What makes this film so special? Like anything else, it is different. There is a crucial point towards the end of the film where it has to take a stance one way or another. If the three men had not been executed, if the General would have stopped them from dying, it could have been a pro-military film. But he didn’t, the men were executed, and this becomes so clearly an anti-military film.
The New Calamity 