Paths of glory
Kirk Douglas plays Col. Dax, an idealist criminal lawyer caught in the power games and corruption of high command and the bloody trench warfare of world war 1. The film goes from the poorly thought through and possibly political decision to attack a German position named the anthill. As this fails Gen. Paul Mireau orders artillery fire on his own men. In order to save face he orders the arrest and trial of three men for cowardice which ultimately ends in the men's execution. Based on a classic novel, Paths of Glory is a brutal dissection of the men who lead war. From the pompous general marching the trenches and engaging in casual small talk with a man clearly suffering from shell shock ( a condition many men were executed for in real life) to the politicking and one-upmanship that ultimately leads to the execution of three innocent men, it's clear that the war is being waged by men more concerned by their own positions and careers than by the welfare of their own troops.
Douglas as Dax plays the one sane, moral voice and is ultimately beaten by men more ruthless and politically savvy than he is. The general bleak view of the upper echelons led to the film being banned in France for 20 years.
Apparently the book that the film is based on is even more bleak and pessimistic, Dax is more a peripheral character elevated to more prominence to give the audience somebody to root for, several plot threads are also resolved in order to give the audience some sense of justice being served. These changes were made by Kubrick himself who at this point needed a hit and saw the film as more commercially appealing with these changes.
Its a testament to Kubrick's skill that the film can still be regarded as a masterpiece, the film is technically beyond its 1959 date, with impressive tracking shots of the trenches, excellent production design and lots of impressive editing and well composed shots. The film itself is still affecting today and still packs a potent punch that can stir up righteous anger in its audience. The Criterion blu-ray looks stunning and is a genuine revalation.
Lolita
James Mason plays stuffy academic Humbert Humbert who heads to America for work. He takes lodgings with Charlotte Haze played by Shelly winters, Haze is a widower who seems interested in Humbert as a prospective husband and is played to perfection by winters with an almost pathetic sense of desperation and pretensions to sophistication and culture that actually manages to make her sympathetic and ultimately tragic. Humbert is not planning to take the room until he sees his landlady's 14 year old daughter Lolita and before you can say 'nonce' he's smitten. Humbert ingratiates himself into the house and ultimately marries Charlotte in order to gain access to Lolita. Things seem to be going smoothly, and when his new bride discovers his dirty little secret and runs out the house, to be hit by a car and killed, it seems that Humbert has Lolita all to himself. Unfortunately for Humbert Lolita is still a teenager and wants to do teenage things like school and boys so he takes her on the run, the bigger threat however is Clare Quilty who also has designs on Lolita and is intent on stealing her away.
Given its subject matter its easy to imagine the film being uncomfortable viewing, and to a certain extent it is. Humbert, played perfectly by James Mason is a destructive man child who destroys lives through his passion and comes across at points more juvenile than Lolita. Sellers as Clare Quilty is both hilarious as one would expect and also deeply sinister. Real credit goes to Sue Lyon as Lolita who really delivers in the role and plays a convincing mix of allure and teenage innocence. Kubrick delivers a film that is both hysterically funny and deeply tragic and still ranks as the best adaptation of Nabakovs book.
Dr. Strangelove
Kubrick resumes his collaboration with Peter Sellers here playing multiple roles in an absurdist apocalyptic comedy about the madness of nuclear conflict. Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper goes a little 'funny in the head' and sends his flight squadrons into Russia to 'catch the Russkies with their pants down'. As the planes make their way into Russian airspace, high command is sent into a panic, especially when they discover that the Russians have constructed a doomsday device that when activated will destroy all life on earth.
Peter Sellers plays three roles in the film, Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake who must try and talk Ripper down, President Merkin Muffley who seems to play the one sane person in the film with quiet grace and delivers some of the funniest lines in the film, especially in his phone conversations with the Russian premiere. Finally he also plays Dr. Strangelove German Rocket scientist and ex-nazi whose spasms provide some genuinely great comic moments, including the infamous attempt to restrain a Nazi salute "yah meine Fuhr...Mr President". Strangelove is still one of my favourite comedies, its endlessly quotable and as relevant today as it was when it was made.
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