Stanley Kubrick

 Stanley Kubrick




The Killing (1956)

Paths of Glory (1957)




RANKED:


2. The Killing (1956)


Stanley Kubrick's very first non-independent film, 1956's "The Killing" is also his most pulpiest film of his career. In a sort of proto-"Ocean's 11" plotline, the film centers on a group of men who come together to plan and execute a heist at a horserace track. Every member of the team has an independent and unique part in the scheme and it takes every individual doing their part to pull it off. However, because it is a Kubrick-penned film, it does not go off without a hitch and the final scene will have you feeling as empty as the characters. Although "The Killing" did not do well as the box office, the critical praise and the admiration by MGM provided Kubrick to make another self-penned production the following year and set him headlong to his destiny of the auteur films we know him for now.



1. Paths of Glory (1957)


While his 1956 film "The Killing" demonstrated his ability to make a viable commercial picture, the 1957 war film "Paths of Glory" proved that legendary director Stanley Kubrick could be an auteur in his own right. Based on the 1935 novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb, "Paths of Glory" centers on the French military during the First World War, as they designated three men at random to be executed for an entire battalion's inability to march forward during a suicide mission. The absurdity of war, the anti-logic, and the anti-humanism of those in power are all on full display, rending the climactic results of the film's plot infuriating. This baffling absurdity is brought to life with Kubrick's framing of his images, from the grainy, gritty realism of the trenches and battlefield (made to look like an old war newsreel) to the wide-framing opulence of the commanding officers' palaces. "Paths of Glory," due to its criticisms of war and its misrepresentation of the French army with English-speaking actors, was steeped in controversy. However, the film has only fulfilled its intention over the years, making it one of the greatest war films ever put to screen.

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