讨论 Paths of Glory
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The Anthill is Bakhmut in 2023
rooprectSTAFFMOD 发布于 2023 年 03 月 10 日 1:26下午
Can't get this movie out of my head with what's going on in Ukraine, specifically Bakhmut as we speak.
Premise of Paths of Glory:
An egomaniac French general orders a suicidal assault on a fortified enemy position that's strategically worthless ("the anthill" or in the original novel "the pimple"), calculating that more than half his troops will get wiped out, but a victory will make him look good and get him a promotion.
The situation in Bakhmut:
The russian warlord Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenaries, has been ordering wave upon wave of russians to attack Bakhmut even though they're being cut down at a rate of 4 to 1 (estimated 40k russian deaths, 10k Ukrainian deaths), all for the now-worthless flattened burnt out city of Bakhmut, just so he can claim territorial victory and look good and get a promotion etc etc etc
Of course this is the story of almost every war since the beginning. But it's crazy to see Kubrick's somewhat satirical presentation being played out in real life, exactly the same. Even the part about shooting your own troops for refusing the ridiculous order. Bakhmut serves NO strategic importance, and the city itself is so demolished they might as well be fighting over a pile of rocks just like in Kubrick's film. And yet it goes on & on.
Makes you wonder why filmmakers bother doing films like this, as powerful as they are, nothing ever changes.
rooprect 的回复
于 2023 年 06 月 23 日 10:07下午
Updating this thread with real time events. Today the aforementioned Russian commander Prigozhin revealed the exact plot of Paths of Glory. He accused the Russian Minister Shoigu of starting the entire war "just to earn a star" (i.e. exactly like the character General Mireau in the film, literally just to earn a star). There's no reason to disbelieve Prigozhin because after all they're on the same side.
Also, exactly like the movie, Minister Shoigu ordered an airstrike on his own men (Prigozhin's forces), only in this case the airstrike was actually carried out, killing "tens of thousands" (according to Prigozhin who is now advocating a coup). Up until this point the Russian invasion has followed the plot of Paths of Glory to a T, but it looks like they've gone way off script 🤔 Truth is stranger than fiction...