RIP Kirk Douglas. The news lately is saying he was the star of Spartacus, but I'll always remember him as Col Dax from Paths of Glory. IMO, it's one of the best movies of all time.
Like those soldiers, I didn't understand a single word she said but it left me speechless. One of the most beautiful scenes ever. Kubrick made many great movies but Paths Of Glory remains my favourite.
The One Man Army All except Killer's Kiss and Spartacus. I like Paths Of Glory, Lolita, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon, The Shining, and Eyes Wide Shut the most.
Salman Zaki I think the soldiers did know the words to the song. It was a song they were familiar with, that's why they were so emotional while she sang. It reminded them of home. I also think it made them feel like they could relate with the woman.
"Give the men a few minutes more" That is, sadly, the only thing Colonel Dax could manage to give these men, with all his compassion and striving. A few minutes more, until they were sent back to the front line of war.
I was 15 when I watched this movie. literally had me in tears. Now years later after learning some German language, this song makes more sense than ever, occasionally hum it from time to time.
Those soldiers didn't know a word in german, but they all understand this songs. Both sides were tired of this bloody war, and soldiers sang them sad songs too. This is the meaning of this scene. Doesn't matter the language, or the side, the pain was the same.
Some trivia about that song from a German: It's actually a soldiers-/folk song, this melodic version at least even stands in the march metrum, therefore the singing blends in the marching band version without any effort at the end credits. The song the girl ( played by Kubrick's later wife, Christiane, they both had met for the first time on the set of this movie )is singing, is the Austrian/German folk- or soldier- song "Der treu' Husar" ( "The Faithful Husar"), that had first appeared around 1820 and was printed in several German folk song editions throughout the 19th. century with half a dozen different text and melodic versions, but all tell the same story at the core. The version to be heard here is certainly the most popular and famous one, but interestingly Kubrick allowed himself a slight anachronism here, since that version in march rhythm was only composed and released a few years AFTER the end of WW1 by the Colognian composer, Heinrich Frantzen ( 1880 - 1953 ). And ironically it became hugely popular as a Carneval song in Cologne INSPITE its actually bittersweet and sad lyrics. Today it's a sort of "National Hymn" of the city of Cologne and its melody is played each hour by the Glockenspiel at the house of 4711 in Cologne. By the time Kubrick had made the movie it had become quite popular also in the USA, since no other than Louis Armstrong had released a cover version just recently. There is also an English cover version by Vera Lynn. Here are the three verses of the song Christiane is singing : ( I admit my translation has no poetic quality at all, since it's just literal and regards no rhyme or metric pattern.) ========================== 1. Es war einmal ein treuer Husar, Der liebt’ sein Mädchen ein ganzes Jahr, |: Ein ganzes Jahr und noch viel mehr, Die Liebe nahm kein Ende mehr. :| ( Once there was a faithful husar, who loved his girl one whole year. One whole year and much much more, the love never came to an end.) ( she is leaving out this verse : 2. Der Knab’, der fuhr ins fremde Land, Derweil ward ihm sein Mädchen krank, |: Sie ward so krank bis auf den Tod, Drei Tag, drei Nacht sprach sie kein Wort. :| ( The lad, he went to a foreign land, while by that time his girl became ill. She became so ill, ill onto death, so that she spoke not a single word for three days and three nights.) ) (And she directly jumps to verse 3:) 3. Und als man ihm die Botschaft bracht, daß sein Herzliebchen im Sterben lag, |: da ließ er all sein Hab und Gut, und eilte seinem Herzliebchen zu :| ( And when he got the message, that the dearest to his heart would lay down onto death. he left all his belongings at the spot and hurried to his dearest of heart.) 4. Ach bitte, Mutter, bring' ein Licht, Mein Liebchen stirbt, ich seh’ es nicht, |: Das war fürwahr ein treuer Husar, Der liebt’ sein Mädchen ein ganzes Jahr. :| ( Ach, Mother, please, bring a light, my dearest is dying, and I can't see her ! That was truly a faithful husar, who loved his girl one whole year. ) ========================== There are some more verses, that are not sung in this scene telling, how the girl eventually dies and the mourning husar is looking for six strong young peasant men as pallbearers for her funeral. But Christiane simply sings only three of the first verses and at 2:29 she just starts to repeat the same verses from the beginning. While the first verse had ended: "The love came never to an end., the very last refrain ( as said not sung in this scene ) profoundly ends: "The grief came never to an end " Really a sad song indeed ! And the blending of the sung version into the military march version played by a big brass band, when the end credits are rolling, is perhaps a last perfect hint without words by Kubrick, that this short moment of relief for these men was only a short, peaceful reconnection with their human heart, before they were thrown again without mercy into the trenches, where they would soonly have to mutate into fiercly fighting beasts again in order to survive. Btw. this kind of big-brass-marching-band arrangement during the end credits is just of the same kind as those, one can hear in Cologne during the sessions of the big carneval societies there, when the big carneval gardes are marching into the festivity halls. There is even a famous garde in Cologne named after this song, "Der treu' Husar" !
The subtext of this final scene is very rich, and goes beyond soldiers just being broken down by the thought of going back into battle: The young girl in the pub being made to sing is a captured German peasant who doesn't speak French. Frightened and unsure of herself, she begins to sing a folk song from her German homeland called "The Faithful Soldier", about a soldier who leaves his duty to return home and bury his true love, who has died of illness while he was away fighting, and unable to care for her. As she sings the men fall silent, dumbstruck. Slowly they start to hum along with her. Because "The Faithful Soldier" is also a French folk song, and they have heard it their whole lives. This brings to the fore the fact that the "enemies" in this war are two neighbors, brother nations with far more things in common than are different. This wasn't a war for newly found resources in a distant land or across an ocean, these were nations of shared history, ancestry and culture. In fact, "german" is a French word meaning "akin", or related. So "Germany" is essentially the French name for the "Land of our Cousins". In keeping with the earlier themes of top-down corruption, these common citizens, these faithful soldiers on both sides, are made to hate and kill each other, their own neighbors, because generals, politicians and bureaucrats have deemed it necessary. The heart of the first World War is practically a civil war, and it breaks these men's hearts. Because they were never really fighting an enemy, they were fighting themselves.
I wish that I knew how to print off this the comment from "science wins every time" so that I could carry it around in my wallet and each time that I felt angry with someone I could take it out and read it aloud to remind myself of what hate can lead us to..
According to socialism, every single war has always been just another civil war. And that there´s a single kind of war that isn´t a civil war, but which has never been fought: The one against the class-enemy
Some of the extras in this scene were actual French WWI veterans. In their high teens and early twenties during the war, they are in their late 50s and early 60s here.
It's odd to see so many elderly faces in what would essentially be a regiment comprised of young men - and by young I mean from 17 to 22. 27 would be considered advanced. Few of those extras, in reality, could have endured trench life. I wonder if Kubrick chose them to express emotion more readily than maybe young men. It could also have been a device where he expressly wished to confront the audience with the passing of real time outside of the cinematic bubble.
At this stage of the war, both sides were running low on young men after massive casualties, and increasingly had to conscript older men to fight. Yet one more reason why they were called 'the Lost Generation."
They were certainly not French. The movie was completely shot on a very tight budget in the Bavaria Studios, Munich-Geiselgasteig and some nearby surroundings in Germany. The trenches were built and the battle scenes filmed on a field near Munich-Pullach. The "New Castle Schleißheim" in Oberschleißheim is, where the execution scene was filmed in front of, and also the trial scenes were filmed inside that same castle. The specialist providing the (then still solely ) practical pyrotech effects was the famed German FX-man, Karl "Charlie Boom Boom" Baumgartner, who'd provide the pyrotech effects for some thirty years for many international movies, among them "The Longest Day" (USA 1962), "Dunkirk 1940" ( France 1964), "The Bridge at Remagen" (USA 1968), "Waterloo" ( Italy/USSR 1970), "A Bridge too Far" (GB 1977), "Steiner - The Iron Cross" ( Germany 1977) and "Das Boot" (Germany 1979/80/81) To save the production same money ironically all ( non-speaking ! ) extras playing French soldiers were actually recruited from the state police of Bavaria, because they got payed by the Bavarian federal state and were by law not allowed to earn some extra money, because, as said, they were state officials. There really lies some irony in the fact, that all the Extras playing French soldiers were actually Germans, doesn't it !? ;) This was a rather cheap method for the Bavarian goverment to promote the movie production facilities in Munich to foreign producers and attract them to produce their movies there. The policemen would be sent to the movie set during their official work hours and got paid by the state. Another advantage of hiring policemen as extras was, that they were naturally used to handle arms, so the production had not to spend considerable time in give unexperienced extras some training lessons in it. ( Five years later another classic American war movie would be produced here as well : "The Great Escape" with an all star cast. And in 1979/80 another classic, "Das Boot", this time as a complete German production.) But it is pretty likely, that most of these men had also actually fought as soldiers, the older ones in WW1 (or they were even forced to fight again in the "Volksturm" during the last months of WW2 ) and the younger men probably in WW2. So most of the nonspeaking Extras certainly knew the song and could fully understand the lyrics. So it was probably no big acting deal for them to tear up, when Christiane Kubrick had sung it in front of them so movingly and in such plain fashion. Btw. Kirk Douglas not only played the lead, but also served as producer of the movie.
What's truly heartbreaking about this scene is the one thought every soldier is probably thinking as this woman's singing and tears restores their humanity; what they wouldn't trade to relive their worst day before the war than spend another minute in the trenches. For even on that day, there were loved ones to embrace and a life to live.The simple things they took for granted, may now be beyond their grasp.
I dont think Im the only one that gets a chill from what is implied by the regimental number 701 on everyone's collars. The French mobilized over 80 divisions at Verdun. That means hundreds of regiments being moved around on a general's map like a farmer herding his cattle. You cease to be an individual. A single life means nothing. Battalions get wiped out by a single machinegun nest. This has always bothered me, because we'll never know the individuals by face or name, just regimental number...division or corps.
William Eaton “We began the war in a civilized manner, men fighting on horseback with swords but it evolved into something ghastly. Man does not understand the destructive capabilities of technology. A man’s life meant nothing by the end of the war.” -Unnamed British soldier, They Shall Not Grow Old
@@37Dionysos Exactly ! What Von Falkenstein, who came up with this mad idea, which he called "die Blut-Pumpe" ( "The Blood-Press" of Verdun) not considered (as the lunatic fool he was) was, that his soldiers would blooded to death or be crippled by the hundreds of thousands as well....
a voice so heart-breakingly genuine, it can only make one return from the artificial adjustment one needs to bear the horrors of war: for at least a second, they were human, themselves, once more. this is one of the most important scenes ever filmed.
Arguably one of Kubrick and Kirk Douglas’s greatest work. The ending seen was absolutely heart wrenching. Soldiers knowing that they may never see a tomorrow ever again. Just as those soldiers who at first were totally disrespectful to the German girl but when she began singing “The Faithful Soldier” they stopped seeing her as the enemy and began seeing her as another casualty of war. And as they began to show compassion for this German woman you could not help but to feel; why can’t we show compassion not just to our enemy, but also amongst the sundry of races. Excellent movie, absolutely one of my favorites.
A Kubrick masterpiece! This scene tears me up!! Learn German to hear and understand these beautiful moving lyrics! My favorite Kirk Douglas movie! Kubrick fell in love with this young German girl, married her, and were together ‘ til death do us part’!!!❤❤❤❤
Really amazing scene, after the execution scene and the part with Kirk Douglas I was so angry with how things turned out, everything about the war seemed so futile and stupid. So you go into this scene thinking we're going to see more of that, that these soldiers are going to take out their frustrations on the innocent german girl who doesn't deserve it, just like the senior officers did with those three soldiers. It's set up that way with all the cheering and the hosts sleazy introduction, but we're reminded that these men are not awful even if their commanders are, they're still human, and this scene demonstrates that beautifully.
This entire scene was humanity on display. It starts off ugly with men cat calling and harassing a clearly scared woman who can't even understand them and in tears she starts to sing. Once they see the fear in her face and voice they immediately go quiet from shame then begin to hum along many starting to cry from the humanity they've lost from the war and in doing so finding some peace so that the colonel feels obligated to give them that moment before going back to a mental and physical hell
Shravan Raghuram kinda heart breaking isn't it? How the whole film they spend dehumanizing and brutalizing the Germans but the one German we see is the essence of humanity. The French were their own worst enemies. These men just wanted to be home with their wives. A want so profound it bridges even language itself.
War is a human invantion. The more civilized he is the more advanced war machines he produces. Otherwise he is as vulgar as all early staged tribe raiders
A faithful soldier, without fear,He loved his girl for one whole year,For one whole year and longer yet,His love for her, he'd ne'er forget.2This youth to foreign land did roam,While his true love, fell ill at home.Sick unto death, she no one heard.Three days and nights she spoke no word.3And when the youth received the news,That his dear love, her life may lose,He left his place and all he had,To see his love, went this young lad...9He took her in his arms to hold,She was not warm, forever cold.Oh quick, oh quick, bring light to me,Else my love dies, no one will see...11Pallbearers we need two times three,Six farmhands they are so heavy.It must be six of soldiers brave,To carry my love to her grave.12A long black coat, I must now wear.A sorrow great, is what I bear.A sorrow great and so much more,My grief it will end nevermore.
Mike Hawk as reported I last edited 11 months ago. Prior and at the time I searched myself for a translation to make it easier. But in fact anyone can edit a Wikipedia article ;) including myself. There wasn't a transcript of this song on Wikipedia the only thing close was an actual German setting in 1938 of this song. I went to Harvard University b.t.w.
Some further fun facts about this movie: Kirk Douglas played not only the lead role, but served also as producer of the movie thru his own production company, Bryna-Productions. The movie was completely shot on a pretty tight budget ( close to 1 Million $ ), at the Bavaria Studios, Munich-Geiselgasteig , and some nearby surroundings in Bavaria/Germany. The trenches were built and the battle scenes filmed on a field near Munich-Pullach. The "New Castle Schleißheim" in Oberschleißheim is the location, where the execution scene was filmed in front of, and also the trial scenes were filmed inside that same castle. The specialist providing the (then still solely ) practical pyrotech effects was the famed German FX-man, Karl "Charlie Boom Boom" Baumgartner, who'd provide the pyrotech effects for some thirty years for many international movies, among them "The Longest Day" (USA 1962), "Dunkirk 1940" ( France 1964), "The Bridge at Remagen" (USA 1968), "Waterloo" ( Italy/USSR 1970), "A Bridge too Far" (GB 1977), "Steiner - The Iron Cross" ( Germany 1977) and "Das Boot" (Germany 1979/80/81) The accomplished director of photography of the movie, Georg Krause, was from Germany too. Shortly before this movie he had also photographed two parts of the classic trilogy of the "o8 / 15" - movies, which were among the first movies made in Germany about WW2. Krausw was known and appreciated for his particularly crisp and gritty black&white cinematopgraphy. In fact he never shot a single movie in color. To save the production some money ironically all the ( non-speaking ! ) extras playing French soldiers were actually German policemen recruited from the state police of Bavaria, because they got payed by the Bavarian federal state and were by law not allowed to earn some extra money, because, as said, they were state officials. There really lies some irony in the fact, that all the extras playing French soldiers were actually Germans, doesn't it !? ;) This was a rather cheap method for the Bavarian goverment to promote the movie production facilities in Munich to foreign producers and attract them to produce their movies there. The policemen would be sent to the movie set during their official work hours and got paid by the state. Another advantage of hiring policemen as extras was, that they were naturally used to handle arms, so the production had not to spend considerable time in give unexperienced extras some training lessons in it. ( Five years later another classic American war movie would be produced here as well : "The Great Escape" with an all star cast. And in 1979/80 another classic, "Das Boot", this time as a complete German production.) But it is pretty likely, that most of these men had also actually fought as soldiers, the older ones in WW1 ( and maybe they were even forced to fight again in the "Volksturm" during the last months of WW2 ) and the younger men probably in WW2. So most of the non-speaking extras certainly knew the song and could fully understand the lyrics. So it was probably no big acting deal for them to tear up, when Christiane Kubrick had sung it in front of them so movingly and in such plain fashion like a German mother from a hundred years ago would have sung it to her little child. There lies so much "innocence" in the unpretentious way she sings this simple tune, that you can't help but being deeply touched by it. Btw. Kirk Douglas had quite a relation to Bavaria and the movie studios in Munich there. He would make three movies there in the second half of the fifties and at the beginning sixties. This one and then immediatly after that "The Vykings" ( yes, that movie was actually shot for the most part on and near a lake in the Bavarian Alpes, which doubled quite convincingly for a Norwegian fjörd, and the battle scenes actually in the Normandy/France), The and in 1961"Town without Pity", a movie, that had felt into rather oblivion today ( probabably due to his even more controversial subject), and where Kirk played a very similar role, but this time an American military lawyer. And of course got Kirk Douglas good connections to Germany, when in 1954 he'd married his second wife, Anne, who was from Hannover. Kind regards from a classic movie buff from Germany !
as if we are not sad & distraught after watching the unfair execution, kubrick finishes off the audience emotionally with a final killing shot of a scene.
I first saw this movie shortly after it was made in the 1950's. Being a school kid I thought the movie boring. I wanted to see more action. As I grew older I learned to appreciate what a masterpiece this move is.
The song being sung is Der treue Husar, translated into English as the Faithful Hussar. It tells the tale of a young soldier who falls in love with a beautiful girl. While the first verses are the most well known and usually sung at carnivals or during a happy drinking mood, the latter verses are often forgotten or ignored. The song takes a tragic turn when it's revealed the young soldier is separated from his love and is only allowed to return as she lies dying from illness. The final verse translated reads, "A long black coat, I must now wear. A sorrow great, is what I bear. A sorrow great and so much more, My grief it will end nevermore."
....it is BECAUSE one does not understand her words... ...but every soldate soldier "does" know what she is singing... ...and this is one reason why it is perfect...
If you don't feel something after watching this scene, there is something seriously wrong with you. Still a great film after all these years. RIP Kirk Douglas.
Their shift from hate to this trance really stuck to me. The moment they heard that song I believe they realized that the other side were as human as they were.
A bunch of trench hardened soldiers but the voice of a young woman is enough bring a short glimpse of peace and tears to their eyes. Then the sounds of drums a small change in Kirk Douglas face and we are back to wartime. How is it possible to say so much with so little!! This is a masterpiece and Kubrick is a genius.
The soldiers were mostly old men . Both sides were running out of young soldiers at this stage of the war. Young womanhood offers the only hope of beauty and renewal. She stands in counterpoint to the song which is about a young man, grieving a dying woman.... Best war film ever!
It's been years since I've seen this movie and to this day all I have to hear is the transition of the men from cheering to humming along, knowing they're thinking about their fallen brethren... it still make me shed tears
Brilliant scene, well thought out. 'Der Treue Husar' is a German song from the 19th Century, derived from a folk song and known in different versions (it was even a carnival song). As such, and with Germany being a neighboring country, this song must've been very familiar to these French soldiers, even maybe as a lullaby. The so-called sentimentality of this scene is undercut with the irony that most will probably die in the battlefield. Listen to it without the image and you'll hear an excellent example of sound mixing and sound editing.
A faithful soldier, without fear, He loved his girl for one whole year, For one whole year and longer yet, His love for her, he'd ne'er forget. This youth to foreign land did roam, While his true love, fell ill at home. Sick unto death, she no one heard. Three days and nights she spoke no word. And when the youth received the news, That his dear love, her life may lose, He left his place and all he had, To see his love, went this young lad... Oh Mother, bring forth a light, My darling dies, I do not see, That was indeed a faithful hussar, He loves his girl a whole year. And when he came to the heart, Very softly, she gave him her hand, The whole hand and much more, Love never came to an end. "Greetings, greetings, my dearest! What are you doing alone in bed?" "Thanks, thanks, my faithful lad! With me it will soon be in the grave." "Greetings, greetings, my fine boy. Let me go to the cool grave." "Oh no, oh no, my dear child, Because we are so in love. " "Oh no, oh no, not so fast, Because we are two lovers; Oh no, oh no, my heart tells me, The love and faith must last longer." He took her in his arms to hold, She was not warm, forever cold. Oh quick, oh quick, bring light to me, Else my love dies, no one will see... And when the maid had died, Then he puts on the funeral. Where do I get six young boys, My dearly beloved? Pallbearers we need two times three, Six farmhands they are so heavy. It must be six of soldiers brave, To carry my love to her grave. A long black coat, I must now wear. A sorrow great, is what I bear. A sorrow great and so much more,
A beautiful scene and a reminder, if one were needed, or how creatively bankrupt Hollywood has become. Just add more CGI and superheroes, and don't forget the all-important Chinese audience.
This is a very powerful scene and I think does a great job of portraying the look of the WW1 poilu. WW1 wasn't just a young man's war. My wife's great grandfather was 48 when he was recalled and fought for over a year before loosing a hand and was then used for the rest of the war doing "light duty"
For me the most impressive and touching scene in the entire film. Anyone, who wants to get an idea of what war means, schould look Path of Glory and All quiet at the western front.
In this last scene, a lesser director would have had Col Dax open the tavern door and look in, maybe even step inside. Kubrick knew better. More powerful to have him listen from outside, separate from his men.
Agreed ! This one and 'Lust for Life', in which he had given a superb portrayal of famous painter, Vincent van Gogh, from the year before were arguably his best performances imho. His resemblence to van Gogh alone was just so strinking, that one really got the impression of observing the actual painter and not just an actor. If memory serves right, it was also the last of his three regular Oscar nominations for best actor, but he lost ( undeservedly so imho.) against Yul Brynner for his portrayall of King of Siam. But at least he had won the Golden Globe and the prestigious NYCCA for it.
One of the most powerful scenes in film history inspired the most powerful scene in video game history. It came to me when Kirk Douglas’s character looked into the room through the window. He reminded me of a soldier who stopped in his tracks after he heard a somber and beautiful tune coming from the tavern in the video game “The Witcher 3”. Like in this film, many of the people in the audience understand little of what is being sung, the tragedy of the lyrics, but rather are drawn in by the vulnerable and soft melody. After the song is over, the soldier, in both instances, must return to his normal duties, after that brief moment of beauty which brought everyone out of the cold and unforgiving world which they lived in. Both this film and the witcher video game are works of art, and these scenes prove so.
This is all about one fact: BASICALLY, A WAR IS ABSURD. Pointless game of politicians, thats all. Maybe too "bluntly said", but 100% proof. Never let those fools use you. Keep thinking with your own head. Amen.
This song fits so well with the fact that in wwi cavalry became way less effective, practically ending it's utility in big scale wars. It was the death really of all the "treuen hussars". Crazy how many layers kubrik manages to reach.
that is one of the misconceptions of the war, the Cavalry spent the entire first year waiting for a breakthrough in order to flood and flank around behind the German/French lines. A chance that never came, but in the few instances they did get a chance to use them they were moderately successful, what really killed Cavalry was the Automobile and the Tank, but for second rate armies Cavalry would be used all the way up to the end of the second World War.
did anyone ever state that the old men in that video were actual World War 1 vets? That seems like one of those things Stanley would have done on purpose, because some are far too old to even be a reserve unit.
@will walker what? No animal needs to kill huge part of its own species just for economic and selfish desire. This is just our wrong and fallacious nature. Don't try to save the war... it's an orribile thing man
Little late, I know, but in case you're still interested : It's actually a soldiers-/folk song, this melodic version at least even stands in the march metrum, therefore the singing blends in the marching band version without any effort at the end credits. The song the girl ( played by Kubrick's later wife, Christiane, they both had met for the first time on the set of this movie )is singing, is the Austrian/German folk- or soldier- song "Der treu' Husar" ( "The Faithful Husar"), that had first appeared around 1820 and was printed in several German folk song editions throughout the 19th. century with half a dozen different text and melodic versions, but all tell the same story at the core. The version to be heard here is certainly the most popular and famous one, but interestingly Kubrick allowed himself a slight anachronism here, since that version in march rhythm was only composed and released a few years AFTER the end of WW1 by the Colognian composer, Heinrich Frantzen ( 1880 - 1953 ). And ironically it became hugely popular as a Carneval song in Cologne INSPITE its actually bittersweet and sad lyrics. Today it's a sort of "National Hymn" of the city of Cologne and its melody is played each hour by the Glockenspiel at the house of 4711 in Cologne. By the time Kubrick had made the movie it had become quite popular also in the USA, since no other than Louis Armstrong had released a cover version just recently. There is also an English cover version by Vera Lynn. Here are the three verses of the song Christiane is singing : ( I admit my translation has no poetic quality at all, since it's just literal and regards no rhyme or metric pattern.) 1. Es war einmal ein treuer Husar, Der liebt’ sein Mädchen ein ganzes Jahr, |: Ein ganzes Jahr und noch viel mehr, Die Liebe nahm kein Ende mehr. :| ( Once there was a faithful husar, who loved his girl one whole year. One whole year and much much more, the love never came to an end.) ( she is leaving out this verse : 2. Der Knab’, der fuhr ins fremde Land, Derweil ward ihm sein Mädchen krank, |: Sie ward so krank bis auf den Tod, Drei Tag, drei Nacht sprach sie kein Wort. :| ( The lad, he went to a foreign land, while by that time his girl became ill. She became so ill, ill onto death, so that she spoke not a single word for three days and three nights.) ) 3. Und als man ihm die Botschaft bracht, daß sein Herzliebchen im Sterben lag, |: da ließ er all sein Hab und Gut, und eilte seinem Herzliebchen zu :| ( And when he got the message, that the dearest to his heart would lay down onto death. he left all his belongings at the spot and hurried to his dearest of heart.) 4. Ach bitte, Mutter, bring' ein Licht, Mein Liebchen stirbt, ich seh’ es nicht, |: Das war fürwahr ein treuer Husar, Der liebt’ sein Mädchen ein ganzes Jahr. :| ( Ach, Mother, please, bring a light, my dearest is dying, and I can't see her ! That was truly a faithful husar, who loved his girl one whole year. ) There are some more verses, that are not sung in this scene telling, how the girl eventually dies and the mourning husar is looking for six strong young peasant men as pallbearers for her funeral. But Christiane simply sings only three of the first verses and at 2:29 she just starts to repeat the same verses from the beginning. While the first verse had ended: "The love came never to an end., the very last refrain ( as said not sung in this scene ) profoundly ends: "The grief came never to an end " Really a sad song indeed ! And the blending of the sung version into the military march version played by a big brass band, when the end credits are rolling, is perhaps a sarcastic comment without words by Kubrick, that this short moment of relief for these men was only a short, peaceful reconnection with their human heart, before they were thrown again without mercy into the trenches, where they would soonly have to mutate into fiercly fighting beasts again in order to survive. Btw. this kind of big-brass-marching-band arrangement during the end credits is just of the same kind as those, one can hear in Cologne during the sessions of the big carneval societies there, when the big carneval gardes are marching into the festivity halls. There is even a famous garde in Cologne named after this song, "Der treu' Husar" ! Kind regards from Germany !
I wonder if the actors really had to pretend to cry during this scene. Then again, given how much of a perfectionist Kubrick is, I wonder if this was the 80th time they shot this scene.
I think he simply took numerous takes and spliced the keepers together. It's edited to almost single framed shots ... easy to do ... difficult to master. Kubrick could.
This movie was shot on a pretty tight budget in the Bavaria Studios, Munich-Geiselgasteig and some surroundings in Germany. To save the production some money most of the ( non-speaking ! ) extras were recruited from the police of Bavaria, because they got payed by the Bavarian federal state and were by law not allowed to earn some extra money, because, as said, they were state officials. But it is pretty likely, that most of them had actually fought as soldiers, the older ones in WW1 (or they were even forced to fight again in the "Volksturm" during the last months of WW2 ) and the younger men probably in WW2. So, most of these men really understood the lyrics as they were actually German as said. And I can tell you, me as a German cries too everytime I hear this song, I just can't help it ! 😭 So no big deal of acting needed here!
RIP Kirk Douglas. The news lately is saying he was the star of Spartacus, but I'll always remember him as Col Dax from Paths of Glory. IMO, it's one of the best movies of all time.
Dax was a good officer. Which makes me think that LT Douglas, USN was probably a good officer i WWII.
Totally agree, far better than 1917.
@@angusdrey8930 lmao you just can't resist from comparing it to modern movies huh? How about FMJ, how does it compare to FMJ?
@@angusdrey8930 lmao you just can't resist from comparing it to modern movies huh? How about FMJ, how does it compare to FMJ?
Angus Drey I totally agree.
Like those soldiers, I didn't understand a single word she said but it left me speechless. One of the most beautiful scenes ever. Kubrick made many great movies but Paths Of Glory remains my favourite.
Salman Zaki which others have you seen? A Clockwork Orange is my favourite Kubrick film.
The One Man Army
All except Killer's Kiss and Spartacus. I like Paths Of Glory, Lolita, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon, The Shining, and Eyes Wide Shut the most.
Salman Zaki fact is that the German woman is Stanley’s widow Christiane.
What’d you think of A Clockwork Orange?
Salman Zaki
I think the soldiers did know the words to the song. It was a song they were familiar with, that's why they were so emotional while she sang. It reminded them of home. I also think it made them feel like they could relate with the woman.
Not to forget "The Killing"
"Give the men a few minutes more" That is, sadly, the only thing Colonel Dax could manage to give these men, with all his compassion and striving. A few minutes more, until they were sent back to the front line of war.
It was the best he could do! Dax was in the war as a bit player only with limited power remember that.
I was 15 when I watched this movie. literally had me in tears. Now years later after learning some German language, this song makes more sense than ever, occasionally hum it from time to time.
What did she say
Those soldiers didn't know a word in german, but they all understand this songs. Both sides were tired of this bloody war, and soldiers sang them sad songs too. This is the meaning of this scene. Doesn't matter the language, or the side, the pain was the same.
This is true. 👍
Some trivia about that song from a German:
It's actually a soldiers-/folk song,
this melodic version at least even stands in the march metrum, therefore the singing blends in the marching band version without any effort at the end credits.
The song the girl ( played by Kubrick's later wife, Christiane, they both had met for the first time on the set of this movie )is singing, is the Austrian/German folk- or soldier- song "Der treu' Husar"
( "The Faithful Husar"),
that had first appeared around 1820 and was printed in several German folk song editions throughout the 19th. century with half a dozen different text and melodic versions, but all tell the same story at the core.
The version to be heard here is certainly the most popular and famous one, but interestingly Kubrick allowed himself a slight anachronism here, since that version in march rhythm was only composed and released a few years AFTER the end of WW1 by the Colognian composer,
Heinrich Frantzen
( 1880 - 1953 ).
And ironically it became hugely popular as a Carneval song in Cologne INSPITE its actually bittersweet and sad lyrics.
Today it's a sort of "National Hymn" of the city of Cologne and its melody is played each hour by the Glockenspiel at the house of 4711 in Cologne.
By the time Kubrick had made the movie it had become quite popular also in the USA, since no other than Louis Armstrong had released a cover version just recently.
There is also an English cover version by Vera Lynn.
Here are the three verses of the song Christiane is singing :
( I admit my translation has no poetic quality at all, since it's just literal and regards no rhyme or metric pattern.)
==========================
1. Es war einmal ein treuer Husar,
Der liebt’ sein Mädchen ein ganzes Jahr,
|: Ein ganzes Jahr und noch viel mehr,
Die Liebe nahm kein Ende mehr. :|
( Once there was a faithful husar,
who loved his girl one whole year.
One whole year and much much more,
the love never came to an end.)
( she is leaving out this verse :
2. Der Knab’, der fuhr ins fremde Land,
Derweil ward ihm sein Mädchen krank,
|: Sie ward so krank bis auf den Tod,
Drei Tag, drei Nacht sprach sie kein Wort. :|
( The lad, he went to a foreign land,
while by that time his girl became ill.
She became so ill, ill onto death,
so that she spoke not a single word for three days and three nights.) )
(And she directly jumps to verse 3:)
3. Und als man ihm die Botschaft bracht,
daß sein Herzliebchen im Sterben lag,
|: da ließ er all sein Hab und Gut,
und eilte seinem Herzliebchen zu :|
( And when he got the message, that the dearest to his heart would lay down onto death.
he left all his belongings at the spot
and hurried to his dearest of heart.)
4. Ach bitte, Mutter, bring' ein Licht,
Mein Liebchen stirbt, ich seh’ es nicht,
|: Das war fürwahr ein treuer Husar,
Der liebt’ sein Mädchen ein ganzes Jahr. :|
( Ach, Mother, please, bring a light,
my dearest is dying,
and I can't see her !
That was truly a faithful husar,
who loved his girl one whole year. )
==========================
There are some more verses, that are not sung in this scene telling, how the girl eventually dies and the mourning husar is looking for six strong young peasant men as pallbearers for her funeral.
But Christiane simply sings only three of the first verses and at 2:29 she just starts to repeat the same verses from the beginning.
While the first verse had ended:
"The love came never to an end.,
the very last refrain ( as said not sung in this scene ) profoundly ends:
"The grief came never to an end "
Really a sad song indeed !
And the blending of the sung version into the military march version played by a big brass band, when the end credits are rolling, is perhaps a last perfect hint without words by Kubrick, that this short moment of relief for these men was only a short, peaceful reconnection with their human heart, before they were thrown again without mercy into the trenches, where they would soonly have to mutate into fiercly fighting beasts again in order to survive.
Btw. this kind of big-brass-marching-band arrangement during the end credits is just of the same kind as those, one can hear in Cologne during the sessions of the big carneval societies there, when the big carneval gardes are marching into the festivity halls.
There is even a famous garde in Cologne named after this song,
"Der treu' Husar" !
"Give theme a few minutes more, sergent"
Yes please, they deserve it ! One of the best endings ever
I felt like that last line of dialogue wasn't needed. I think it would be much better to end the film at the language barrier-breaking song.
Dax was a good officer and you have a sense from Douglas's performance how lonely that is.
Yes I agree Simon!!
@@johnminehan1148 Very true-
The greatest war movie ever!!! Four minutes of beauty at the end of the movie that softens the insanity of war.
Ok. Una obra de arte. En el fin, lloran los soldados y yo.
Come and See (1985) >>> Paths of glory
@@TwinPeaks98 They are both excellent in their own rights (some of the best war movies ever), no need to rank.
1917's "I am wayfaring stranger" song was even more beautiful
The subtext of this final scene is very rich, and goes beyond soldiers just being broken down by the thought of going back into battle:
The young girl in the pub being made to sing is a captured German peasant who doesn't speak French. Frightened and unsure of herself, she begins to sing a folk song from her German homeland called "The Faithful Soldier", about a soldier who leaves his duty to return home and bury his true love, who has died of illness while he was away fighting, and unable to care for her.
As she sings the men fall silent, dumbstruck. Slowly they start to hum along with her. Because "The Faithful Soldier" is also a French folk song, and they have heard it their whole lives. This brings to the fore the fact that the "enemies" in this war are two neighbors, brother nations with far more things in common than are different. This wasn't a war for newly found resources in a distant land or across an ocean, these were nations of shared history, ancestry and culture. In fact, "german" is a French word meaning "akin", or related. So "Germany" is essentially the French name for the "Land of our Cousins".
In keeping with the earlier themes of top-down corruption, these common citizens, these faithful soldiers on both sides, are made to hate and kill each other, their own neighbors, because generals, politicians and bureaucrats have deemed it necessary. The heart of the first World War is practically a civil war, and it breaks these men's hearts. Because they were never really fighting an enemy, they were fighting themselves.
Some things make me love humanity, and this comment is one such thing!
I wish that I knew how to print off this the comment from "science wins every time" so that I could carry it around in my wallet and each time that I felt angry with someone I could take it out and read it aloud to remind myself of what hate can lead us to..
@@davidclegg3554
Newer cell phones have a feature to select and copy text from a screenshot. You might give it a try from your phone.
According to socialism, every single war has always been just another civil war.
And that there´s a single kind of war that isn´t a civil war, but which has never been fought: The one against the class-enemy
Masterfully put
If you are not moved by this you are dead inside.
The most beautiful ending of a war movie. Ever.
Her performance was so amazing... I bet the director wanted to marry her after seeing it.
Oh wait...
He did marry her. Their marriage was too perfect. After he died the poor woman went mad. They had a great love.
the joke
for context, the song she is singing is about a Hussar (light cavalry) that drops everything to comfort his dying wife
Jacob Simpson hey thanks
Thank you very much.
And the melody is absolute mental for this lyrics. I just can't understand that why would you want to dance and do jazz with this lyrics. I hate that
i mean the original song and covers, this part in movie is the best version.
Thanks. She was the enemy & she gave them their humanity back.
Some of the extras in this scene were actual French WWI veterans. In their high teens and early twenties during the war, they are in their late 50s and early 60s here.
It's odd to see so many elderly faces in what would essentially be a regiment comprised of young men - and by young I mean from 17 to 22. 27 would be considered advanced. Few of those extras, in reality, could have endured trench life. I wonder if Kubrick chose them to express emotion more readily than maybe young men. It could also have been a device where he expressly wished to confront the audience with the passing of real time outside of the cinematic bubble.
@@gerhold101 I never thought of it that way before.
At this stage of the war, both sides were running low on young men after massive casualties, and increasingly had to conscript older men to fight. Yet one more reason why they were called 'the Lost Generation."
They were certainly not French.
The movie was completely shot on a very tight budget in the Bavaria Studios, Munich-Geiselgasteig and some nearby surroundings in Germany.
The trenches were built and the battle scenes filmed on a field near Munich-Pullach.
The "New Castle Schleißheim" in Oberschleißheim is, where the execution scene was filmed in front of, and also the trial scenes were filmed inside that same castle.
The specialist providing the
(then still solely ) practical pyrotech effects was the famed German FX-man, Karl "Charlie Boom Boom" Baumgartner, who'd provide the pyrotech effects for some thirty years for many international movies, among them
"The Longest Day"
(USA 1962),
"Dunkirk 1940"
( France 1964),
"The Bridge at Remagen"
(USA 1968),
"Waterloo"
( Italy/USSR 1970),
"A Bridge too Far"
(GB 1977),
"Steiner - The Iron Cross"
( Germany 1977) and
"Das Boot"
(Germany 1979/80/81)
To save the production same money ironically all ( non-speaking ! ) extras playing French soldiers were actually recruited from the state police of Bavaria, because they got payed by the Bavarian federal state and were by law not allowed to earn some extra money, because, as said, they were state officials.
There really lies some irony in the fact, that all the Extras playing French soldiers were actually Germans, doesn't it !? ;)
This was a rather cheap method for the Bavarian goverment to promote the movie production facilities in Munich to foreign producers and attract them to produce their movies there.
The policemen would be sent to the movie set during their official work hours and got paid by the state.
Another advantage of hiring policemen as extras was, that they were naturally used to handle arms, so the production had not to spend considerable time in give unexperienced extras some training lessons in it.
( Five years later another classic American war movie would be produced here as well :
"The Great Escape"
with an all star cast.
And in 1979/80 another classic,
"Das Boot", this time as a complete German production.)
But it is pretty likely, that most of these men had also actually fought as soldiers, the older ones in WW1 (or they were even forced to fight again in the "Volksturm" during the last months of WW2 ) and the younger men probably in WW2.
So most of the nonspeaking Extras certainly knew the song and could fully understand the lyrics.
So it was probably no big acting deal for them to tear up, when Christiane Kubrick had sung it in front of them so movingly and in such plain fashion.
Btw. Kirk Douglas not only played the lead, but also served as producer of the movie.
What's truly heartbreaking about this scene is the one thought every soldier is probably thinking as this woman's singing and tears restores their humanity; what they wouldn't trade to relive their worst day before the war than spend another minute in the trenches. For even on that day, there were loved ones to embrace and a life to live.The simple things they took for granted, may now be beyond their grasp.
I dont think Im the only one that gets a chill from what is implied by the regimental number 701 on everyone's collars. The French mobilized over 80 divisions at Verdun. That means hundreds of regiments being moved around on a general's map like a farmer herding his cattle. You cease to be an individual. A single life means nothing. Battalions get wiped out by a single machinegun nest. This has always bothered me, because we'll never know the individuals by face or name, just regimental number...division or corps.
William Eaton “We began the war in a civilized manner, men fighting on horseback with swords but it evolved into something ghastly. Man does not understand the destructive capabilities of technology. A man’s life meant nothing by the end of the war.” -Unnamed British soldier, They Shall Not Grow Old
Yes, the Germans attacked Verdun planning a battle of attrition that would "bleed France to death." Everybody lost.
War is a horrible thing.
What a sobering comment ... honored be the memory and sacrifice of all those faceless fallen
@@37Dionysos
Exactly ! What Von Falkenstein, who came up with this mad idea, which he called "die Blut-Pumpe"
( "The Blood-Press" of Verdun)
not considered (as the lunatic fool he was) was, that his soldiers would blooded to death or be crippled by the hundreds of thousands as well....
a voice so heart-breakingly genuine, it can only make one return from the artificial adjustment one needs to bear the horrors of war: for at least a second, they were human, themselves, once more.
this is one of the most important scenes ever filmed.
I totally agree with you.
Arguably one of Kubrick and Kirk Douglas’s greatest work. The ending seen was absolutely heart wrenching. Soldiers knowing that they may never see a tomorrow ever again. Just as those soldiers who at first were totally disrespectful to the German girl but when she began singing “The Faithful Soldier” they stopped seeing her as the enemy and began seeing her as another casualty of war. And as they began to show compassion for this German woman you could not help but to feel; why can’t we show compassion not just to our enemy, but also amongst the sundry of races. Excellent movie, absolutely one of my favorites.
A Kubrick masterpiece! This scene tears me up!! Learn German to hear and understand these beautiful moving lyrics! My favorite Kirk Douglas movie! Kubrick fell in love with this young German girl, married her, and were together ‘ til death do us part’!!!❤❤❤❤
Really amazing scene, after the execution scene and the part with Kirk Douglas I was so angry with how things turned out, everything about the war seemed so futile and stupid. So you go into this scene thinking we're going to see more of that, that these soldiers are going to take out their frustrations on the innocent german girl who doesn't deserve it, just like the senior officers did with those three soldiers. It's set up that way with all the cheering and the hosts sleazy introduction, but we're reminded that these men are not awful even if their commanders are, they're still human, and this scene demonstrates that beautifully.
It wasn't much better in the real world, either. The men were pardoned by the French military... two hours after they'd already been shot.
This entire scene was humanity on display. It starts off ugly with men cat calling and harassing a clearly scared woman who can't even understand them and in tears she starts to sing. Once they see the fear in her face and voice they immediately go quiet from shame then begin to hum along many starting to cry from the humanity they've lost from the war and in doing so finding some peace so that the colonel feels obligated to give them that moment before going back to a mental and physical hell
The only German we see in the entire movie is this woman.
Shravan Raghuram kinda heart breaking isn't it? How the whole film they spend dehumanizing and brutalizing the Germans but the one German we see is the essence of humanity. The French were their own worst enemies. These men just wanted to be home with their wives. A want so profound it bridges even language itself.
@@indiequas An example of futility of a war.
Who will be Stanley Kubrick‘s wife
War is a human invantion. The more civilized he is the more advanced war machines he produces. Otherwise he is as vulgar as all early staged tribe raiders
@Heyward Shepherd It may have been more intentional than you think. The actress was Kubrick's wife. She's still alive, age 87, living in Germany.
Even better if you're German and understand the sweet and lovely words she sings. Great scene, great film.
A faithful soldier, without fear,He loved his girl for one whole year,For one whole year and longer yet,His love for her, he'd ne'er forget.2This youth to foreign land did roam,While his true love, fell ill at home.Sick unto death, she no one heard.Three days and nights she spoke no word.3And when the youth received the news,That his dear love, her life may lose,He left his place and all he had,To see his love, went this young lad...9He took her in his arms to hold,She was not warm, forever cold.Oh quick, oh quick, bring light to me,Else my love dies, no one will see...11Pallbearers we need two times three,Six farmhands they are so heavy.It must be six of soldiers brave,To carry my love to her grave.12A long black coat, I must now wear.A sorrow great, is what I bear.A sorrow great and so much more,My grief it will end nevermore.
oh my god, is that the translation?!?!?!?
Yes it is, luckily I know 6 languages and it took me some time to translate this. :)
Actually, this is copy and paste from wikipedia. Unless Gabriel H here wrote what's in wikipedia, what's up with the "I know 6 language"?
1. weres your proof thats its identical from wikipedia
2. whats his evidence that he knows 6 languages
3. I WANT NO BEEF HERE
Mike Hawk as reported I last edited 11 months ago. Prior and at the time I searched myself for a translation to make it easier. But in fact anyone can edit a Wikipedia article ;) including myself. There wasn't a transcript of this song on Wikipedia the only thing close was an actual German setting in 1938 of this song. I went to Harvard University b.t.w.
Some further fun facts about this movie:
Kirk Douglas played not only the lead role, but served also as producer of the movie thru his own production company, Bryna-Productions.
The movie was completely shot on a pretty tight budget
( close to 1 Million $ ),
at the Bavaria Studios, Munich-Geiselgasteig ,
and some nearby surroundings
in Bavaria/Germany.
The trenches were built and the battle scenes filmed on a field near Munich-Pullach.
The "New Castle Schleißheim" in Oberschleißheim is the location, where the execution scene was filmed in front of, and also the trial scenes were filmed inside that same castle.
The specialist providing the
(then still solely ) practical pyrotech effects was the famed German FX-man, Karl "Charlie Boom Boom" Baumgartner, who'd provide the pyrotech effects for some thirty years for many international movies, among them
"The Longest Day"
(USA 1962),
"Dunkirk 1940"
( France 1964),
"The Bridge at Remagen"
(USA 1968),
"Waterloo"
( Italy/USSR 1970),
"A Bridge too Far"
(GB 1977),
"Steiner - The Iron Cross"
( Germany 1977) and
"Das Boot"
(Germany 1979/80/81)
The accomplished director of photography of the movie, Georg Krause, was from Germany too.
Shortly before this movie he had also photographed two parts of the classic trilogy of the "o8 / 15" - movies, which were among the first movies made in Germany about WW2. Krausw was known and appreciated for his particularly crisp and gritty black&white cinematopgraphy. In fact he never shot a single movie in color.
To save the production some money ironically all the ( non-speaking ! ) extras playing French soldiers were actually German policemen recruited from the state police of Bavaria, because they got payed by the Bavarian federal state and were by law not allowed to earn some extra money, because, as said, they were state officials.
There really lies some irony in the fact, that all the extras playing French soldiers were actually Germans, doesn't it !? ;)
This was a rather cheap method for the Bavarian goverment to promote the movie production facilities in Munich to foreign producers and attract them to produce their movies there.
The policemen would be sent to the movie set during their official work hours and got paid by the state.
Another advantage of hiring policemen as extras was, that they were naturally used to handle arms, so the production had not to spend considerable time in give unexperienced extras some training lessons in it.
( Five years later another classic American war movie would be produced here as well :
"The Great Escape"
with an all star cast.
And in 1979/80 another classic,
"Das Boot", this time as a complete German production.)
But it is pretty likely, that most of these men had also actually fought as soldiers, the older ones in WW1 ( and maybe they were even forced to fight again in the "Volksturm" during the last months of WW2 ) and the younger men probably in WW2.
So most of the non-speaking extras certainly knew the song and could fully understand the lyrics.
So it was probably no big acting deal for them to tear up, when Christiane Kubrick had sung it in front of them so movingly and in such plain fashion like a German mother from a hundred years ago would have sung it to her little child.
There lies so much "innocence" in the unpretentious way she sings this simple tune, that you can't help but being deeply touched by it.
Btw. Kirk Douglas had quite a relation to Bavaria and the movie studios in Munich there.
He would make three movies there in the second half of the fifties and at the beginning sixties.
This one and then immediatly after that "The Vykings" ( yes, that movie was actually shot for the most part on and near a lake in the Bavarian Alpes, which doubled quite convincingly for a Norwegian fjörd, and the battle scenes actually in the Normandy/France), The
and in 1961"Town without Pity",
a movie, that had felt into rather oblivion today ( probabably due to his even more controversial subject), and where Kirk played a very similar role, but this time an American military lawyer.
And of course got Kirk Douglas good connections to Germany, when in 1954 he'd married his second wife, Anne, who was from Hannover.
Kind regards from a classic movie buff from Germany !
Probably one of the best reflections of men at heart
😁👍 Tough and hard-boiled from the outside, but soft as a baby's diaper inside !
this scene makes a 65 year old man cry......
You were 4-5 years old when this came out
Keep it up, old man.
It makes a lot of people cry!😟😢😭
This 57-year-old man, too.
@@gonzaemon4711 I'm 29 and I'm much the same, especially if you can understand the German lass. It's a moving song but very sad.
Fun fact : Shortly after this movie, this young woman became the wife of the late Stanley Kubrick.
mrmomokar Late?
bucklakelukie « late » means he’s dead
This is still a jealousy fact. Don't call it a fun fact.
Necrophilia isn't a joke, Jim. Millions of families suffer every year.
They had casting couches even back then.
Incredible scene. Suddenly the soldiers are human beings, each an individual face, yet also similar, all missing home, music, softness, love.
Freakin' Kubrick. Incredibly powerful scene. This is film as art form - a full dose.
as if we are not sad & distraught after watching the unfair execution, kubrick finishes off the audience emotionally with a final killing shot of a scene.
Watched this fantastic film yesterday, 11/11/21. One of the greatest movies of all time. Its incredibly profound, powerful and moving.
I first saw this movie shortly after it was made in the 1950's. Being a school kid I thought the movie boring. I wanted to see more action. As I grew older I learned to appreciate what a masterpiece this move is.
The Scene with the French Soldier with the year in his eye What can I say heart wrenching! Kubrick was a consomate Genius!😥😢🇫🇷🇩🇪
I mean tear!
The song being sung is Der treue Husar, translated into English as the Faithful Hussar. It tells the tale of a young soldier who falls in love with a beautiful girl. While the first verses are the most well known and usually sung at carnivals or during a happy drinking mood, the latter verses are often forgotten or ignored. The song takes a tragic turn when it's revealed the young soldier is separated from his love and is only allowed to return as she lies dying from illness. The final verse translated reads,
"A long black coat, I must now wear.
A sorrow great, is what I bear.
A sorrow great and so much more,
My grief it will end nevermore."
The song describes a soldier receiving news of his dying girlfriend, and rushing home, holding her in her death.
....it is BECAUSE one does not understand her words... ...but every soldate soldier "does" know what she is singing... ...and this is one reason why it is perfect...
Who said Kubrick was cold-hearted?
He might have been as a person , but not as a storyteller
@@mubiusford8693 Exactly.
@@mubiusford8693 he was very kind hearted and jolly as a person who said he was cold hearted
@@mubiusford8693 His later work was distant, detached, cold and emotionless.
He was so cold-hearted he married that woman.
When I was young, I did see this scene... unforgettable... masterpiece... from S. Korea
This might just be my favourite scene of all timw
I tear up every time. All the humanity.❤
If you don't feel something after watching this scene, there is something seriously wrong with you. Still a great film after all these years. RIP Kirk Douglas.
Honestly it makes me cry
@@AllanMogensen Wenn nicht hat einer überhaupt kein Gefühl .
Their shift from hate to this trance really stuck to me. The moment they heard that song I believe they realized that the other side were as human as they were.
As her voice becomes their voice, her tears become their tears.
A bunch of trench hardened soldiers but the voice of a young woman is enough bring a short glimpse of peace and tears to their eyes. Then the sounds of drums a small change in Kirk Douglas face and we are back to wartime.
How is it possible to say so much with so little!! This is a masterpiece and Kubrick is a genius.
This scene touches my heart every time without fail!😟😢😭🇩🇪🇫🇷
Devastating. Ranks with La Grande Illusion as one of the greatest films ever attempted.
In Cologne, or Köln (my hometown) this song is a traditional carnival song.
how lucky are you
The soldiers were mostly old men . Both sides were running out of young soldiers at this stage of the war. Young womanhood offers the only hope of beauty and renewal. She stands in counterpoint to the song which is about a young man, grieving a dying woman.... Best war film ever!
A beautiful ending to an absolutely brilliant movie if this scene doesn't touch you then you must be stone dead!😟😢😭🇩🇪🎞️🎬
The final scene in the bar always brings a tear to my eye. I'm sure it was meant to.
It's been years since I've seen this movie and to this day all I have to hear is the transition of the men from cheering to humming along, knowing they're thinking about their fallen brethren... it still make me shed tears
Never thought they were thinking about fallen brethren...I always thought it was how badly they wanted to go home to their family.
Tough guys trying to keep a dry eye, brilliant!
Christiane Kubrick has perfect pitch. Well chosen Kubrick! Another masterpiece.
I tear up every time. One of the best scenes ever f all time.
One of the better movies on the insane tragedy of war! And Kirk Douglas was outstanding, as always!!!
Une scène pleine d'humanité. Culte. Très émouvant !
The best scene in the film for me Christiane Kubrick is still alive I think remarkable woman married to a brilliant director
Brilliant scene, well thought out. 'Der Treue Husar' is a German song from the 19th Century, derived from a folk song and known in different versions (it was even a carnival song). As such, and with Germany being a neighboring country, this song must've been very familiar to these French soldiers, even maybe as a lullaby. The so-called sentimentality of this scene is undercut with the irony that most will probably die in the battlefield. Listen to it without the image and you'll hear an excellent example of sound mixing and sound editing.
A faithful soldier, without fear,
He loved his girl for one whole year,
For one whole year and longer yet,
His love for her, he'd ne'er forget.
This youth to foreign land did roam,
While his true love, fell ill at home.
Sick unto death, she no one heard.
Three days and nights she spoke no word.
And when the youth received the news,
That his dear love, her life may lose,
He left his place and all he had,
To see his love, went this young lad...
Oh Mother, bring forth a light,
My darling dies, I do not see,
That was indeed a faithful hussar,
He loves his girl a whole year.
And when he came to the heart,
Very softly, she gave him her hand,
The whole hand and much more,
Love never came to an end.
"Greetings, greetings, my dearest!
What are you doing alone in bed?"
"Thanks, thanks, my faithful lad!
With me it will soon be in the grave."
"Greetings, greetings, my fine boy.
Let me go to the cool grave."
"Oh no, oh no, my dear child,
Because we are so in love. "
"Oh no, oh no, not so fast,
Because we are two lovers;
Oh no, oh no, my heart tells me,
The love and faith must last longer."
He took her in his arms to hold,
She was not warm, forever cold.
Oh quick, oh quick, bring light to me,
Else my love dies, no one will see...
And when the maid had died,
Then he puts on the funeral.
Where do I get six young boys,
My dearly beloved?
Pallbearers we need two times three,
Six farmhands they are so heavy.
It must be six of soldiers brave,
To carry my love to her grave.
A long black coat, I must now wear.
A sorrow great, is what I bear.
A sorrow great and so much more,
The mens slow realization as she sings.... so very profound .
A beautiful scene and a reminder, if one were needed, or how creatively bankrupt Hollywood has become. Just add more CGI and superheroes, and don't forget the all-important Chinese audience.
One of the finest movies I ever saw!
One of the great final scenes.
This is a very powerful scene and I think does a great job of portraying the look of the WW1 poilu. WW1 wasn't just a young man's war. My wife's great grandfather was 48 when he was recalled and fought for over a year before loosing a hand and was then used for the rest of the war doing "light duty"
no wonder we he Stanley fell in love with the beautiful Christiane....
She married with Kubrick, because that Kubrick is genius.
For me this is the best scene ever made in the history of the movie, I watched this 100x and always cry...
For me the most impressive and touching scene in the entire film. Anyone, who wants to get an idea of what war means, schould look Path of Glory and All quiet at the western front.
The most I got out of this scene is Kurt Douglas’s character is not giving up on humanity
Requiescat In Pace....Kirk Douglas b. December 9, 1916 - d. February 5, 2020
In this last scene, a lesser director would have had Col Dax open the tavern door and look in, maybe even step inside. Kubrick knew better. More powerful to have him listen from outside, separate from his men.
Incredible movie, fantastic cast. One of the best if not the best performance from Kirk Douglas.
Agreed !
This one and 'Lust for Life', in which he had given a superb portrayal of famous painter, Vincent van Gogh, from the year before were arguably his best performances imho.
His resemblence to van Gogh alone was just so strinking, that one really got the impression of observing the actual painter and not just an actor.
If memory serves right, it was also the last of his three regular Oscar nominations for best actor, but he lost ( undeservedly so imho.) against Yul Brynner for his portrayall of King of Siam.
But at least he had won the Golden Globe and the prestigious NYCCA for it.
Gives me the shivers every time I see and hear this...
I'm crying
Exceptional movie. One of my favorites.
One of the most powerful scenes in film history inspired the most powerful scene in video game history. It came to me when Kirk Douglas’s character looked into the room through the window. He reminded me of a soldier who stopped in his tracks after he heard a somber and beautiful tune coming from the tavern in the video game “The Witcher 3”. Like in this film, many of the people in the audience understand little of what is being sung, the tragedy of the lyrics, but rather are drawn in by the vulnerable and soft melody. After the song is over, the soldier, in both instances, must return to his normal duties, after that brief moment of beauty which brought everyone out of the cold and unforgiving world which they lived in. Both this film and the witcher video game are works of art, and these scenes prove so.
This is all about one fact: BASICALLY, A WAR IS ABSURD. Pointless game of politicians, thats all. Maybe too "bluntly said", but 100% proof. Never let those fools use you. Keep thinking with your own head. Amen.
I can see why Spielberg loved this movie so much
if this does not move you nothing will...
amazing acting from Christiane such a powerful scene i'm watching it on repeat
Paths of glory and Faithful Hussar - a powerful and touching film - genial and impressive !
This song fits so well with the fact that in wwi cavalry became way less effective, practically ending it's utility in big scale wars. It was the death really of all the "treuen hussars". Crazy how many layers kubrik manages to reach.
that is one of the misconceptions of the war, the Cavalry spent the entire first year waiting for a breakthrough in order to flood and flank around behind the German/French lines. A chance that never came, but in the few instances they did get a chance to use them they were moderately successful, what really killed Cavalry was the Automobile and the Tank, but for second rate armies Cavalry would be used all the way up to the end of the second World War.
The actors playing the soliders were all old enough to be actual veterans of World War I & II.
One of the most moving and heart breaking finales in movie history. Rivaled only by the finale in Charlie Chaplin's 'City Lights'.
did anyone ever state that the old men in that video were actual World War 1 vets? That seems like one of those things Stanley would have done on purpose, because some are far too old to even be a reserve unit.
A very powerful use of music in cinema.
The Adrien Brody Stella Artois commercial was no doubt inspired at least in part by this scene.
😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢 Great scene. Great movie.
Magnificent ending from a magnificent film
Love how the Clapping and Cheering ceased to silence and respect for the German Girl's Singing!😂👩🎶🎶🇩🇪
War is a racket.
@will walker what? No animal needs to kill huge part of its own species just for economic and selfish desire. This is just our wrong and fallacious nature. Don't try to save the war... it's an orribile thing man
@will walker killing & violence is but not war my friend. "Organized insanity/ mass murder by contorted logic" is not condoned by mother nature.
3:16 What a legend.
As usual everything is precise in Stanley Kubrick's cinema
One of the greatest movies of all time
this scene buries me every time, a great movie, too
This song always gives me an ear worm, always…
Little late, I know, but in case you're still interested :
It's actually a soldiers-/folk song,
this melodic version at least even stands in the march metrum, therefore the singing blends in the marching band version without any effort at the end credits.
The song the girl ( played by Kubrick's later wife, Christiane, they both had met for the first time on the set of this movie )is singing, is the Austrian/German folk- or soldier- song "Der treu' Husar"
( "The Faithful Husar"),
that had first appeared around 1820 and was printed in several German folk song editions throughout the 19th. century with half a dozen different text and melodic versions, but all tell the same story at the core.
The version to be heard here is certainly the most popular and famous one, but interestingly Kubrick allowed himself a slight anachronism here, since that version in march rhythm was only composed and released a few years AFTER the end of WW1 by the Colognian composer,
Heinrich Frantzen
( 1880 - 1953 ).
And ironically it became hugely popular as a Carneval song in Cologne INSPITE its actually bittersweet and sad lyrics.
Today it's a sort of "National Hymn" of the city of Cologne and its melody is played each hour by the Glockenspiel at the house of 4711 in Cologne.
By the time Kubrick had made the movie it had become quite popular also in the USA, since no other than Louis Armstrong had released a cover version just recently.
There is also an English cover version by Vera Lynn.
Here are the three verses of the song Christiane is singing :
( I admit my translation has no poetic quality at all, since it's just literal and regards no rhyme or metric pattern.)
1. Es war einmal ein treuer Husar,
Der liebt’ sein Mädchen ein ganzes Jahr,
|: Ein ganzes Jahr und noch viel mehr,
Die Liebe nahm kein Ende mehr. :|
( Once there was a faithful husar,
who loved his girl one whole year.
One whole year and much much more, the love never came to an end.)
( she is leaving out this verse :
2. Der Knab’, der fuhr ins fremde Land,
Derweil ward ihm sein Mädchen krank,
|: Sie ward so krank bis auf den Tod,
Drei Tag, drei Nacht sprach sie kein Wort. :|
( The lad, he went to a foreign land,
while by that time his girl became ill.
She became so ill, ill onto death,
so that she spoke not a single word for three days and three nights.) )
3. Und als man ihm die Botschaft bracht,
daß sein Herzliebchen im Sterben lag,
|: da ließ er all sein Hab und Gut,
und eilte seinem Herzliebchen zu :|
( And when he got the message, that the dearest to his heart would lay down onto death.
he left all his belongings at the spot
and hurried to his dearest of heart.)
4. Ach bitte, Mutter, bring' ein Licht,
Mein Liebchen stirbt, ich seh’ es nicht,
|: Das war fürwahr ein treuer Husar,
Der liebt’ sein Mädchen ein ganzes Jahr. :|
( Ach, Mother, please, bring a light,
my dearest is dying,
and I can't see her !
That was truly a faithful husar,
who loved his girl one whole year. )
There are some more verses, that are not sung in this scene telling, how the girl eventually dies and the mourning husar is looking for six strong young peasant men as pallbearers for her funeral.
But Christiane simply sings only three of the first verses and at 2:29 she just starts to repeat the same verses from the beginning.
While the first verse had ended:
"The love came never to an end.,
the very last refrain ( as said not sung in this scene ) profoundly ends:
"The grief came never to an end "
Really a sad song indeed !
And the blending of the sung version into the military march version played by a big brass band, when the end credits are rolling, is perhaps a sarcastic comment without words by Kubrick, that this short moment of relief for these men was only a short, peaceful reconnection with their human heart, before they were thrown again without mercy into the trenches, where they would soonly have to mutate into fiercly fighting beasts again in order to survive.
Btw. this kind of big-brass-marching-band arrangement during the end credits is just of the same kind as those, one can hear in Cologne during the sessions of the big carneval societies there, when the big carneval gardes are marching into the festivity halls.
There is even a famous garde in Cologne named after this song,
"Der treu' Husar" !
Kind regards from Germany !
Perhaps one of the scenes that that is the strongest in all of the movies?
I wonder if the actors really had to pretend to cry during this scene.
Then again, given how much of a perfectionist Kubrick is, I wonder if this was the 80th time they shot this scene.
I think he simply took numerous takes and spliced the keepers together. It's edited to almost single framed shots ... easy to do ... difficult to master. Kubrick could.
Well since it was only 12 years after WW2, i think alot of the actors could find something to think about to get them to cry.
This movie was shot on a pretty tight budget in the Bavaria Studios, Munich-Geiselgasteig and some surroundings in Germany.
To save the production some money most of the ( non-speaking ! ) extras were recruited from the police of Bavaria, because they got payed by the Bavarian federal state and were by law not allowed to earn some extra money, because, as said, they were state officials.
But it is pretty likely, that most of them had actually fought as soldiers, the older ones in WW1 (or they were even forced to fight again in the "Volksturm" during the last months of WW2 ) and the younger men probably in WW2.
So, most of these men really understood the lyrics as they were actually German as said.
And I can tell you, me as a German cries too everytime I hear this song,
I just can't help it ! 😭
So no big deal of acting needed here!
Just watched it in theater yesterday, what an exceptional experience.
The faithfull soldier
Ultimatly the human heart is always sickened by hate. The things we do that are contrary to it and than we realise such things cant go on.
1:00 I know this moment when you try to talk but you can not because you cry