Stanley Kubrick's second film on the list, Paths of Glory finds its location in World War I's trenches. One of the greatest notions to come out of World War I is the absolute desolation and futility of trench-warfare. That idea looms as the crux of this film, as a General orders a group of soldiers to attack through the trenches to capture a position. The reason behind this order is not for positional progress but to win the General a promotion. The problem with the order is that the attack is impossible and certainly will become fatal for any soldier who dares attempt it. The group, led by Kirk Douglas, refuses the attack. In retaliation for refusing orders, the General decrees that three men must die for the crime of cowardice to serve as a lesson for the rest of the men in the future. The quiet and waiting that Kubrick imposes on the film are truly nerve-wracking, as Douglas does his best to save the men. The notion of absurdity - death as the result of one action, but also the result of the opposite action - hits like a punch to the nose. Not as comical as Joseph Heller's "Catch-22," Kubrick instead focuses on the intense soberness of death as a result of this absurdity.
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Often hailed as the most realistic portrayal of the beach invasions of World War II, Saving Private Ryan is Steven Spielberg's classic look into the individual in the face of a mass of expendable bodies. Post invasion the film centers on the search for one man, Private Ryan, because his three brothers had all been killed in action and the government decided to attempt to relieve the family of the terrible trauma it would incur if all four of its sons were killed. Tom Hanks leads a group of soldiers on a chase for Ryan, who risk their lives for the sake of an individual. How many lives are worth the salvation of one man? Is one man worth risking able bodies when "more important" missions loom? What motivates an individual in a war that is often viewed as a nationalistic cause? The film manages to mix together the macroscopic and microscopic better than perhaps any other.