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| “ | Colonel Dax: They're not cowards. So, if some of them didn't leave the trenches, it must have been because it was impossible. General Mireau: They were ordered to attack. It was their duty to obey that order. We can't leave it up to the men to decide whether an order is possible or not. If it was impossible, the only proof of that would be their dead bodies lying about in the trenches. They're scum, Colonel. The whole rotten regiment. A pack of sneaking, whining, tail-dragging curs. |
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| ~ General Mireau to Dax regarding his troops. |
General Paul Mireau is an antagonist in the 1957 anti-war film Paths of Glory. He is the Brigadier General, divisional commander of the 701st Infantry and other regiments, until his demotion towards the end of the film.
He was portrayed by the late George McReady.
Appearance[]
Mireau is an older man with short white hair that he combs to the back to his head, along with a neatly plucked mustache and goatee. He is of average height and has a relatively thin build.
He is seen wearing a standard greatcoat on the battlefield, along with a typical French Kepi. Indoors, he wears an official tunic suit and trousers. On his suit numerous medals can be seen on it, showing that he's of high a militaristic rank.
Personality[]
General Mireau is a man who exhibits an extreme sense of arrogant ambition and self-importance that undermines any care for the men working under him. He believes that his orders should be followed unquestioningly and is dismissive of dissenting opinions or concerns raised by his subordinates.
Mireau shows a lack of empathy and concern for the well-being of his soldiers. He is willing to send them on dangerous missions that are likely to result in heavy casualties, without any care of the human cost. But all for his personal gain and glory, generally embodying an authoritarian leadership style that expects strict obedience and punishes any perceived insubordination harshly. This disobedience frustrates and angers Mireau greatly, causing him to become increasingly irrational and vindictive in response to setbacks, which he then selfishly projects onto his innocent troops.
Story[]
Past[]
Although most of Mireau's past remains a secret, he stated that he has been in the military for most of his life and he was talented, (or lucky) enough to become a Brigadier General, divisional commander.
Paths of Glory[]
In the midst of 1916 during the first World War, General Mireau talks with his superior, Major General corps commander Georges Broulard about overtaking the German military site called the "Anthill".
Broulard tells Mireau that he trusts him enough to make this his responsibility. Mireau however refuses, saying that his troops aren't capable of striking down such a strong position. Broulard then states that Mireau can obtain a promotion, if he succeeds. Upon hearing this, Mireau sways himself and tells Broulard that the attack will succeed.
Mireau is then seen walking through the trenches, asking several soldiers, "Ready to kill more Germans?" While the first two privates answer his questions properly, the third private seems to be in a state of confusion. After Mireau is told that the man suffers from shell shock he angrily throws the private out of the regime, believing that he is simply a coward. Mireau talks with Colonel Dax about the attack despite Dax's objections that the only result of the attack will be to dwindle the French Military with heavy damages for no value. Mireau being of a higher rank has the last word and tells Dax that the attack will happen.
Colonel Dax leads the first wave of his troops into no man's land while Mireau watches the battle from afar. None of the men are capable of actually going anywhere near the German trenches. Mireau already being aggravated that his troops are making so little progress becomes even more furious when he sees B Company deciding to not leave their own trench entirely. Mireau, enraged, orders his artillery to open fire on them to force them onto the battlefield. The artillery commander refuses to fire without written confirmation of the order. Dax returns to the trenches and tries to rally B Company to join the battle, but he is told that the mission is impossible to complete, as Dax climbs out of the trench, the body of a dead French soldier knocks him down, signaling that they are fighting an already beaten battle. Mireau gets the conformation that the French army have lost the battle and he angrily order his officers to commence a court-martial.
At a meeting with Broulard and Dax, a disagreement starts, Mireau wants to court-martial ten soldiers from each regiment for cowardice, but Dax ensures that the only reason why they lost was because the mission was simply impossible. Broulard eventually convinces Mireau to decrease the number to three people, one from each company. After the meeting is over, Mireau and Broulard meet the artillery commander who disobeyed Mireau's order to bombard on his own troops during the attack. Mireau tries to make sure the artillery officer gets transferred so people won't find out about his crime.
Three men are ultimately chosen and Dax, who was a criminal defense lawyer before the war, offers to defend the men at their court-martial. It becomes clear that the trial is a sham; The court is heavily biased in their presumptions and Mireau's right hand Major is the prosecution's attorney. Dax declares in his closing statement that if the jury would find the men guilty, they would be haunted for the rest of their lives. The day after, the three men are taken out to be shot by a firing squad. Mireau, Dax and other soldiers meanwhile, watch along. The men are tied to posts, the soldiers aim their rifles, and the three men are executed.
After the executions, Mireau is rejoiced and is seen heaving brunch with Broulard. Dax visits them and Broulard tells him to sit with them. Broulard then suddenly begins to talk about Mireau's order to fire on his own men, Mireau is disappointed at Dax for snitching on him and he is told that there will be inquiry about his action. Mireau believing he's being used as a scapegoat angrily storms out.
Broulard then offers Mireau's command to Dax, assuming that Dax's efforts to stop the executions were a strategy to expand to Mireau's position. Dax sickened by Broulard's lack of understanding, calls him a "degenerate, sadistic old man". Learning that Dax was in fact sincere, Broulard rebukes him for his sentimentality, saying that they are fighting a war they've got to win, he then ask Dax on what crimes he committed. As such, Dax insults him, telling him that he pities the man for the fact he doesn't know.
External Links[]
- Paul Mireau on the Pure Evil Wiki