| “ | 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. |
„ |
| ~ General Mireau to Dax regarding his troops. |
General Paul Mireau is the main antagonist in the 1957 war film Paths of Glory. He is a corrupt French general in World War I who orders his troops on a suicidal mission in order to secure a promotion, then has three soldiers wrongly executed for cowardice when the attack fails.
He was played by the late George Macready.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- Though he at first refuses to attack the Ant Hill on the grounds that it's impossible, he immediately reverses himself when he hears he may get promoted if the attack succeeds.
- He insults and slaps a shell-shocked soldier, calling him a coward and ordering him transferred out of the unit.
- He forces Colonel Dax to lead the attack, admitting that he expects 60% of Dax's men to be killed and threatening to relieve Dax of his command if he refuses.
- He watches indifferently as hundreds of his men are killed, only caring about the speed of their advance.
- He orders an artillery commander to open fire on his own men to force them to advance, threatening to execute the commander for refusing.
- He tries to have 100 men court-martialed and executed for cowardice, and only reduces this number to three due to pressure from General Broulard.
- While Broulard had suggested making it a dozen, Mireau settling on a lower number wasn't out of mercy but because he was trying to appear reasonable in front of Broulard.
- He tries to intimidate Dax into dropping his defense of his men, and when Dax refuses Mireau says he will use any excuse he can to destroy Dax's career.
- He puts three men through a corrupt court-martial where they aren't allowed to properly defend themselves, and they are wrongly sentenced to death.
- When one of the condemned men is knocked unconscious in a fight, Mireau says he will still be executed, having him taken to the firing squad on a stretcher and ordering that he be pinched awake so that he's conscious when he dies.
- He enjoys the wrongful executions and gloats afterward about how "wonderfully" the men died.
Trivia[]
- He's one of two Pure Evils from Stanley Kubrick's films, alongside nameless door gunner from Fullmetal Jacket (Overlook Hotel doesn't count, since it only became Pure Evil in miniseries Doctor Sleep that wasn't made by Kubrick).
External Links[]
- Paul Mireau on the Villains Wiki
- Paul Mireau on the Hate Sink Wiki
- Paul Mireau on the Pathetic Pinhead Wiki
