Grande illusion (La)

English title: Grand Illusion

Genre: war movie (in black and white)

With: Jean Gabin (Lt. Maréchal), Pierre Fresnay (Capt. de Boeldieu), Erich von Stroheim (Capt. von Rauffenstein), Marcel Dalio (Lt. Rosenthal), Julien Carette (Cartier), Georges Péclet (the Locksmith), Werner Florian (Sgt. Arthur), Jean Dasté (the Teacher), Sylvain Itkine (Lt. Demolder), Gaston Modot (the Engineer), Dita Parlo (Elsa), Jacques Becker (the English officer)  

Director: Jean Renoir

Screenplay: Charles Spaak and Jean Renoir

Release: 1937

Studio: Réalisation d’art cinématographique

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.9/10 

 

An Old World Blown Away, Never To Return 

 

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Story-line: France in the early stages of WW I. Maréchal, a working-class officer in the French Army, and Capt. de Boeldieu, an aristocrat, are shot down during a reconnaissance mission. Captured by the Germans, they are taken to Capt. von Rauffenstein, himself an aristocrat, who intends to treat them according to the conventions of war. Thus begins, for our two Frenchmen, a frustrating but eventful new life as POWs in Germany.  

Pluses: a credible cast led by Jean Gabin and Pierre Fresnay – as two very contrasting characters – with fine support from Marcel Dalio, Erich von Stroheim and a brilliant Julien Carette, a tight, thoughtful and detailed screenplay that uses carefully tailored dialogues and soupçons of witty humour to develop its subject, focused direction that maintains a steady pace, irreproachable camera work, modest but well-suited production values, an appropriate musical score and a surprising ending.

Minuses: none I can think of… Jean Renoir’s work is a masterpiece.

Comments: at a time when war was supposed to be a gentlemanly pursuit, World War I – and its unimaginable carnage – shattered old models and brought forth a much darker side of humanity. Such is the focus of LA GRANDE ILLUSION, a classic tale of resilience, uneasy alliances and defiance toward the enemy that doubled as a prescient warning of a second world conflict ahead. No need to comment on the illusion itself… its irony will hit you like a ton of bricks.   

 

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