La grande illusion

Just saw it again on TCM, and now I see things in the film that make me question my high regard and admiration for it. This classic film has a special glow of humanity, which makes it unique and instinctively accessible. One can understand why it was such a hit in 1937. At the same time, this is not a surrealist film or a satire as the title might suggest, but an interpretation of horrific events from the point view of a humanist, and in that sense you get the inspirational message which seeks to outweigh other issues, but if you stop and think about the whole thing you end up appalled by some of the conclusions you might end up with. If it had successfully advanced the theme that war is hell and that men seek to preserve their humanity under these conditions, fine. But that is not the end result: the balance between the anti-war message and the idea that WWI was a gentlemen's war and that it brought the best out of men somehow leans on screen towards the latter and lends the film to negative interpretations. Renoir refuses to openly condemn war nor show its ugly face but by implication. And you can't say that wasn't Renoir's style, given his in-your-face condemnation of the attitudes of French's aristocracy prior to WWII in The Rules of the Game. Renoir emphasizes the men being pals and patriotic, eating well, joking, and dancing, which is what Renoir as a humanist understands men wish to do instead of fight, but the lack of any substantial sense of horror and suffering makes for an unbalanced film. The suffering is almost all psychological (life away from home and wife, loneliness) but it is hardly felt, except in the part of the story with the German woman, which is very successfully told. The physical suffering is not exposed at all, except for von Stroheimm's ailments, which are discussed tangentially, and even that suffering is mentioned but not felt. Renoir seems to expect the audience to presuppose the horror and the suffering. Renoir's conclusions in this film are confusing, naive and might even be considered downright insulting, particularly in the historic period this film was made. The problem might not be in Renoir's point of view or intentions but in what he actually put on the screen. So all in all, I'm not sure what Renoir is saying in this film, and therefore can not regard it as highly as I once did. I also agree with other reviewers that Renoir's technique is extraordinary but that the script is a mess. All in all, if you trust Renoir and stay with the humanistic theme and try to avoid any other interpretation you will still feel this is a great film, if not, then you will have serious reservations. I for one now have doubts.

Jean Renoir's classic "La Grande Illusion" has something to recommend it to anyone - there is fine acting, directing, writing, and photography, and a story filled with memorable characters who are involved in action, suspense, and drama, with some comic parts and even, later in the film, some romance. All of it fits together perfectly to create a timeless and very satisfying experience.

The movie takes place during World War I, and is often considered an anti-war film, but the themes about humanity, relationships, loyalties, and identities are all timeless and go beyond any mere political statement. The interplay between persons of different nationalities and classes, thrown together by the war, leads to good drama and makes some profound points about human nature. The story primarily follows three Frenchmen who are taken prisoner by the Germans, showing us how they manage to deal with their confinement, and allowing us to watch their disappointments and their attempts to escape. The other main character is a German prison camp commander with whom they become friendly, raising complicated questions of loyalty and duty.

The character studies are excellent, and all the fine acting and directing get the most of out the possibilities. The settings are convincing and help the viewer feel what it was like to be in camp with the prisoners, sharing their boredom and their longing for freedom. The plot itself is interesting, and has some exciting moments, but the main emphasis is on what the characters learn about themselves and about humanity in general. There are many thoughtful scenes and some nicely defined secondary characters that round out the picture.

This is a fine movie, deserving of its reputation, and one that should appeal highly to anyone who enjoys classic cinema.

'La Grande Illusion' is one of those films that reaffirm a film lover's belief that cinema as an art form can be used by filmmakers to bring people together.

The screenplay for the film written by Renoir and Charles Spaak is extremely deep and multi layered. Although the film is set during the WW1 era, the timing of the making and release of the film is very important. This was released when the Nazi party in Germany was becoming more and more powerful and another global war was imminent. I can't help but think that this film was Renoir's attempt to make people stray away from the extremism that they were getting influenced by. Although it didn't achieve its intended objective, one can't help but admire the artist's intentions.

If one has to summarise 'La Grande Illusion' in one phrase, I think the phrase to be used is 'the power of humanism'. Renoir loves every single character in the film. Not just the French soldiers, even the German soldiers get treated with respect. The Germans are not stereotypical caricatures as is found in some other films of this era. The German officers treat their French prisoners with kindness. This shows Renoir understood that there were ordinary, innocent German people who were caught in the middle of the wars being instigated by the politicians in power.

Apart from underlining the humanism and the similarity between the soldiers on all sides, the film also works on other themes. The film explores the changing times. We see the men who have been detached from the outside world due to the war feel surprised when they hear that women are keeping their hair short. One of them equates this appearance with the appearance of a boy. This is clearly Renoir commenting upon the progress women were making at the time in trying to gain equality. We also get the angle of the changing nature of the class distinctions. Rauffenstein and Boeldieu belonged to the higher classes. They understand and respect each other even though they belong to Germany and France respectively. We see them reminisce about the old times and talk about how they feel out of place in a fast changing world where the class distinctions are getting distorted as they embark on an era where people belonging to lower classes as well as Jews will be equal to them. We also get a subtle introspection on the concept of masculinity in this changing society.

Renoir through his visuals shows how all the characters are at times literally and at times thematically trapped by the war. We get his signature shots of frames within frame to metaphorically imply that the characters are trapped. Every character, be it French or German is trapped mentally and physically by the war. Even a high officer like Rauffenstein feels trapped in his claustrophobic chamber. They are all detached from the outside world. They want freedom, but are apprehensive about whether they will be ready for what awaits them on the outside once they get their 'freedom'. This internal apprehension of not being ready to live on the outside reminded me of 'The Shawshank Redemption'.

Like Powell & Pressburger did with 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp', Renoir is bidding farewell to an era where even wars were fought with a gentlemanly attitude. Although he does touch upon the class distinctions and some other aspects that plagued that earlier era, but he is primarily concerned with the humanism of that characters. So, we see the kindness between soldiers belonging to different nations. This can lead to a a criticism that the film is a bit overly romanticised and is a bit of a wish fulfillment exercise as it doesn't depict the brutalities of war. But I think a brutally real account of WW1 was never Renoir's vision. In the midst of the rise of the Nazi Party and the huge possibility of another war, he wanted to make a film that makes the viewers renounce extremism and in the process instill the spirit of a unified Europe, no matter how unrealistic it may seem. This is why I think 'La Grande Illusion' will work brilliantly as a double feature with Kubrick's 'Paths of Glory'. While the first shows soldiers from different nations treating each other with kindness, the latter shows French officers being monstrously merciless to their own French colleagues.

Renoir's visual style is beyond impressive. He uses very little editing in most scenes, instead he constantly keeps moving the camera to reveal other characters in the room or to reveal new parts of the interior which were earlier not visible in the frame. He also uses deep focus effectively to make the visual language of the film very character-inclusive in the sense that all the characters find importance in a scene. This inclusive nature of his style executed by tracking shots is epitomised by the famous scene involving the singing of 'La Marseillaise', a scene where he practically uses no cuts.

Performance wise, I'll give special mention to Jean Gabin, Erich von Stroheim and Pierre Fresnay.

'La Grande Illusion' is a film that I can watch over and over again and get something new out of it on each viewing. It is rich in humanism, thematic depth and Renoir's brilliant directorial skills. The title of the film itself is layered and open to many interpretations. What was the grand illusion? Is it the illusion that one can achieve freedom from the suffering by escaping from prison camps or is it the illusion that the world that awaits these soldiers after the war ends will be the same as the one that they left behind? Or is war itself the grand illusion that creates barriers between human beings who are all the same, but get divided based on geographical borders? Maybe it is one of them, maybe it is all of them.

Franklin Roosevelt said of it: "Everyone who believes in democracy should see this film". Mussolini banned it in Italy, and Hitler's Ministry of Propaganda banned it in Nazi Germany. The film vanished during WWII, and was thought to have been destroyed. Then it was recovered in 1946, but in an altered state. Decades would then pass before the original negative could be confirmed.

The Nazis hated the film because of its pacifist, anti-war, theme. The setting for the film is Germany in 1914, during WWI. Germans capture several French officers and take them to a POW camp, specifically for officers. After several escape attempts, the French officers get shuffled off to a presumably escape proof castle, run by Rauffenstein (Erich von Stroheim), a flamboyant German officer with a forbidding persona.

Unlike other war movies, "La Grande Illusion" shows no actual combat, and the number of deaths is minimal. The film's tone is surprisingly lighthearted. Writer/Director Renoir conveys a sense of community among the French prisoners, despite their differences in social class. We see them several times sitting around a table eating, and chatting amiably. The cordiality between prisoners and their jailers is also surprising. It's not exactly a hug fest, but the predominant feeling among the men is respect for fellow officers, even if those officers are your enemy. None of the French or German officers want war; it's just their "duty", when called on.

In most of the film, scenes take place in small rooms or in that castle. Toward the film's end, outdoor vistas provide a visual contrast. Except at the film's end, I was amazed at how drab the surroundings are. Room furnishings are unadorned and contain the barest of essentials. Tables and floors are made of simple wood. The clothes are dreary and depressing. The stone castle is dank and forbidding. Music is made with simple instruments, like a harmonica or a flute. Of course, given the time period and considering the setting, such drabness and simplicity are not surprising. But the contrast with today's complex world of modern luxuries, that we take for granted, is striking. The film's B&W cinematography accentuates the drab environment.

The story can be a bit confusing in the first half, because the relationship between the jailers and the prisoners is so unusual. Viewers need to give the film wide latitude on this. Watching the film a second time helps clarify who is doing what to whom. The plot is easier to follow in the second half.

The film's acting is credible. I especially liked the performance of von Stroheim, all decked out in that imposing uniform, that monocle, and with that stiff bearing.

"La Grande Illusion" is an unusual "war" film, one that had real significance during WWII. For this reason alone, it deserves to be seen.

What makes Grand Illusion a great movie, and the reason that some of us keep returning to it, is that it can't be reduced to a single simple proposition, the way that recent war movies like Platoon ("war bad," to quote Tarantino's synopsis) or Saving Private Ryan ("war senseless") can. It's easy to be sentimental about war, even while deploring it, by focusing on the horror of it or by making heroes out of those who are forced to fight. Renoir deals instead with the far more complex mesh of differences and alliances that separate and divide our characters. And while his main characters all have a clear class/national/religious identity, he makes much more out of them than just sociological categories.

But trying to explain why Grand Illusion is such a great movie by charting all the conflicting bonds of nationality, class, religion, etc. doesn't explain why the movie is so powerful. To me it is in those scenes in which language either separates our characters (as when Marechal tries and fails to tell the British prisoners about the tunnel or asks why de Boeldieu uses "vous") or unites them (as when von Rauffenstein and de Boeldieu speak in English or the English officer (in drag) sings the Marseillaise or when Marechal finally learns a little German). In these cases, Renoir uses language-without hitting us over the head to make the point-to illustrate the conflict between his ideal of sympathy between humans and the differences of class, nationality and religion.

Now I know that this sounds just as dry and academic as other attempts to explain Grand Illusion. Maybe it is; the movie really does not need to be explained to be enjoyed. But these are the scenes that, for whatever reason, have always made the greatest impression on me.