La Grande Illusion (1937)
Genre: Drama / War
Duration: 114 minuten
Alternative titles: The Grand Illusion / De Grote Illusie
Country:
France
Directed by: Jean Renoir
Stars: Jean Gabin, Erich von Stroheim and Pierre Fresnay
IMDb score:
8,1 (40.054)
Releasedate: 4 June 1937
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
La Grande Illusion plot
"A Great Drama of Human Emotions"
First World War. A couple of French and British are imprisoned in a German camp. They try to make their lives as pleasant as possible by smuggling in good food and making a plan to get themselves out of the camp.
Actors and actresses
Le lieutenant Maréchal
Le capitaine de Boëldieu
Le capitaine von Rauffenstein
Le lieutenant Rosenthal
Elsa
Cartier, l'acteur
L'ingénieur
Le serrurier
Le sergent Arthur
L'instituteur
Reviews & comments
Sir Djuke
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- 349 messages
- 970 votes
Wartime and class struggle illuminated from a French, German and English point of view in beautiful images by Jean Renoir. An international star cast (Jean Gabin, Erich von Stroheim) in a film that did not appeal to Goebbels (Joseph, not Phillipe).
mjk87 (moderator films)
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- 13973 messages
- 4240 votes
Very strong film by Renoir. On the surface first of all just a very entertaining movie in that camp with all the prisoners. Whether that camp life was really like that (I can imagine officers had it relatively good) I don't know, but it was believable enough to go along with it. Then it also plays a role that the film is primarily a comedy and not a realistic drama. And the last half hour itself becomes emotional.
But what makes this film rise above the ordinary comedy is what Renoir says about war, already well articulated by The One Ring, to which I have little to add. But the period in which this film is released also gives this film just that little bit more, just before the Second World War. And Renoir shows this especially at the end with people who don't need war and just help each other, Germans and French. And even more cynical, stop fighting when they've crossed a man-made border. What are we still fighting for?
That said all. Certainly the first hour and a half are also a bit too light on the surface to really get under the skin. And film remains an audiovisual medium for me, and this film was a bit boring to say the least. Visually nothing special to see and the music is nice, but also not very uplifting. Therefore only 4.0*
Dievegge
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- 3094 messages
- 8010 votes
The title can be interpreted in two ways. He can hit on the big escape trick, such as when an illusionist distracts attention with his right hand while secretly swapping cards with his left. It could also be the misconception that La Grande Guerre would be the last war. In 1937 they already knew better.
Jean Renoir was a pacifist. He was also for a classless society. In the camp you see a bond develop between the German and the French captain because they are both noblemen. Yet the German shoots at the Frenchman, against his will but out of a sense of duty. Anti-Semitism is also criticized, which is not self-evident in 1937. The best thing is when a relationship develops between Lieutenant Maréchal and the widow Elsa. She has reason to hate the French, for they killed her husband. However, these two individuals break through the national barrier.
As the son of a painter, the director was interested in visual compositions and the landscape of Alsace. Some things are said to be censored in Hollywood, most notably the cross-dressing show and the hints that Rosenthal is gay. The different acting styles are striking: the physical of Jean Gabin versus the theatrical of Pierre Fresnay. Marcel Dalio was a son of two Romanian Jews. Erich von Stroheim himself came up with the idea of wearing a corset. It is a captivating drama with profound ideas but also moving, exciting and funny moments.
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