Lieutenant Maréchal (Gabin) and Captain de Boëldieu (Fresnay) are two French aviators in the midst of World War I. They are shot down by German noble, and aviator, Captain von Rauffenstein (Stroheim). Maréchal and Boëldieu are sent to a prison camp where they find themselves amongst a group of comrades set on escaping. The light-hearted tone of La Grande Illusion provides for a unique anti-war film.
La Grande Illusion is not a drama, highlighting the hardships and violence of war, or the stark differences between us and them, or rather, good and evil. Instead, La Grande Illusion highlights the similarities of the different sides. Neither side wants the war to continue and seems equally worn down. Although framed as enemies, the Germans and French share a comradery of allies instead of enemies.
The prison camp serves as an oasis away from the war. The food is better, the company is respectable, and everyone desires for the war to be over and for the suffering to end. They even get together to stage vaudeville shows. The camp functions more like a city during peace time.
The Grand Illusion
The characters desire to escape the prison so that they can continue the fight and win the war. A win that could mean the end of all wars, “a grand illusion”. At the same time that the prisoners wish to, and actively work to, escape the prison, they also admit to experiencing the best conditions and states of mind since the war started.
Their patriotic idealism is undermined by the juxtaposition between their lives in the war camp and of their stories from outside the camp. Outside the camp, prejudice against Jews runs rampant, notably for Rosenthal (Dalio) and poverty in their home towns stifle their quality of life. They wish to leave, yet the life they wish to return to resembles the life they live in the camp.
The actions and statements by the characters continually seem to contradict their experiences throughout the film. They appear to be blinded by patriotism. For example, after Maréchal and Rosenthal escape the prison, they do not wish to go home, but to the front to continue the fight. For them, the only way to end the war is to be a part of it. Although, this idea is touched on when they run into a German farmhouse ran by a widow, Elsa (Parla), and her child. She is lonely in the house and takes them in as they desperately escape capture. As they discuss the war, she looks at pictures of her husband and brothers and comments on how they all died at various battles. She notes that they are all great victories. Victories that came at the cost of her fallen loved ones that were just a few of the countless masses that dies during these battles.
Pre-World War II & Censorship
La Grande Illusion takes place during World War I, however the film is less a historical time piece of World War I France and more of an anti war film released while World War II was germinating. Tensions were clearly high during the years leading up to World War II. Renoir was sending out a warning in La Grande Illusion, nothing can be gained by war and war only leads to loss.
It is not a surprise that German leadership at the time censored the film. A popular French film highlighting the similarities of French and German soldiers and championing the camaraderie of fellow human being over that of national interests must have been enraging to those like Hitler and Goebbels. While La Grande Illusion was celebrated and acclaimed around the world, it was simultaneously seized and destroyed as the German military got its hands on copies.
Directed by: Jean Renoir
Cinematography: Christian Matras
Written by: Charles Spaak & Jean Renoir
Editing By: Marguerite Renoir & Marthe Huguet
Starring: Jean Gabin, Marcel Dalio, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim, Dita Parlo, & Julien Carette.
Runtime: 1h 53m
Genre: Drama, War
Distributed by: Réalisation d’Art Cinématographique
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