MUBI

Doyen of the poetic realism movement Jean Renoir once wrote ’It’s not by being realistic that one has the best chance at capturing reality’, ergo La Grande Illusion is not a very ‘realistic’ war film at all. It shows no battles, no fighting, no drills, no explosions or bodies being blown to bits. It’s focus
is on the internal and eternal struggles within man, almost all of the action takes place in a prisoner of war environment, and avoids POW cliches of sadistic guards and plucky prisoners et al. By delineating a nuanced moral universe Renoir was able to make one of the greatest indictments of war ever filmed, and of the artificial barriers it creates to prevent true communality of spirit, one that is embracing of difference and not cowed into xenophobic myopia. Post WW2 French film greats Rene Clement and Alain Renais were to use the same oblique method to illuminate the horrors of war with Jeux Interdits and Hiroshima Mon Amour respectively.

While constructing a personal humanist masterpiece that has at it’s core an understanding that the things that unite us as humans are greater than the things that divide us, the film cannot be viewed as other than a political statement. The film was produced on the tail end of a left-ist French govenment and movement known as the Front Populaire, fighting the tide of right wing dominance in Europe, particularly in Spain, Italy and Germany, all the while knowing another war was all but certain. Renoir has as a central protagonist a Jewish character, Rosenthal (Marcel Dalio), who is pointedly generous, deflating the typical cultural/racial stereotypes that right wing groups of the period after the war shamelessly exploited, paving the way for Nazism. Renoir also has Marechal (Jean Gabin) drop an aside about the ‘Russian steamroller’, creating wry amusement amongst the soldiers. This referred to the alliance France had signed with Russia that should have ensured WW1 never happened, that the threat of the Russian steamroller would keep the Kaiser in check. Of course it was a myth or worse, a lie, as the disastrous early months of fighting for Russia proved, her army was shambolic, ill-equipped and at the mercy of an incompetent Tsar and administration as much as German bullets.

Renoir, who served in the Great War as an infantryman at first, and then later joined a flying squadron, made the film as a tribute to a friend of his who was caught and escaped the Germans 7 times.The film opens with a scene in the recreational hall, Marechal listening to a jaunty song and being ribbed about women by the other flyers, establishing him as a romanticist. His senior officer De Boeldieu (Pierre Fresnay) interrupts a potential tryst to enlist him in a recognisance mission to investigate an area over enemy lines. We see neither the plane, nor them being shot down, merely cutting to the German aristocratic officer Von Rauffenstein (Eric Von Stroheim) arranging to have the flyers dine with them in the German officers quarters, but only if they are officers. Renoir sets up the importance of class, even above nationality, as the aristocrats find they have more in common with their enemies than with their men. Formal codes, issues of honour and gentlemanly behaviour are tacitly understood.

The French are delivered to their prison and settle in to life in the camp. The lower classes deal with incarceration with humour and communality, the officers believe escape is a matter of honour. Levity is introduced via the prisoners putting on some entertainment, the lack of women creating both pathos and comedy when a young man dresses as a woman for the show, inadvertantly attracting the gazes of the other men. Renoir uses news of a French town being re-taken by the French, then by the Germans then the French again (‘there can’t be much left of it’) as a device for Marechal to lead the men in a defiant singing of the national anthem (shades of Casablanca!) Marechal spends some time in solitary and suffers from being alone, Renoir knows that a man is a communal animal and to survive this extreme situation empathy and help is required, indeed he is given succour by an old German guard who passes him a harmonica to break the monotony. The French are re-located on the eve of an escape attempt, and find themselves at camp Winterborn, now being run by Von Rauffenstein.

War has been unkind to Von Rauffenstein and with his accumulated injuries he’s been invalided out of active service and reduced to the equivalent of a jailer or policeman, no honour in that for him. De Boeldieu renews his acquantaince with the German, and they discuss all manner of things, including a riff on how all upper class diseases will one day filter down to the lower classes and that war is an accelerator for this, ‘war makes all germs equal’. Von Rauffenstein regrets the imminent passing of the system that has accorded them rank and privelege, De Boeldieu is more accepting of an egalitarian future, ironic given that some of the French foot soldiers had voiced mis-trust of his class behind his back. The German has difficulty in accepting the Frenchman’s acceptance of the Jew Rosenthal as an officer, surely an indicator of the decay of the aristocracy and “a charming legacy of the French revolution”. Von Rauffenstein knows his friend must attempt to escape, and ironically he is the one who ends up shooting him, respecting the fact that he’s sacrificed himself to allow the Jew and Marechal to successfully flee. He stays by his side as De Boeldieu dies with honour, ‘not a bad way out for us’, and Von Rauffenstein knows he is left with a future devoid of meaning, where existence is futile.

Marechal and Rosenthal make the long hike through the countryside heading for Switzerland, supporting and arguing, cajoling and falling out, finally exhausted they hole up in a remote farm house. At this point Renoir introduces Elsa (Dita Parlo) the only woman in the film, a German widow who helps them evade capture and in the process falls in love with Marechal, and he with her. Elsa has paid a massive price for her countries wars, not only her husband but mentioning a series of ‘great victories’ she points to a photograph of her three brothers that were killed in them. Language and nationality vanishes as love finds a way and human need trumps imperialism. The Frenchman finally escape over a non existant border ‘there are no borders in nature’.

Renoir had a curiously old fashioned view of the Great War, common enough for the upper class of the time, one that viewed the conflict as a ’gentleman’s’ war. This may be due to the fact that he was able to escape the horror of trenches and find some small degree of solace in the air.
At it’s heart La Grande Illusion has hope for mankind. In all the mad, imperialist ugliness of that conflict there are the small moments that sustain us, the miracles of connection and empathy that rise above petty nationalism. Borders shift, governments change, class structures crumble, but human feelings are eternal and only by connecting ourselves and not shutting our hearts off can we survive and prosper. A timeless and masterful ode to humanity, the film was ironically mis-read and unappreciated upon release, a siren warning for the impending world war couched in the lessons of the first was too much for the national mood of France in 1937. Renoir was to move on to the glories of La Bete Humaine and La Regle Du Jeu in the next few years before Europe again exploded and exiled him in the wave of emigrees and refugees to Hollywood, who would have an equally problematic relationship with his singular talent. Renoir was an artist, as great as his father in many ways, his canvas the shimmering silver screen and his brushes the words and images with which to construct his poetic and revealing portraits like this one. Merci.

Grand Illusion is a war film that focuses very little on war. Instead it focuses on those who have been brought together by war and how cultural and class differences affect their interactions. From the beginning Renior makes a point of mentioning the class differences between the men. It is made clear to us that De Boeldieu and Von Rauffenstein are both men of the aristocratic class. In the scene where the men are eating together after Rauffenstein has shot down their plane, De Boeldieu and Rauffenstein discover that they know each other through acquaintances. This demonstrates that class can often transcend cultural and national borders. Throughout the film Rauffenstein and De Boeldieu seem to have a relationship between them because of their common class that De Boeldieu doesn’t even seem to share with his fellow French servicemen Maréchal or Rosenthal.

This film also serves as a meditation for the collapse of the world order that dies after World War I. In on brilliantly done scene De Boldieu sacrifices himself so that Maréchal and Rosenthal can escape and Rauffenstein is forced to kill him. One is able to see the reluctance Rauffenstein has about shooting his friend and fellow aristocrat. As De Boldieu dies he laments about how the role of the aristocracy in society is dwindling and feels sorry that Rauffenstein is left to struggle to find a place. De Boldieu says, “For a commoner, dying in a war is a tragedy. But for you and I, it’s a good way out.” Rauffenstein then symbolically cuts his geranium, lamenting for his friend and marking the end of the world order that he is familiar with.

The film deals a great deal with artificial walls that are put up between different people. These walls can be nationalistic, cultural, or class divisions. The theme of national differences is emphasized by language barriers. When Maréchal leaves his original camp he tries to tell the incoming British officers about the tunnel but they are unable to understand him. However, Renoir proves that these differences are easily overcome. When Maréchal encounters Elsa neither of them are able to speak the other’s language. Despite this, they are still able to form a connection and fall in love. Even national borders are easily overcome. The end of the film shows Maréchal and Rosenthal crossing the Swiss border. “You can‘t see a frontier, they are man‘s invention. Nature ignores frontiers.” Rosenthal says this in reference to the Swiss border. Even thought they cross a line that does not exist in actuality, the troops cannot shoot or go after them because of the meaning that man has given this imaginary line. Therefore Renoir makes a statement that these walls exist only because man has erected them and assigned a superficial meaning to them.

It’s no surprise that a son of one of the most famous painters in the world could create as visually beautiful a movie as Grand Illusion. This film uses stunning set design and elegant camera movement to create an astonishing mise-en-scène as well as to further the storyline. The panning style adds a fluidity to the film and melds the set together giving the viewer a larger scope. The viewer can see more of the set design than one would normally and allows one to appreciate the mise-en-scène even more. The viewer also has a better sense of perspective throughout the film. When focused on one action or person the camera will often pan instead of cut to another. This serves to remind the viewer that the one subject the camera was focusing on was but one subject among countless others. It also reminds us that all they are all connected.

One scene in which the pan plays a major role is the scene where the men in the POW camp receive women’s dresses for a musical they are putting on. One man tries a dress on and a pan is shown of several still men looking on. The panning connects the action of the men with that of the man dressed as a woman. As the camera moves, the men are also very still with no movement. For a moment, the film mimics a painting. The camera’s movement almost imitating a paint brush as it sweeps past the men and finally focuses again on the man in drag. Perhaps, Renoir is paying an honor to his father the famous impressionist painter, Pierre-Auguste Renoir by taking caméra-stylo a step further and wielding a camera as a painter uses his brush.

Considered one of the first films to deal with the whole prison escape theme, The Grand Illusion is an anti-war film directed by renowned French director, Jean Renoir. Two French soldiers are shot down and held prisoner in a German POW camp during World War 1. While there, they meet other French captives, and they all form their own bonds while living together. They all plan on escaping through a tunnel they started to dig underneath the planks that hold their beds, but things don’t go as planned.

Jean Renoir does a tremendous job here. The Grand Illusion is well known for its humanity, which is clearly shown here not only by the prisoners, but also by the German captives. Everyone in this film seems to realize how pointless and tiresome the war is, and it has gotten to the point where they ease up on their prisoners because, frankly, they just don’t want to go through all the trouble they would have to by dealing with the French’s kooky shenanigans.

One scene that really stuck out to me was towards the end, when our trio of prisoners plan on escaping the new fortress that they’re thrown into. Earlier in the movie there is a conversation about patriotism, and how everyone had their own way of showing it. When the trio plan on escaping, only two of them can make it. Boieldieu ends up giving his life for his fellow comrades, and it’s this way that he truly shows his patriotism for his fellow man.

The filmmaking is well done. The black and white photography works really well here (yeah, I know, there was no other choice). No wonder that Renoir was such a filmmaking icon, especially for the French New Wave movement that came into effect almost 20 years later. This is a classic that stands the test of time.

Renoir’s masterpiece is an incredible critique of the social and political divisions that consumed Europe before and during the first world war. It champions universal humanity over idealogical and political divisions, resulting in one of the great anti-war, pro-human films ever made. Along the way, it manages to comment on European class systems, race relations, and most especially war and the romatic idealization of duty. Like all truly great art, it points out the commonalities that unite human beings to one another, and the obligation that entails. However, the film never fails to be less than totally engrossing and entertaining.

It took me a little bit to get into, but when i finally did, i didn’t want it to end. Great film! much better than Rules of the Game. Unlike other reviewers, i feel as if Grand Illusion could be looked at as being a film on how we are all puppets in someone elses stage performance. No soldier on either side really wanted to be at war, but they were and niether seemed capable of ending it. it almost seemed as if the film was small snapshot of another world that is constantly at war and all soldiers have learned to live with it and respect each other.

I see this film as an indictment of man’s inhumanity to man and the silly things we let separate ourselves from others – race, class, level of intelligence, gender, sexuality, etc. Just about all of it is covered in this film. It’s gloriously entertaining, a delight to watch as with all Renoir’s films.
It may not be Rules Of The Game, but the ideas expressed there are definitely sprouting here, and Rules Of The Game seems to be more focused on class.

The first thing you need to know is that this WWI POW film has much in common with The Breakfast Club. But we’ll get to that later. You’ll also be surprised to know that this Criterion DVD release is amazingly accessible. Later installments include the lengthy, meditative Solaris and the jarring, odd Alphaville, but Grand Illusion is as watchable as many modern dramas. You don’t have to have a PhD in Film Studies to appreciate the movie.

The film tells the story of Lieutenant Marechal (Jean Gabin) and Captain de Boldieu, two French officers fighting the first world war. Marechal is a pilot and blue collar guy while de Boldieu is an aristocrat. They are shot down by Captain von Rauffenstein, a German aristocrat, while flying a reconnaissance mission. Von Rauffenstein, even in the midst of warfare, gives the officers a distinguished welcome and toasts their arrival, sharing wine with them at his table. Bullets might not care about your station in life, but von Rauffenstein is determined to preserve social order in spite of the chaos.

These opening moments tell us what will be at stake throughout the film. War and captivity to some degree strips combatants of their social standing. But von Rauffenstein will seek to preserve them. He will lay out rules for the men to follow as if they are playing a game. He knows the men will try to escape captivity—it is their role as officers—but he expects de Boldieu to behave in a manner befitting his bloodline. The old order will be preserved. In a conversation late in the film between de Boldieu and von Rauffenstein, they share a recognition that the old order is dying. The German captain is knowingly fighting a losing battle.

In fact, throughout much of the film, the soldiers all treat each other will surprising kindness. The German soldiers are workmanlike and never particularly cruel to their captives. The captives are surrounded by barbed wire and the guards all carry guns, but the mood among the men is generally upbeat. They put on stage productions and the American officers all carry tennis rackets.

If I had not first listened to the spirited introduction by director Jean Renoir included on the DVD, I would have been tempted to view these niceties as ironic, an absurd vision constructed to examine class conflict. But Renoir fought in the war himself and declares that World War I was a conflict fought between gentlemen before Hitler destroyed the “spirit of humanity.” As a conflicted pacifist, I don’t know whether to be disturbed by this vision of a more tidy war or to realize that Renoir is showing that social niceties could and were preserved in the more subdued prison camps.

And here is where we arrive at The Breakfast Club similarities. You have to think John Hughes watched Grand Illusion a few dozen times while penning his tale of teen angst and clique disintegration. (Incidentally, I always thought the ending of The Breakfast Club was far too rosy. I would have preferred if the movie featured a crushing epilogue in which Bryan (Anthony Michael Hall) shows up at school only to be punched by Emilio Estevez with Molly Ringwald on his arm while Judd Nelson ignores him and Ally Sheedy in the distance crumbles dead leaves with intensity. And is anyone else po’d that Sheedy’s conformity is treated as triumphant. But back to Renoir…) Just as five teens discover common bonds while confined to Saturday detention, the prison camp forces the working class, the aristocrat, and people of different races and ethnicity into cooperation with one another. Renoir’s vision isn’t as pleasantly trite as that of Hughes, but they do share a similar theme.

Renoir seems to conclude that this cross class cooperation is an illusion and unsustainable. Not long after Marechal and the moneyed, Jewish captive Rosenthal leave the camp, they begin shouting at one another and name calling. When Marechal must cut short a war time romance with a German woman and vows to return to her, Rosenthal tells him that the idea is ridiculous and unrealistic. Captivity and conflict have ironically has brought out the better natures in some men. But the disappearance of inter-class struggle and resentment is chimerical.

The director regularly employs long takes and deep focus—objects in the foreground appear as clearly as those in background—in the film. We are given a great deal to observe at any given moment. Because of this, the film rewards multiple viewings. We can observe several actors reacting at once which often forces us to choose where to place our focus. From a technical standpoint, the use of long takes combined with a moving camera are a marvel as they require precision from the actors who must deliver lines without error and always be acting and for the production crew who must remain invisible. Where a director like DePalma will use the long take and appearance of a long take to wow you with his technical mastery, Renoir uses his in service to story. Renoir becomes unobtrusive and the actors, story, and setting solidify in our minds.

Grand Illusion is justifiably labeled a classic and made for a fine start to my noble quest.