Title: La Grande Illusion
Director: Jean Renoir
Country: France
Year: 1937
Running time: 114 min, 94 min. (original)
Starring: Jean Gabin, Dita Parlo, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim, Marcel Dalio
Criterion Spine No: 1
Background
Made at the height of Jean Renoir’s film career, Grand Illusion has long been a classic of French Cinema. At the time of it’s release the Nazi Propaganda Minister banned it, which lead to the destruction of many of the prints during the Nazi occupation of France. After the war it was thought that the original print of the film had been destroyed and subsequent distributions of the film were of copied prints. However, in the early 1990’s the original was rediscovered and became the first of the Criterion Collection DVD releases. Having now seen this edition, I can say that it is an exceptionally clear copy.
First impressions
What makes it work as a war film is that, while war is always present in the background, the piece as a whole focuses on the human element removed from the fighting but still strained by its effects. What makes it work well is that this is all done with great subtlety. Whereas today issues of shared humanity and class obligation would be presented with dramatic looks and heroic swells of the orchestra, here the characters simply exist. They don’t enact humanness, they just are human.
Review
In general I like war movies about as much as cats like taking a shower: On rare occasions the experience takes, but the vast majority of the time the encounter results in a lot of hissing and disgruntled moping. My problems tend to center around the heavy-handed depiction of honor and heroism that is juxtaposed against the message that war is horrible. Can there be honor during war, yes. Is war horrible, yes. However, dramatic music and emotional montages of bloody, filthy skirmishes don’t actually accomplish much. Maybe that’s why I actually enjoyed Grand Illusion.
Despite continual reminders that World War I carries on, Grand Illusion never forgets to laugh. Though the jovial attitude of the characters is occasionally a coping mechanism for the emotional strain of being away from family and country, it is also frequently just an aspect of the men’s personalities.
The men (and the few women that appear) feel real. The Germans might be the enemies but they aren’t evil or vindictive, they’re doing their job, a job the French acknowledge as necessary. Themes of class, race and the destructive nature of war play out through the characters. Captain de Boeldieu and Captain von Rauffenstein hold themselves to an aristocratic sense of honor, separated from the other soldiers though not loftier. Rosenthal comes from a wealthy Jewish family who raised themselves up from nothing to run one of the largest banks in France. He then in turn shares this wealth with his fellow prisoners, countering the shrewish stereotype. When Maréchal becomes upset at having been in solitary, his German guards acknowledge that his distress stems from the war continuing for too long.
The overall messages of the film, once distilled from the experiences of the characters, are ones of the futility of war and its inability to accomplish anything substantial. As Rosenthal says, “You can’t see borders, they’re human creations. Nature could care less.” A sentiment shared by their German pursuers who, upon seeing Maréchal and Rosenthal run across the presumed borders of Switzerland, lower their guns and remark, “Good for them.”
Second Opinion
While I generally agree with Karah’s review of Grand Illusion, I need to make a note of the superb directing from Jean Renoir. Whereas most war movies are, as Karah described them, “heavy-handed”, the viewer barely feels Renoir’s hand guiding the progress of Grand Illusion. Subtle touches effectively build the atmospheric tension in a way many modern filmmakers could learn something from. A careful eye for each element of every shot defines the film, from both figurative and literal shadow guards, to the background props of a cross-dressing stage production, Renoir leaves nothing to chance, and imprisons the viewer in his world as surely as the characters.
Also, does Jean Gabin look like Kenneth Branagh to anyone else?
-Nick
Closing Thoughts
Creating real, human characters gets more across to the viewer than sweeping, overarching themes painted with a thick brush.
