Grand Illusion

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Abraham M May 31, 2018 Interesting WW1 drama. Western Front, World War 1. Captain Boeldieu and Lt. Marechal are shot down and captured by the Germans. For them the war is over, it seems, but they have other plans. Interesting WW1 drama, written and directed by the famed French director Jean Renoir. Could be described as an anti-war drama, as it does not glamorize life in wartime at all. Quite original in that respect as most movies of the time (All Quiet On the Western Front would be another exception) romanticized war. Also quite novel for its time in that it shows life in a POW camp - it was only in the 50s and 60s that POW movies became popular (Stalag 17 and The Great Escape being the best examples). Not brilliant though, and hardly the classic I was expecting. The story isn't overly compelling nor profound and ends in fairly predictable fashion. Renoir's camerawork seems a bit amateurish at times, with jarring, clumsy panning shots. Some of the acting is a bit hammy, with Erich von Stroheim, as von Rauffenstein, to the fore. See more

Kylo P Jan 13, 2018 A graceful anti-war message, Renoir enables us to experience the idiosyncratic ways of individuals in an absurd context -fucking war. See more

Hermione S Oct 16, 2017 Grand Illusion is one of those POW camp stories like The Great Escape or King Rat (the movie, not the book), that portrays life in POW camps as a sort of fun holiday, marked by camaraderie and comic antics. Why would anyone want to leave such a place? You don't really understand the characters' motivation to escape (something about a duty to get back to the war front, maybe?), so the drawn-out sequences of the digging are boring, not suspenseful. I get showing the horrible reality wouldn't play well with audiences, so there's no way it would get past the studio execs, but it diminishes the POW experience. You never see a POW in these movies looking underfed or beaten to the brink of death (all these movies also only depict officers, not the enlisted men, who would have been worse off). Their drag shows come off as crass in light of the historical reality. Having said that, this movie's strengths lie in Eric von Stroheim's amazing and iconic performance as the genteel German officer, and the touching human drama contained in the film's final act. Quality movie overall, you just have to imagine actual conditions being much worse to get invested in the film. See more

Luke S Aug 7, 2017 To be honest I have mixed feelings and thoughts about this movie. It didn't impress me at all as it should have; probably it requires another viewing. As a POW drama it isn't that marvelous. But still it is very complex and contains many humanistic messages, which the world required at the time, alongside showcasing of the different approach to everything within the hierarchical structure of human society. See more

Hagrid W Oct 3, 2007 want to see this because it was nominated for best picture at the oscars, won best foreign film with the NBR, and won best foreign-language film with the NYFC See more

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Grand Illusion

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