Grand Illusion

1937 "A Great Drama of Human Emotions"
8.1| 1h54m| en| More Info
Released: 12 September 1937 Released
Producted By: Réalisation d'Art Cinématographique
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Budget: 0
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Synopsis

A group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal, grapple with their own class differences after being captured and held in a World War I German prison camp. When the men are transferred to a high-security fortress, they must concoct a plan to escape beneath the watchful eye of aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, who has formed an unexpected bond with de Boeldieu.

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Reviews

Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.
Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.
Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
grantss 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.
joshuaevans-16138 I thought I had watched every WWI and WWII imaginable but stumbled across this by accident. What a fantastic movie. I holds up across decades and would recommend it to anyone who is connoisseur of WW movies. This has the feel of Casablanca yet with multiple locations and better cinematography and lighting. What a gem.
eddie052010 There are certain films that, due to their strong reputation and historical significance, are supposedly beyond criticism. Citizen Kane, Seven Samurai, 2001, The Godfather and many more are examples of films that despite not being necessarily perfect, many say that they are beyond criticism, and that if you do criticism them, you must discuss what masterpieces they are first. One of those films is Grand Illusion. Considered to be one of the first prison escape movies ever made, the film is meant to be one of the best ever made, for not only being the grand-daddy of prison escape films, but for having great characters, an engaging story and a strong anti-war message laying underneath its skin. However, while it does have many positive attributes, Grand Illusion isn't the masterpiece everyone believes it to be, due to poor narrative and being very overlong.The plot is that after being shot down during an aerial battle, a group of French soldiers are sent to a German prison. Here, they decide to escape, and use many cunning plans in order to do so. That's really all of the story there is here, and while its simple nature makes it seem impossible to screw up, the story is poorly told here. This is due to how there isn't much of a story throughout much of the film, and many scenes consist of characters talking about things not story related or utterly pointless scenes as well (i.e. a scene where the prisoners display a show to the Germans) that should have hit the cutting room floor. Because of this, the film feels very baggy and overlong as a result. It also doesn't help that the character development is quite inconsistent. While I understand that the film is essentially an ensemble piece, there are too many characters for the film to juggle, leading to few characters we care about or are interested in, and many we couldn't care less about. It also doesn't help that there isn't much threat from the villain characters, as they act very friendly towards the heroes and in a later scene when a protagonist dies, the villain tends to his need. Sure, the scene that this leads to is a wonderful moment (something the film sadly has too little of) and it does represent director Jean Renoir's pacifist views but it fails to create any tension or conflict within the story, and if the audience doesn't care about the events on screen, then what's the point of watching?The film isn't a complete disaster though. The film is clearly well made , some of the characters are at least interesting and the cast are excellent, with Jean Gabin, Marcel Dalio & Erich von Stroheim in particular giving standout performances. It is also at least an entertaining experience for the most part, and it is also an interesting watch, as it is compelling to see one of the first prison escape films and to see how it influenced later prison escape films as a whole.It is because of this that while Grand Illusion isn't a complete failure, it is very flawed and it hasn't aged very well, due to its overlong length, barrage of pointless material and lacking any tension or suspense for the most part. However, there are some great moments here and there and the acting is fantastic overall. So in conclusion, what you have is a mediocre film that despite its iconic status is quite problematic. However, it is worth checking out to see one of the forerunners of the prison escape genre, and is occasionally brilliant here and there. If you must get it, get the Criterion version above all others, as it goes into great detail about the film, it's history, cast biographies and Nazi ban. To be honest, the edition gives the film a better treatment than it perhaps deserves.
SnoopyStyle During WWI, French aviators aristocratic Captain de Boeldieu and working class Lieutenant Maréchal are taken prisoners. Boeldieu and the victorious aristocrat German aviator von Rauffenstein actually has a lot in common. The two captives have differing experiences finally arriving in Wintersborn prison commanded by von Rauffenstein. The prison duo and Rosenthal try to escape.There are some interesting parts in the first half. It's about 50 minutes when they get to the castle prison. A modern POW escape movie would send them to one place and let the tension built. The second half is closer to that idea. The castle prison isn't the most impressive or the most forbidding. That holds back the movie a little.The characters are well drawn. The actors are very natural. Beside an escape movie, this is very much a relationship movie. It's their different backgrounds and their connections that make this more. It's a fairly compelling movie but it's not really a war movie. There is very little action or even gun fire. This is more of a human relations movie. I do wish that the original duo stay together throughout the movie. That way their relationship could develop more.