Grand Illusion

Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion (1937) is an overly earnest pacifist statement that hasn't aged very well. Today, it's perhaps most interesting as the blueprint for every prisoner-of-war movie ever made.

During World War I, a pair of French pilots - Captain Boeldieu (Pierre Fresnay) and Lieutenant Marechal (Jean Gabin) - are shot down, and taken prisoner, by German Captain Von Rauffenstein (Erich Von Stroheim). The aristocratic Boeldieu and Rauffenstein strike up a friendship, while the working-class Marechal is left in the cold. The Frenchmen arrive in a POW camp, are transferred after an escape attempt, and finally end up in Wintersborn, a forbidding fortress deep in Germany. Boeldieu finds Rauffenstein commanding the camp, but this doesn't stop him, Marechal and the Jewish Rosenthal (Marcel Dalio) from plotting an escape.

Grand Illusion's artistry and influence are undeniable. The entire prisoner-of-war genre rests on Renoir's foundation: Stalag 17 reproduced the scenario for laughs, Bridge on the River Kwai turned Boeldieu and Rauffenstein's friendship into twisted gamesmanship and The Great Escape's tunnelling scenes are lifted almost verbatim. Also, a scene of French POWs defiantly singing La Marseillaise no doubt inspired a similar passage in Casablanca. For its cinematic importance, Grand Illusion is on a list with Birth of a Nation, Battleship Potemkin and Citizen Kane.

Renoir's film is also beautifully made. Christian Matras's expressive photography is quite striking, and there's an interesting mix of sets and beautiful French locations. Renoir can certainly stage a setpiece, and makes use of beautiful symbols (Boeldieu's rose) throughout. There are no battle scenes (or even much sign of a war) but a viewer doesn't miss it when the drama is so compelling. On a human level, though, the film's effect is mixed.

Fans of Grand Illusion see a moving anti-war film, but I find it stiff and awkward. Renoir's commentary on class differences is fudged: Boeldieu and Rauffenstein are much more appealing than our proletariat protagonists, who seem almost clownish. Similarly, Renoir overdoses on the humanism: behind the lines, French and Germans are good pals, except where class distinctions interfere. Escaping prisoners are shot with greatest reluctance, or even allowed to escape. This "brotherhood of man" approach culminates in a treacly, overlong finale, with Marechal and Rosenthal holing up with a pretty German widow (Dita Parlo). These scenes would be powerful in a more balanced film, but we're so invested in the officer relationship that what happens to these doofs doesn't register.

Pierre Fresnay and Erich Von Stroheim own the film. Their relationship is beautifully rendered and tragic, and the movie loses steam when they leave the scene. By contrast, Jean Gabin and Marcel Dalio's characters aren't very interesting; their only trait is war-weariness and they register as symbols rather than characters. Dita Parlo makes an impression despite minimal screen time.

Grand Illusion is not my cup of tea. It has strong elements that make it worthwhile, and no one can deny its importance to film history. However, it hasn't stood the test of time nearly as well as, say, All Quiet on the Western Front.