GRAND ILLUSION

GRAND ILLUSION - 1938

RATED - NR but probably PG for mild language.

RATINGS - 57 Amazon (4.5/5), 61,879 Netflix (4.0/5), 9,268 IMDB (8.1/10).

STARRING - Jean Renoir, Director. Considered to be one of top five directors of all time.

AWARDS - 1939 Academy Award nominee for BEST PICTURE.

THEMES - Class struggle, war, relationships, sacrifice.

STORY - The film itself is an amazing story but also the story of how the current print came to be. The Nazis stole the original print from the French as one of their first priorities at the beginning of WWII. It was considered 'Cinematographic Enemy Number One'. All showings later were from copies and pieced together with not so great quality. Decades later the original was found and is now the print used by Criterion, an almost perfect version with sharpness and clarity as if made yesterday. This is the prototype prison escape movie copied by many later. Not only a thrilling escape story but also the story of the end of the elite class in Europe. WWI was considered by many to be a 'gentleman's war' where honor and valor were still important and respected in your enemy. Remember the movie 'Silent Night' where they stopped the war on Christmas Eve to celebrate the birth of Jesus together and resumed the war the following day. This is about a prison camp conducted by the Germans where it was assumed the French would not try to escape because they had given their word. It is certainly a different kind of war and a different kind of war story. I won't reveal the story but to say that this is a great film on several different levels and although it is B&W with subtitles it is worth watching. If you want more about the actual story, Roger Ebert's review gives a good summary. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 07/26/2008.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB, ROGER EBERT