Of all the best films that were inspired by World War One, Jean Renoir's La Grand Illusion ranks the highest in any list of all-time great movies. It is also considered the finest anti-war movie ever made. Here are some memorable visual aspects of the classic.
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The Film Showed Worldwide and Generated Many Posters
This Is My Favorite |
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| Prisoner of War Status Did Not Eliminate the Class System |
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Jean Gabin As the Central character, Working-Class Lt. Maréchal,
Displays an Amazing Range of Emotions |
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French Captive Captain de Boeldieu Forms a Congenial Aristocratic Bond with the
Prison Commandant Captain von Rauffenstein, Played by Otto von Stroheim |
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The Cheerful Mood of a Prisoners' Stage Show Is Broken with the Announcement That Fort Douaumont Has Been Recaptured by the French—
Nationalism Reigns As the Performers Break Out "La Marseillaise!" |
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As de Boeldieu Lies Dying, von Rauffenstein Apologizes to Him for Shooting Him During
the Successful Breakout and Escape by Lts. Maréchal and Rosenthal |
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| The Stunning Final Scene—Maréchal and Rosenthal Escape into Switzerland |
In the second photo from the top, the character Cartier (in the middle, small, with beret) was based on Maurice Chevalier, already a well-known stage artist, also a prisoner-of-war in Germany.
ReplyDeleteIt was, incidentally in the POW camp where Chevalier learned English in his extensive spare time. A skill which stood him in good stead after the war, opening the way to Hollywood and stardom on the international stage. Chevalier was paroled/exchanged before the end of the war through intermediary of his lover/companion/partner Mistinguett.
For lovers of Great War music, 'la Grande Illusion' features a great choice of songs. Not only the stirring rendition of 'la Marseillaise' by the POWs during their music hall performance, but a version of 'Tipperary' by British prisoners in drag (obligatory in those days it seems), a solemn and yet sad 'Die Wacht am Rhein' a hilarious version of the catchy popular song 'Marguerite' as performed by Cartier/Chevalier in the best comical music hall tradition, while the movie starts off with another popular and slightly naughty French song from those long gone days 'Frou-Frou' ...
ReplyDeleteExcellent film, one of my favourites. Of course the von Stroheim character is one of the most lampooned as the archetypal Prussian of questionable sexuality, not least in Blackadder.
ReplyDeleteGreat film. A powerful glimpse of a vanishing world.
ReplyDeleteI particularly like the early scenes when dining with the downed pilots and expression of the old chivalry between knights of the sky. I am going to use it in a seminar in a discussion how war changed. Copies seem to be available on Amazon.
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