"Grand Illusion" - Film Review

Saying Grand Illusion is a prison break movie doesn’t do it justice. Much of the film is about a group of French POW’s attempting to escape from a war camp and later a mountaintop castle. But it’s also more importantly about the things people do in the face of the futility and pointlessness of war.

Grand Illusion frequently has little in the way of plot, but is content just to observe people as they live their lives and try to survive. It’s a joyously humanistic work that’s filled with all different sorts of personalities.Our two big protagonists Captain de Boeldieu and Lieutenant Maréchal (Jean Gabin and Pierre Fresnay) are French officers taken in as prisoners of war when their plane is shot down in First World War. They soon find themselves in the company of other French POW’s who have begun tunneling towards freedom. But when they’re not digging their way to uncertain freedom, they joke around, work in a garden and even put on a play. 

The film, for all its bleak undertones on the arbitrary nature of war, is rather funny. Soldiers use jokes as defense mechanisms, and different country’s soldiers throw jabs at one another. Julien Carette’s Cartier stands out as the clown amongst the bunch, always trying to lighten the mood. 

The film breaks down into three segments. The first two revolve around “prison breaks” at two very different holding centers. The first is a war camp, but the second is a chateau lorded over by commanding officer Captain von Rauffenstein (Erich von Stroheim – noted character actor). The third becomes something far more contemplative. The two soldiers, Maréchal and Rosenthal (Marcel Dalio) who have escaped try to make their way to Switzerland but find themselves starving and cold. Rosenthal has broken his ankle and the two of them are at eachother’s throats. A sweet German widow Elsa (Dita Parlo) with a daughter is kind enough to take them in until they’re prepared to move on. Maréchal falls for the woman which makes his inevitable departure all the more painful. 

Grand Illusion isn’t concerned with making a good versus evil conflict out of its story. The Germans and French see themselves as just playing their role in the war, and both sides complain about the pointless nature of the war. The French POW’s don’t seem angry at their captors and respect their position. Both prison escape attempts come from a motivation simply to pull it off, break the rules, and stave off boredom rather than some ill-will, grudge, or fear towards their captors. Much of this provides Grand Illusion with a lovely naturalistic quality. 

All of this sounds like it would be so obvious and forced but director Jean Renoir handles it with a simplicity, subtly and grace that puts other films who've attempted its sentiments to shame.

Funny, sad, and thrilling, and filled with great performances, Grand Illusion is a deeply humanistic film. 

Grade: A-