La grande illusion [Grand Illusion] (1937)

(Criterion Streaming, November 2019) As one of the proclaimed great films of all time, there is a lot to like in La grande illusion, but one of the most striking aspects of its success is how it blends surface thrills with much deeper concerns in a package that’s certainly not seamless, but has plenty of material for everyone no matter their level of film or historical literacy. Not only that, but the film delivers everything in ample style—writer-director Jean Renoir being one of the great figures of the French poetic realism movement. At face value, it’s a story about French prisoners of war in a WW1 detention camp, and their escape and flight to neutral territory. So far so good—there’s a compelling narrative to follow right there for those uninterested in deeper material (although the pacing of the film makes it clear that it’s not just a war escape story). But there is plenty of deeper material as well, starting with the kinship between upper-class French and German officers, and an examination of characters in the confined environment of a prisoner-of-war camp. This is where the film scores some of its best moments, some of them shamelessly quoted in later films (such as escape mechanics in The Great Escape, and a defiant rendition of La Marseillaise in Casablanca). Deeper still, however, we get into Renoir’s central themes about the crumbling European upper clauses, and the necessity of humanism even in time of war. It’s not a mean-spirited war movie, nor does it glorify it as an adventure. It does make for an impressive even today—firing on all cylinders, delivering a very controlled film. La grande illusion remains essential for students of cinema. But if you want a real story, dig into the amazing journey of the original film negative during and after World War II—especially since everyone presumed it had been lost.