GRAND ILLUSION (1937-FRANCE) - DVD

With JEAN GABIN, ERICH VON STROHEIM, PIERRE FRESNAY. Directed by JEAN RENOIR. Universally acclaimed as one of the finest anti-war movies ever made, Jean Renoirs memorable classic manages to convey wars many absurdities without showing a single combat scene. The great French director focuses instead on the complex relationships among prisoners of war, and between prisoners and captors, during "the war to end all wars." A group of French aviators escape from various German camps, before ending up in a secure stone fortress headed by the very man who had originally shot them down - an impeccable, rigid Prussian officer played to perfection by Erich Von Stroheim. The commandant and an equally aristocratic French officer discover a great deal in common, including the sad realization that their class is dying out. Eventually, a lower-class Frenchman (Jean Gabin) and a representative of the rising Jewish middle class escape and find refuge on a German womans farm. The warm relationships that develop among these three beautifully demonstrate that the barriers of class, religion and nationality can be overcome; that such barriers, as well as the value of war itself, are only "grand illusions." Renoirs overwhelming compassion creates a world in which there are no heroes or villains - only people, trying to unite in a common humanity under most difficult circumstances. His movie has everything: powerful social statements, poignant drama, genuine humor, suspenseful escape sequences and a remarkably understated - but nonetheless assured - use of visual techniques and sound. One of a handful of films that almost everyone agrees truly deserve to be called "masterpieces." In French with English subtitles. 161 minutes.

Region: 0 Plays on ANY NTSC compatable player or computer.

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