Grand Illusion (film)
Encyclopedia
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
directed by Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s...
, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak
Charles Spaak
Charles Spaak was a Belgian screenwriter who was noted particularly for his work in the French cinema during the 1930s...
. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who are prisoners of war during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and are plotting an escape.
The title of the film comes from a book—The Great Illusion
The Great Illusion
The Great Illusion is a book by Norman Angell, first published in Britain in 1909 under the title Europe's Optical Illusion and republished in 1910 and subsequently in various enlarged and revised editions under the title The Great Illusion....
by British economist Norman Angell
Norman Angell
Sir Ralph Norman Angell was an English lecturer, journalist, author, and Member of Parliament for the Labour Party.Angell was one of the principal founders of the Union of Democratic Control...
—which argued that war is futile because of the common economic interests of all European nations. The perspective of the film is generously humanistic to its characters of various nationalities.
It is regarded by critics and film historians as one of the masterpieces of French cinema
Cinema of France
The Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...
and among the greatest films ever made. Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
named Grand Illusion as one of the movies he would take with him "on the ark." Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
magazine ranked it #35 in "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.
Plot
During the First World WarWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, two French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
aviator
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
s — aristocratic Captain de Boeldieu (played by Pierre Fresnay
Pierre Fresnay
Pierre Fresnay was a French stage and film actor.Born Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach in Paris, France in 1897, he was encouraged by his uncle, the actor Claude Garry, to pursue a career in theater and film...
) and working-class Lieutenant Maréchal (Jean Gabin
Jean Gabin
-Biography:Born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, he grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise département, about 22 mi north of Paris. The son of cabaret entertainers, he attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly...
) — embark on a flight to examine the site of a blurred spot on photos from an earlier air reconnaissance mission. They are shot down by a German aviator and aristocrat, Captain von Rauffenstein (Erich von Stroheim
Erich von Stroheim
Erich von Stroheim was an Austrian-born film star of the silent era, subsequently noted as an auteur for his directorial work.-Background:...
). Von Rauffenstein, upon returning to base, sends a subordinate to find out if the aviators are officers and, if so, to invite them to lunch. During the meal, von Rauffenstein and de Boeldieu discover they have mutual acquaintances—a depiction of the familiarity, if not solidarity, within the upper classes that crosses national boundaries.
De Boeldieu and Maréchal are then taken to a prisoner-of-war camp
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...
. Soon after their arrival, they help dig an escape tunnel. However, just before it is completed, everyone is moved to another camp. Because of the language barrier, the Frenchmen are unable to pass word of the tunnel to the incoming British prisoners.
De Boeldieu and Maréchal are moved from camp to camp, finally arriving in Wintersborn, a mountain fortress prison commanded by Von Rauffenstein, who has been so badly injured in battle that he has been reassigned, to his deep regret. Von Rauffenstein says Wintersborn is escape-proof, but de Boeldieu and Maréchal have made numerous escape attempts.
At Wintersborn, the pair are reunited with a fellow prisoner from the original camp, Rosenthal (Marcel Dalio
Marcel Dalio
Marcel Dalio was a French character actor. He had major roles in two of Jean Renoir's most famous films, Grand Illusion and The Rules of the Game.- Biography :...
), a wealthy French Jew
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
who generously shares the food parcels he receives. Maréchal comes up with an idea after carefully observing how the German guards respond to an emergency. De Boeldieu volunteers to distract the guards for the few minutes needed for Maréchal and Rosenthal to escape. After a commotion staged by the prisoners, the guards are ordered to assemble them in the fortress courtyard. During the roll call, it is discovered that de Boeldieu is missing. He makes his presence known high up in the fortress, drawing the German guards away in pursuit. Maréchal and Rosenthal take the opportunity to lower themselves from a window by a homemade rope and flee.
Von Rauffenstein has the guards stop shooting at de Boeldieu, and pleads with his friend to give himself up. De Boeldieu refuses, and von Rauffenstein reluctantly shoots him in the stomach (though he was aiming for the legs). Nursed in his final moments by a remorseful von Rauffenstein, de Boeldieu laments that their usefulness to society (as aristocrats) will end with this war, and that he pities von Rauffenstein, who will have to find a new purpose in the emerging social order.
Maréchal and Rosenthal journey across the German countryside, trying to get to nearby Switzerland. Rosenthal injures his foot, slowing Maréchal down. They quarrel and part, but then Maréchal returns to help his comrade. They take refuge in the shed of German farm woman Elsa (Dita Parlo
Dita Parlo
Dita Parlo was a German film actress.Born Grethe Gerda Kornstädt in Stettin , Parlo made her first film appearance in Homecoming in 1928 and quickly became a popular actress in Germany...
), who has lost her husband and three brothers in the war. She generously takes them in and does not betray them when she has the chance. Maréchal begins to fall in love with her, but he and Rosenthal eventually leave after Rosenthal is healed. Maréchal promises to come back for Elsa after the war if he survives.
A German patrol sights the two fugitives crossing a snow-covered valley. The soldiers fire a few rounds, but then an officer orders them to cease fire, saying the pair have crossed into Switzerland.
Cast
- Jean GabinJean Gabin-Biography:Born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, he grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise département, about 22 mi north of Paris. The son of cabaret entertainers, he attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly...
as Lieutenant Maréchal, a French officer - Marcel DalioMarcel DalioMarcel Dalio was a French character actor. He had major roles in two of Jean Renoir's most famous films, Grand Illusion and The Rules of the Game.- Biography :...
as Lieutenant Rosenthal, a French officer - Pierre FresnayPierre FresnayPierre Fresnay was a French stage and film actor.Born Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach in Paris, France in 1897, he was encouraged by his uncle, the actor Claude Garry, to pursue a career in theater and film...
as Captain de Boeldieu, a French officer - Erich von StroheimErich von StroheimErich von Stroheim was an Austrian-born film star of the silent era, subsequently noted as an auteur for his directorial work.-Background:...
as Captain von Rauffenstein, a German officer - Dita ParloDita ParloDita Parlo was a German film actress.Born Grethe Gerda Kornstädt in Stettin , Parlo made her first film appearance in Homecoming in 1928 and quickly became a popular actress in Germany...
as Elsa, a widowed German farm woman - Julien CaretteJulien CaretteJulien Carette was a French film actor. He appeared in 127 films between 1931 and 1964. He suffered fatal burns when his nylon shirt caught fire from his cigarette; apparently he had fallen asleep while smoking....
as Cartier, the showoff - Georges PécletGeorges PécletGeorges Péclet was a French actor, film director and screenwriter.-References:* at "Ciné-Ressources"...
as an officer - Werner Florian as Sgt. Arthur
- Jean DastéJean DastéJean Dasté, born Jean Georges Gustave Dasté, was an actor and theatre director....
as a teacher - Sylvain Itkine as Lieutenant Demolder
- Gaston ModotGaston ModotGaston Modot was a French actor. For more than 50 years he performed for the cinema working with a number of French directors....
as an engineer
Production
According to Renoir's memoirs, von Stroheim, despite being born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
(then the Austro-Hungarian Empire) did not speak much German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, and struggled with learning the language along with his lines in between filming scenes.
The exteriors of "Wintersborn" were filmed at the Haut Koenigsbourg Castle
Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg
The château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg is located at Orschwiller, Alsace, France, in the Vosges mountains just west of Sélestat. The castle is nestled at a strategic location on a high hill overlooking the Alsatian plain; as a result it was used by successive powers from the Middle Ages until the Thirty...
in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
. Other exteriors were filmed at the artillery barracks at Colmar
Colmar
Colmar is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is the capital of the department. Colmar is also the seat of the highest jurisdiction in Alsace, the appellate court....
(built by Wilhelm II) and at Neuf-Brisach
Neuf-Brisach
Neuf-Brisach is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.The town's name means New Breisach, referring to the German town Breisach, located on the other side of the Rhine....
on the Upper Rhine
Upper Rhine
The Upper Rhine is the section of the Rhine in the Upper Rhine Plain between Basel, Switzerland and Bingen, Germany. The river is marked by Rhine-kilometers 170 to 529 ....
.
An early script version had Rosenthal and Maréchal agreeing to meet in a restaurant at the end of the war. In the final scene, everyone there would be celebrating the armistice, but instead of these men, there would be two empty chairs at a table.
Renoir was a French aviator during World War I. Gabin wears Renoir's uniform in the film.
Europe
After the film won a prize at the Venice Film FestivalVenice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
for "Best Artistic Ensemble" in 1937, the Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
declared Grand Illusion "Cinematic Public Enemy No. 1"
and ordered the prints to be confiscated and destroyed. Fearing negative influence on the fighting morale, French authorities banned the film in 1940 pour la durée des hostilités (i.e. as long as the war should last). This ban was renewed by the German Propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
-Abteilung
Abteilung
Abteilung is a German language word often used when referring to German or Swiss military formations...
in October of the same year. When the German Army marched into France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1940 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Nazis seized the prints and negative of the film, chiefly because of its anti-war message, and what were perceived as ideological criticisms pointed towards Germany on the eve of the Second World War.
United States
The film , released by World Pictures Corporation in the U.S. premiered on September 12, 1938 in New York City; Frank S. Nugent called Grand Illusion a "strange and interesting film" that "owes much to his cast":- Erich von Stroheim's appearance as von Rauffenstein reminds us again of Hollywood's folly in permitting so fine an actor to remain idle and unwanted. Pierre Fresnay's de Boeldieu is a model of gentlemanly decadence. Jean Gabin and Dalio as the fugitives, Dita Parlo as the German girl, and all the others are thoroughly right.
The film won the awards for Best Foreign Film at the 1938 New York Film Critics Circle Awards and the 1938 National Board of Review Awards
National Board of Review Awards 1938
-Best American Films:#The Citadel#Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs#The Beachcomber#To the Victor#Sing You Sinners#The Edge of the World#Of Human Hearts#Jezebel#South Riding#Three Comrades- Top Foreign Films :#Grand Illusion...
. At the 11th Academy Awards
11th Academy Awards
The 11th Academy Awards were held on February 23, 1939 at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. It was the first Academy Awards show without any official host, as well as the first to have a foreign language film nominated for Best Picture.This was the first of only two times in Oscar...
held on February 23, 1939, Grand Illusion became the first foreign language film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
.
Sixty years later, Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
called it "one of the most haunting of all war films" and an "oasis of subtlety, moral intelligence and deep emotion on the cinematic landscape"; according to Maslin:
- "It seems especially disarming now in its genius for keeping its story indirect yet its meaning perfectly clear. Its greatest dramatic heights seem to occur almost effortlessly, as a tale of escape derived from the experience of one of Renoir's wartime comrades evolves into a series of unforgettable crises and stirring sacrifices."
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
also reviewed the film after its 1999 re-release:
- "Apart from its other achievements, Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion influenced two famous later movie sequences. The digging of the escape tunnel in The Great EscapeThe Great Escape (film)The Great Escape is a 1963 American film about an escape by Allied prisoners of war from a German POW camp during World War II, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough...
and the singing of the "MarseillesLa Marseillaise"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song, originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792. The French National Convention adopted it as the Republic's anthem in 1795...
" to enrage the Germans in CasablancaCasablanca (film)Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
can first be observed in Renoir's 1937 masterpiece. Even the details of the tunnel dig are the same—the way the prisoners hide the excavated dirt in their pants and shake it out on the parade ground during exercise. But if Grand Illusion had been merely a source of later inspiration, it wouldn't be on so many lists of great films. It's not a movie about a prison escape, nor is it jingoistic in its politics; it's a meditation on the collapse of the old order of European civilization. Perhaps that was always a sentimental upper-class illusion, the notion that gentlemen on both sides of the lines subscribed to the same code of behavior. Whatever it was, it died in the trenches of World War I."
Prints
For many years, the original nitrate film negative was thought to have been lost in an Allied air raid in 1942 that destroyed a leading laboratory outside Paris. Prints of the film were rediscovered in 1958 and restored and re-released during the early 1960s. Then, it was revealed that the original negative had been shipped back to Berlin (probably due to the efforts of Frank Hensel) to be stored in the ReichsfilmarchivReichsfilmarchiv
The Reichsfilmarchiv was the state film archive of the Germany of the Third Reich. The first German national film archive, it was opened in 1935, and based in Berlin...
vaults. In the Allied occupation of Berlin in 1945, the Reichsfilmarchiv by chance was in the Russian zone and consequently shipped along with many other films back to be the basis of the Soviet Gosfilmofond film archive in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. The negative was returned to France in the 1960s, but sat unidentified in storage in Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
Cinémathèque
Cinémathèque Française
The Cinémathèque Française holds one of the largest archives of films, movie documents and film-related objects in the world. Located in Paris, the Cinémathèque holds daily screenings of films from around the world.-History:...
for over 30 years, as no one suspected it had survived. It was rediscovered in the early 1990s as the Cinémathèque's nitrate collection was slowly being transferred to the French Film Archives at Bois d'Arcy.
In August 1999, Rialto Pictures
Rialto Pictures
Rialto Pictures is a film distributor founded in 1997 by Bruce Goldstein. A year later, Adrienne Halpern joined him as partner. In 2002, Eric Di Bernardo became the company’s National Sales Director. It was described as “the gold standard of reissue distributors” by Los Angeles Times/NPR film...
re-released the film in the United States, based on the Cinematheque negative found in Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
; after watching the new print at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
called it "beautifully refurbished" and "especially lucid." The print was restored and released as the inaugural DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of the Criterion Collection.
Political and historical themes
In Grand Illusion, director Jean RenoirJean Renoir
Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s...
uses the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
(1914–1918) as a lens through which to examine Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
as it faces the rising spectre of fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
(especially in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
) and the impending approach of the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
(1939–1945). Renoir's critique of contemporary politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
and ideology
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
celebrates the universal humanity that transcends national and racial boundaries and radical nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
, suggesting that mankind's common experiences should prevail above political division, and its extension: war.
On the message of the film, Renoir himself said, in a film trailer dating from the re-release of the film in 1958:
- "[Grand Illusion is] a story about human relationships. I am confident that such a question is so important today that if we don’t solve it, we will just have to say ‘goodbye’ to our beautiful world."
Class
Grand Illusion examines the relationships between different social classes in Europe. Two of the main characters — de Boeldieu and von Rauffenstein — are aristocratAristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
s. They are represented as cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism is the ideology that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality. This is contrasted with communitarian and particularistic theories, especially the ideas of patriotism and nationalism...
men, educated in many cultures and conversant in several languages. Their level of education and their devotion to social conventions and rituals makes them feel closer to each other than to the lower class of their own nation. They share similar social experiences: dining at Maxim's
Maxim's
Maxim's refers to several commercial enterprises:*Maxim's Paris - a restaurant and brand owned by Pierre Cardin*Maxim's Catering - a restaurant and bakery chain based in Hong Kong...
in Paris, courting dalliances with the same woman, and even know of each other through acquaintances. They converse with each other in heavily formal French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, and in moments of intimate personal conversation, escape into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as if to hide these comments from their lower class counterparts.
Renoir depicts the rule of the aristocracy as in decline, to be replaced by a new, emerging social order, led by men who were not born to privilege. He emphasizes that their class is no longer an essential component to their respective nation's politics. Both von Rauffenstein and de Boeldieu view their military service as a duty, and see the war as having a purpose; as such, Renoir depicts them as laudable but tragic figures whose world is disappearing and who are trapped in a code of life that is rapidly becoming meaningless. Both are aware that their time is past, but their reaction to this reality diverges: de Boeldieu accepts the fate of the aristocracy as a positive improvement, but von Rauffenstein does not, lamenting what he sarcastically calls the "charming legacy of the French Revolution".
Renoir contrasts the aristocrats with characters such as Maréchal (Gabin), a mechanic from Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The lower class characters have little in common with each other; they have different interests and are not worldly in their views or education. Nonetheless, they have a kinship too, through common sentiment and experience.
Renoir's message is made clear when the aristocratic de Boeldieu sacrifices himself by distracting the prison guards by dancing around, singing, and smoking his cigarette, to allow Maréchal and Rosenthal, members of the lower class, to escape. Reluctantly and strictly out of duty, von Rauffenstein is forced to shoot de Boeldieu, an act that de Boeldieu admits he would have been compelled to do were the circumstances reversed. However, in accepting his inevitable death, de Boeldieu takes comfort in the idea that "For a commoner, dying in a war is a tragedy. But for you and me, it's a good way out", and states that he has pity for von Rauffenstein who will struggle to find a purpose in the new social order of the world where his traditions, experiences, and background are obsolete.
The film's critique of the romantic idealization of duty is comparable to that in the earlier film All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque was a German author, best known for his novel All Quiet on the Western Front.-Life and work:...
.
Race
Renoir briefly touches on the question of antisemitism through the character of Rosenthal, a son from a nouveau richeNouveau riche
The nouveau riche , or new money, comprise those who have acquired considerable wealth within their own generation...
(wealthy, but not aristocratic) banking family who happens to be Jewish (an obvious parallel to the Rothschild banking family of France
Rothschild banking family of France
The Rothschild banking family of France was founded in 1812 in Paris by James Mayer Rothschild . James was sent there from his home in Frankfurt, Germany by his father, Mayer Amschel Rothschild...
). It is thought that Renoir created this character to counter the rising anti-Jewish campaign enacted by Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's government in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Further, Rosenthal is shown as a symbol of humanity across class lines: though he may be financially wealthy, he shares his food parcels with everyone so that he and his fellow prisoners are well fed—when compared with their German captors. Through the character of Rosenthal, Renoir rebuffs Jewish stereotypes.
War
Renoir seeks to refute the notion that war accomplishes anything, or that it can be used as a political tool to solve problems and create a better world. "It is a grand illusion", says Rosenthal, speaking of the belief that this is the war that will end war forever.Grand Illusion is a war film
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
without any depiction of battle. Instead, the prisoner of war camp
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
setting is used as a space in which soldiers of many nations have a common experience. Renoir portrays war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
as a futile exercise. For instance, Elsa, the German widow, shows photos to Maréchal and Rosenthal of her husband and her brothers who were killed, respectively, at the battles of Verdun
Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun was one of the major battles during the First World War on the Western Front. It was fought between the German and French armies, from 21 February – 18 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France...
, Liège
Battle of Liège
The Battle of Liège was the opening engagement of the German invasion of Belgium, and the first battle of World War I. The attack on the city began on 5 August 1914 and lasted until the 16th when the last Belgian fort finally surrendered...
, Charleroi
Battle of Charleroi
The Battle of Charleroi , or the Battle of the Sambre , was fought on 21 August 1914, between French and German forces and was part of the Battle of the Frontiers. The French were planning an attack across the Sambre River, when the Germans launched an attack of their own...
, and Tannenberg
Battle of Tannenberg (1914)
The Battle of Tannenberg was an engagement between the Russian Empire and the German Empire in the first days of World War I. It was fought by the Russian First and Second Armies against the German Eighth Army between 23 August and 30 August 1914. The battle resulted in the almost complete...
. Ironically, of these battles, some were among Germany's most decisive victories in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Through this device, Renoir refutes the notion that one common man's bravery, honor, or duty can make an impact on a great event. This undermines the idealistic intention of Maréchal and Rosenthal to return to the front, so that by returning to the fight they can help end this war.
Soundtrack
The soundrack has many well known songs of the day from French, English and German cultures.- Frou-Frou (1897) lyrics written by Montréal and Blondeau, music by Henri Chatau, performed by Lucile Panis.
- "Il était un petit navireIl était un petit navirethumb|Théodore Géricault's painting The Raft of the Medusa"Il était un petit navire" is a traditional French song that is now considered a children's song, despite its macabre tone....
" (There Once was a Little Ship), played by de Boeldieu with his penny whistleTin whistleThe tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, English Flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, Tin Flageolet, Irish whistle and Clarke London Flageolet is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, American Indian flute, and...
to distract the German guards from Rosenthal and Maréchal's escape, a traditional French song http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Il_%C3%A9tait_un_petit_navire about a shipwrecked sailor that must cannibalize another sailor to survive. Later in the film, the fugitives Rosenthal and Maréchal shout the song sarcastically at one another as they have a near falling out. - Frère JacquesFrère Jacques"Frère Jacques" , in English sometimes called "Brother John" or "Brother Peter", is a French nursery melody. The song is traditionally sung in a round. When the first singer reaches the end of the first line the next person starts at the beginning...
, a French nursery rhyme - It's a Long Way to TipperaryIt's a Long Way to TipperaryIt's a Long Way to Tipperary is a British music hall and marching song written by Jack Judge and co-credited to, but not co-written by, Henry James "Harry" Williams. It was allegedly written for a 5 shilling bet in Stalybridge on 30 January 1912 and performed the next night at the local music hall...
- Si tu veux Marguerite (1913) by Harry FragsonHarry FragsonHarry Fragson was a British music hall singer and comedian, born in Soho, London. While living in Paris, he developed an act involving impressions of French music hall performers, which gradually became popular, allowing him to introduce his own material. He came back to London in 1905 and became...
- La MarseillaiseLa Marseillaise"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song, originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792. The French National Convention adopted it as the Republic's anthem in 1795...
, the French national anthem
External links
- Cowie, Peter "Grand Illusion", Criterion Collection essay
- Morgan Bird, "Insurmountable in Their Wake: Paradox and Ideology in Cavell's Reading of La Grande Illusion in the Stanley Cavell special issue, Jeffrey Crouse (ed.), Film International, Issue 22, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2006, pp. 43–45.