4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Feb 11, 2016
I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been bred on a certain brand of war movie, but I naively went into Grand Illusion expecting a typical P.O.W. drama. In the back of my mind, I was even ready to compare this title to later works like Stalag 17 (1953) or The Great Escape (1963). Hone read more
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Feb 11, 2016
I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been bred on a certain brand of war movie, but I naively went into Grand Illusion expecting a typical P.O.W. drama. In the back of my mind, I was even ready to compare this title to later works like Stalag 17 (1953) or The Great Escape (1963). Hone read more
Grand Illusion (“La grande illusion”) (1937) Directed by Jean Renoir Written by Jean Renoir and Charles Spaak 1937/France Réalisation d’art cinématographique (RAC) Repeat viewing #106 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die IMDb users say 8.1/10; I say 10/10 I consider read more
Before we talk about the film, I’d like to shine some light upon the director, Jean Renoir. Born in Paris, he was the son of the impressionist painter Pierre Renoir. In World War I, he fought in the French army, and earned a Croix de Guerre for his heroism that left him suffering from wounds that read more
I can’t figure out who Renoir had in mind when he made Grand Illusion. It goes without saying he placed incredible trust in his audience, but his expectations are somewhat beyond anything else I’ve seen. Grand Illusion is a film with events–momentous, important events–but th read more
