‘La grande illusion’ REVIEW: Unravelling the illusion of warfare
‘La grande illusion’ REVIEW: Unravelling the illusion of warfare
A scene from La grande illusion.
This review contains spoilers for La grande illusion.
Barbarity and annihilation are the two key features that are never lost in the anti-war genre, as it completely highlights the futility of the war itself; that both sides obliterate each other to death until one side gives up and all that’s left is the aftermath of a tragedy. These films expose and often criticize humanity’s biggest and deadliest conflicts, either by showing it upfront, like Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory, or satirizing it up, like Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator. While execution and delivery differs, the core message of these films stays the same: to depict the inhumanity of war.
Director Jean Renoir attacked the genre in an intricately different manner with La grande illusion and posed a critical question to the topic at hand: are wars really inevitable? During World War I, as a French plane is shot down by a German cavalry officer, Rittmeister von Rauffenstein (Erich von Stroheim), and two French pilots, Captain de Boëldieu (Pierre Fresnay) and Lieutenant Maréchal (Jean Gabin) are taken in a German prisoner-of-war camp. Together with their fellow POWs, they organize an escape by digging the tunnel, but as they are about to escape, they are transferred to an inescapable fortress prison, Wintersborn—which is handled by von Rauffenstein himself. They meet a familiar prisoner, a French Lieutenant Rosenthal (Marcel Dalio), and there they devise another escape plan—which will be their last, in one way or another.
Pierre Fresnay and Erich von Stroheim in La grande illusion.
What sets this film apart from the rest in its genre is its unconventional way of criticizing wars and conflicts. It analyzes the root problem of every warfare ever–class, religious, and nationalistic differences–while simultaneously not showing the atrocities of the war itself. These differences can help the characters tremendously, just like how both von Rauffenstein and de Boëldieu found a common ground due to their aristocratic background. But it can also hinder them back, like how Maréchal failed to tell that they’ve dug an escape tunnel to a British hostage. The film highlights the true causes of war to make a point not many films have tackled prior to its release.
The characters’ thoughts also mirror the people’s fear during its release. Times are changing, and that’s becoming prevalent as both women and minorities gain more rights and privileges, class division slowly diminishes, and men’s preconceived notions of masculinity gradually shatters. It’s best seen in von Rauffenstein’s character, as he dreads the time where he, an aristocrat, and a common man will be indistinguishable. The film reminds its audience to accept change, especially during a time where political extremism is rising in Europe.
Pierre Fresnay and Erich von Stroheim in La grande illusion.
For a commoner, dying in a war is a tragedy.
But for you and me, it’s a good way out.— Captain de Boëldieu
One particular scene that ties the film’s core themes of class division, intolerance, and war is during de Boëldieu’s last moments. He said the line above to von Rauffenstein in hopes that he would persuade him to accept change, in a world where traditions of the past are becoming out-of-date. World War I was also coined as ‘the war to end all wars,’ but reading this review a century after can make someone think that nothing truly has changed. As long as the elite refuse to embrace diversity and humanity, wars will continue to happen and lives will be lost again and again. The grand illusion that war can ever result to peace is ludicrous, to say the least, and it’s this highly significant message that makes Renoir’s 1937 film much more powerful and relevant, even today.
That message wasn’t lost to Paul Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister who labeled Renoir as the ‘cinematic enemy number one’ and commanded the film’s complete erasure in existence. The overall idea that the film presented might seem too pacifistic that it romanticized and completely transformed the war into something other than it is–warfare. But Renoir’s optimism shedded a long-forgotten light to humanism and the film is a testament that peace can only be achieved if humanity becomes one with itself.
Jean Gabin in La grande illusion.
Renoir also showcased his superb directorship by making every single element of the film chime in symphony. Both the visuals and the dialogue go hand-in-hand spectacularly well, and it’s best seen during the film’s critical moments, like in de Boëldieu’s death or during the one-shot performance of ‘La Marseillaise.’ The director lets the film speak for itself and seeing how critics and film historians label it as a cinematic masterpiece shows how great Renoir is in encapsulating his ideology and transforming it into art.
The lead ensemble’s performance is absolutely breathtaking, as Gabin, Dalio, and Fresnay epitomized the characters assigned to them. Every single dialogue, whether it be a joke or a serious matter, flows in the most authentic way possible. La grande illusion solidifies how much cinema can transform and affect real life, and that on its own is beautiful.
