Grand Illusion - Criterion Collection

Rating:
Summary: "Neither you nor I can stop the march of time"
Review: To say Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion is simply a war film is to ignore its deeper layers of significance. The film's prison escape elements are suspenseful and exciting but its meditation on the decline of the old European order is its main theme. World War I not only ushered in the era of modern warfare but destroyed the illusion that gentlemen were still gentlemen in times of war. The film begins with French aristocrat Capt. de Boieldieu (Pierre Fresnay) and French commoner Lieutenant Maréchal (Jean Gabin) being captured by the Germans. Both men are taken to a prison camp where camp commandant, Von Rauffenstein (Erich von Stroheim) immediately identifies a blue-blooded kindred spirit in de Boieldieu. The captured Frenchmen bide their time and wait for an opportunity for escape while de Boieldieu lulls Von Rauffenstein into a state of comfort by giving him "gentlemanly assurances" that such an action would be dishonorable. Nevertheless, an opportunity for escape presents itself one night and Von Rauffenstein is forced to confront the fact that aristocratic class loyalty carries little weight in a world now belonging to the commoners. von Stroheim's performance of a man blinded by romantic notions of propriety is touching and tragic at the same time. The image he produced of a broken-bodied Von Rauffenstein in his neckbrace has attained iconic status in the annals of film history. The second half of the film follows a pair of escapees in their cross-country trek through German territory. The two men are hidden from German patrols by a farm widow who - like Von Rauffenstein earlier - sees a kindred spirit in the common Frenchmen. As both men find sanctuary and protection in the widow's household, Renoir puts a symbolic exclamation point on his message that it is now the commoners who have truly triumphed in the new world.

Rating:
Summary: Greatest Film Ever Made
Review: Towers over all other films, although "Grand Illusion" requires repeated viewings to fully appreciate the films layers and complexity, even the first time one can't help but be moved and overwhelmed by the originality, intelligence, performances, direction and beauty of this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Essential
Review: Wonderful movie, amazing print quality, and one of the best commentary tracks (Peter Cowie) that I have heard.

Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE GREATEST FILMS EVER MADE
Review: [...]This totally involving Jean Renoir classic is one of the most perfect pieces of cinema anyone is likely to ever come across. I dare you to find a single flaw! The acting is superb; the story about honor and loyalty and survival, transcends antiwar classification. It's one of those slowly paced unforgetable experiences about men in World War I POW camps. Von Stroheim and Pierre Fresnay are magnificent: the epitome of dignity and human decency and nobility. This is just about as great as movies get. There isn't a single false note or wasted image here. And that glorious geranium! A true work of art for viewers who truly love the cinema.