Grand Illusion (1937)
The Gist:
Two Renoir films in a row, this one being probably Renoir's second most noted film in his oeuvre (following Rules of the Game, of course). The film plays out like a slightly more somber take on The Great Escape, where the morality of the film is less distinct. Here, we have a band of resolute French men who are bent on breaking out of their POW camp because (as it was emphasized in The Great Escape as well) that's just what you do, you help your side by making as much trouble for their side as possible. Namely, escape. Here though, we have a German figure who is seen as an outright sympathetic character, who even develops a strong friendship with one of the men in the group. I think it's from this later half of the film that the narrative strays from the enjoyable camaraderie that draws comparisons to its Steve McQueen counter part and starts to delve into darker territory. The escape forces the amiable German officer to fire his own weapon at this friend, two others from the group escape and nearly starve to death in the winter countryside of Germany, they are rescued by a German widow who begins a doomed Romance with Jean Gabin. The first half of the film was enjoyable, but the second half was absolutely poignant.
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