Grand Illusion (French: La Grande Illusion) is a 1937 war film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who are prisoners of war during World War I and are plotting an escape.
The title of the film comes from a book — The Great Illusion by British economist Norman Angell — which argued that war is futile because of the common economic int...
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Grand Illusion (French: La Grande Illusion) is a 1937 war film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who are prisoners of war during World War I and are plotting an escape.
The title of the film comes from a book — The Great Illusion by British economist Norman Angell — which argued that war is futile because of the common economic interests of all European nations. The perspective of the film, which is regarded by critics and film historians as one of the masterpieces of French cinema, is generously humanistic to its characters of various nationalities.
During the First World War, two French aviators — aristocratic Captain de Boeldieu (played by Pierre Fresnay) and working-class Lieutenant Maréchal (Jean Gabin) — 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...
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