Most recently watched by sensoria
A group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal, grapple with their own class differences after being captured and held in a World War I German prison camp. When the men are transferred to a high-security fortress, they must concoct a plan to escape beneath the watchful eye of aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, who has formed an unexpected bond with de Boeldieu.
Length 114 minutes
Marcel Dalio | Erich von Stroheim | Carl Koch | Julien Carette | Gaston Modot | Jean Gabin | Dita Parlo | Pierre Fresnay | Georges Péclet | Werner Florian | Jean Dasté | Sylvain Itkine | Claude Vernier | Jacques Becker | Claude Sainval | Pierre Blondy | Michel Salina | Georges Fronval | Habib Benglia | Roger Forster | Karl Heil | Albert Brouett | Little Peters
One of the great anti-war movies, and one I’d never seen before. When I came across the Criterion DVD at my library, I decided it was time to rectify that.
Not only is La Grande Illusion a great anti-war film, but it also takes a big chunk out of class distinction by highlighting the humanity in everyone, showing that there really are no distinctions between landed gentry and commoners, Germans and French, etc.
It’s easy to see the influence of this film on The Great Escape as well.
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