from R.A.C. (Réalisation d'art cinématographique)
Directed by
Jean Renoir
Starring
Jean Gabin ...Lieutenant Maréchal
Dita Parlo ...Else, the farm woman
Pierre Fresnay ...Captain de Boieldieu
Erich von Stroheim ...Captain von Rauffenstein
Julien Carette ...The Showoff
Georges Péclet ...An Officer
Werner Florian ...Sergeant Arthur
Jean Dasté ...The Teacher
Sylvain Itkine ...Lieutenant Demolder
Gaston Modot ...The engineer
Marcel Dalio ...Lieutenant Rosenthal
Jacques Becker ...An English Officer
Claude Sainval ...Ringis
Michel Salina
Written by
Jean Renoir (also story)
Charles Spaak |
 Jean Renoir's
brilliant and beautiful masterpiece about the tragedy of war,
the seemingly impossible dream of a lasting peace, and the power
of personal friendships to transcend national conflicts. When
Boeldieu (Pierre Fresnay), an upper-class French officer in World
War I, gets shot down during a mission, he becomes the Germans'
prisoner of war. Von Rauffenstein (Erich von Stroheim), the courtly
German commander whom Boeldieu first encounters after being taken
captive, instantly forms a bond with the Frenchman, a bond born
of social and educational similarities. But Boeldieu's loyalties
remain with his fellow prisoners, and he helps them plot a great
escape -- an escape that may cost both Boeldieu and Von Rauffenstein
dearly. Film won international acclaim delving into the senselessness
of war. Academy Award Nominations: Best Picture. Orson Welles
once said: "If I had to save only one film in the world,
it would be 'Grand Illusion'." "La Grande Illusion"
won an award at the Venice Film Festival, as well as the New
York Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Film in 1938. (This
was the first time such an award was given by the critics.) Its
pacifist views, however, were none too popular with the emerging
fascist governments of Germany and Italy, who banned the film.
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