The Grand Illusion Reviews

It has been a while since I saw this flick but since it is such a classic, I was really eager to re-watch it. Honestly, it didn't expect to be blown away like this. I mean, I enjoyed it back then but I didn't remember that it was that good. This is indeed a true masterpiece directed by Jean Renoir and I thought it was just brilliant and worked on so many levels. Indeed, not only it is a great war drama, one of the best ever made, but there are also some thrilling escaping schemes and even some hilarious bits here and there. One of the thing I appreciated the most is that there was no bad guy, on either side, which is something actually quite unique. Basically, they had to kill each other because it was their duty but without the war, they could have been friends. All those characters might seem rather stereotypical but they were all actually really 3 dimensional individuals and quite spellbinding to watch, especially von Rauffenstein portrayed by the great Erich von Stroheim. And, obviously, it is a movie which deals with illusions, that this war would be the last one, that all those people from different social backgrounds (working class, wealthy ( Jewish or not), aristocrats) would get along after the war as well as they did while they were fighting together and that the Aristocrats were not actually a dying specie. Basically, it is one of the best movies about the 1rst World War and simply one of the best movies produced back then. To conclude, it is a great masterpiece, one of the best French movies ever made and it is a must see for any decent movie buff.