Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir-1937)

Directed by Jean Renoir

Produced by Albert Pinkovitch

Written by Charles Spaak and Jean Renoir

Edited by Marthe Huguet and Marguerite Renoir

Music by Joseph Kosma

Cinematography by Christian Matras

Starring Jean Gabin, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim, Marcel Dalio, Julien Carette and Dita Parlo

Country/Language- France/French

Background

Grand Illusion (or La Grande Illusion, the original French title), was the film that catapulted its maker Jean Renoir to international fame, becoming a major success across the world- it was the first film from a foreign country and in a foreign language to earn a best film nomination at the Oscars -and established him as a major figure in world cinema, a reputation which has lived to this day.

Son of the French impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Jean Renoir started his career as a filmmaker in 1924 with the silent film Catherine ou Une vie sans Joie (Backbiters) staring his first wife Catherine Hessling. Most of his early films were star vehicles for his wife and were for the most part self-financed using the money gained by selling paintings which he had inherited from his father. These early films were modestly successful but it was not until the 1930's that he gained renown as a filmmaker.

Renoir had made a brief stint as a pilot in the French Cavalry during World War One and was injured by a bullet in his leg, one that would stay with him throughout his life. It was during this period that he fell in love with the movies and listened to many a soldier's tale of life in the trenches, providing him with the raw material for his film. Almost 20 years after the war, Renoir collaborated in the screenplay with Charles Spaak on the war (or anti-war) film that would eventually be Grand Illusion.

Plot

The film begins with Lieutenant Marechal (Jean Gabin) and the aristocratic Captain de Boeldieu (Pierre Fresnay) of the French army being captured by Captain von Rauffenstein (Stroheim) of the German army- who, like Boeldieu, has aristocratic roots -and sent to a Prisoner of War camp. Realising the similarity in their backgrounds, Rauffenstein and Boeldieu strike a friendship with each other almost immediately.

At the prisoner-of-war camp, Boeldieu and Marechal meet other soldiers from their country among whom is the wealthy and kind hearted Jew Rosenthal (Dalio) and the vaudeville actor Cartier (Carette). Soon, they begin plans for escaping from prison. As they keep trying one method after another to escape, bonds are formed between the inmates and the story becomes one of human relationships than about the war. In fact, there is hardly any violence in the film that one would normally expect from a war film.

On another level, the film reveals Renoir's understanding and his deep compassion for the human race. This is evident in the way he shows how people of warring countries, who would normally obliged to kill one another on the battlefield, are friends when they are not fighting. This example is perhaps more demonstrated in the relationship between Rauffenstein and de Boeildeu, though they will be brought face-to-face in a duel towards the end of the film. This lends to the film an intensely humanistic tone, underlining the common humanity that people of different countries share.

The film stresses not only the common humanity inherent in man, it also portrays the differences between people of different social standings- the aristocrat, the working man, the intellectual and the merchant -and how they affect the lives of one another. But most importantly, it is a study of the crumbling of the old world order, which was ruled by the aristocrats and the coming up of the new world order, which was that of the common man. This is clearly explicated in the dialogue sequence between Rauffenstein and Boeldieu ("Nobody can stop the march of time" laments Boeldieu).

One of the great strengths of the film is the script, which places such strong emphasis on characterization that each of the characters, from the aristocrat Boeldieu to the vaudevillian Cartier, take on a life of their own. As the film progresses, one senses that Renoir is less concerned with dramatic structure than with portraying intricate subtleties between its characters.

Credit must also go to the performances in the film, which are beyond excellence. Jean Gabin, at the height of his fame, comes out with a stellar performance as Marechal, while the great actor-director Erich von Stroheim delivers perhaps his most memorable role as von Rauffenstein. The same applies to Marcel Dalio, Julien Carette and Pierre Fresnay, who stand out in their roles.

Another aspect that should not be overlooked is Renoir's technique. Clearly, Renoir inherited his father's gift for visual beauty and uses his camera to guide the viewer through the image, the same way a painter would guide the eyes of the viewer through his composition, through fluid tracking shots and long takes. Renoir has a fluidity in his camera style that, considering the fact that cameras back then were big, bulky equipment, remain remarkable.

Renoir was one of the prime exponents of the long take where whole scenes were covered with a static or moving camera and editing was minimized. Even in the 30's, it was widely taken for granted- thanks to the extensive theorizing by Soviet theorists -that the essence of film art lay in editing. As a result, Renoir's technique was generally underestimated and would have to wait for Andre Bazin's championing of the long take for it to become a legitimate cinematic device.

Reception

The film courted both success and controversy because of its anti-war stance. Two years later, when the war broke out, Renoir fled the country for Hollywood and for long it was believed that the Nazis, who deplored the film, destroyed the camera negative of the film upon entering France. It was, however, recovered several decades later in a film archive at Moscow and a newly restored print was immediately struck from it. The film had a great run in the United States and Orson Welles called it a film he would carry with him "on the ark".