History Film / TheGrandIllusion

This film, released a decade before the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for best foreign-language film was given out, was the first film in a language other than English to be nominated for Best Picture. It remains one of only nine. It was also the first film released on UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} by Creator/TheCriterionCollection. Oh, and Maréchal's uniform? That was Jean Renoir's uniform from when he fought in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.

During WorldWarOne, two French aviators, aristocratic Captain de Boeldieu (Pierre Fresnay) and working-class Lieutenant Maréchal (Jean Gabin), embark on a flight for a reconnaissance mission. They are shot down by a German aviator and aristocrat, Captain von Rauffenstein (Creator/ErichVonStroheim) who upon returning to base, sends a subordinate to find out if the aviators are officers and, if so, to invite them to lunch. During the meal, von Rauffenstein and de Boeldieu discover they have mutual acquaintances. From there the French aviators are moved to an officers' POW camp.

Here they are quartered in a room with other French officers, including Lieutenant Rosenthal (Marcel Dalio), the son of a Jewish banker, who supplies the others with food and delicacies sent from France via the Red Cross. The officers are digging a tunnel to escape from the camp, but shortly before it is finished, they are transferred to another camp. After several transfers (and failed off-screen escape attempts), de Boeldieu, Maréchal and Rosenthal are reunited in a camp in an old castle. The commandant is Major von Rauffenstein, now invalided out of frontline duty; he feels an affinity towards fellow aristocrat de Boeldieu, and talks with him about how the WorldWarOne is bringing an end to the class they belong to and its code of honour. De Boeldieu provides the diversion necessary to permit Maréchal and Rosenthal to escape, forcing Rauffenstein to shoot him.

This film, released a decade before the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for best foreign-language film was given out, was the first film in a language other than English to be nominated for Best Picture. It remains one of only nine. It was also the first film released by TheCriterionCollection. Oh, and Maréchal's uniform? That was Jean Renoir's uniform from when he fought in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.

* MusicForCourage: The prisoners break into a defiant ''Marseillaise'' when good news arrives from the front. This predates ''{{Casablanca}}'' by several years (and Dalio played Rick's croupier). As in ''Casablanca'', the ''Marseillaise'' also appears in competition with "The Watch on the Rhine", which the German soldiers sing when there's good news from the front for them.

* {{Prussia}}: The film avoids many stereotypes - von Rauffenstein is cultured and cosmopolitan, fluent in French and English, and the NCO in the first prison camp good-naturedly suffers the imprisoned officers calling him "Arthur".
* UsefulNotes/PrussiansInPickelhauben: The ''Pickelhauben'' part is subverted as most of the guards wear forage caps, the young German recruits wear steel helmets and the old ''Landsturm'' (militia) men guarding the final camp wear leather shakos.

This film, released a decade before the AcademyAward for best foreign-language film was given out, was the first film in a language other than English to be nominated for Best Picture. It remains one of only nine. It was also the first film released by TheCriterionCollection. Oh, and Maréchal's uniform? That was Jean Renoir's uniform from when he fought in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.

* PrussiansInPickelhauben: The ''Pickelhauben'' part is subverted as most of the guards wear forage caps, the young German recruits wear steel helmets and the old ''Landsturm'' (militia) men guarding the final camp wear leather shakos.

** Renoir's film was inspired by it, showing how soldiers tend to have more in common with people from their opposing numbers than they do with their own units - de Boeldieu and Rauffenstein are aristocrats who see their outdated rank as the only time their titles mean something real, Marechal and the German widow played by Dita Parlo also have a cautious courtship because they relate to each other better. On a more poignant note, Rosenthal being a middle-class Jew and Marechal bond despite their class differences and the latter's subtle bigotry and somehow relate to each other as human beings.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The character of Maréchal was based on a French fighter pilot called Pinsard whom Jean Renoir had met during the war and who had made multiple escapes from German POW camps.

** The film's title refers to the economist Norman Angell's book "The Great Illusion"(In French, "grande" means "great"). In that book he argued that modern nations had real economic justification for going to war, since the global economy depended on co-operation and free network among citizens. [[note]]The acknowledgment of this fact led many philosophers before him to argue that free trade could put an end to war for good. Angell however argued that wars would continued to be waged against rational economic concerns for either political benefit or a way to unite dissension at home, calling it the "Great Illusion" that rational concerns rather than sentimental or political ones, led to war.[[/note]]

* The film's title refers to the economist Norman Angell's book "The Great Illusion"(In French, "grande" means "great"). In that book he argued that modern nations had real economic justification for going to war, since the global economy depended on co-operation and free network among citizens. [[note]]The acknowledgment of this fact led many philosophers before him to argue that free trade could put an end to war for good. Angell however argued that wars would continued to be waged against rational economic concerns for either political benefit or a way to unite dissension at home, calling it the "Great Illusion" that rational concerns rather than sentimental or political ones, led to war.[[/note]]

* BookBurning: A rather atypical example. The Cossack prisoners are so pissed when the care package from the Tsarina turns out to be books, and textbooks no less, that they promptly burn said books.

* EndOfAnAge: Von Rauffenstein remarks that whoever wins the war, the days where aristocrats like he and de Boldieu controlled the world are over.

* LanguageBarrier: As the gang is being taken away to another prison, Maréchal tries to tell an incoming prisoner about the escape tunnel, but the new inmate is British and can't understand a word.
* MusicForCourage: The prisoners break into a defiant Marsailles when good news arrives from the front. This predates Casablanca by several years (and Dalio played Rick's croupier).

* WeNeedADistraction: De Boldieu hits on the idea of facilitating the escape of Maréchal and Rosenthal by making a big ruckus to distract the guards.
* WorthyOpponent: De Boldieu and von Rauffenstein form a legitimate friendship.

During WorldWarOne, two French aviators, aristocratic Captain de Boeldieu (Pierre Fresnay) and working-class Lieutenant Maréchal (Jean Gabin), embark on a flight for a reconnaissance mission. They are shot down by a German aviator and aristocrat, Captain von Rauffenstein (Erich von Stroheim) who upon returning to base, sends a subordinate to find out if the aviators are officers and, if so, to invite them to lunch. During the meal, von Rauffenstein and de Boeldieu discover they have mutual acquaintances. From there the French aviators are moved to an officers' POW camp.

* MusicForCourage: The prisoners break into a defiant Marsailles when good news arrives from the front. This predates Casablanca by several years (and Fresnay played Rick's croupier).

* FoeYay: The relationship between von Rauffenstein and de Bouldieu edges towards this at times. They seem awfully close, especially when von Rauffenstein is bent over de Bouldieu's hospital bed.

''The Grand Illusion'' (French: ''La Grande Illusion'') is a 1937 war film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak.

* GratuitousEnglish / HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier: Von Rauffenstein can speak French and de Bouldieu can speak German, but the two of them sometimes lapse into English when they are talking with each other. It's not clear why, but some scenes imply that the two of them use English when they don't want others to understand.

* AristocratsAreEvil: Averted.

* DuringTheWar

* GloveSlap: Does not actually occur, but their white gloves are clearly important to de Boeldieu and von Rauffenstein.
* GreatEscape
* HeroicSacrifice
* HeyItsThatGuy: Marcel Dalio (Rosenthal) later played Émile, the croupier, in ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''.
* HeyLetsPutOnAShow
* IGaveMyWord
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Averted. Boeldieu is shot in the stomach although von Rauffenstein was aiming for his legs, he couldn't see where he was shooting because of the fog.

* NiceJewishBoy: Rosenthal.
* OfficerAndAGentleman: Rauffenstein and de Boeldieu crank this up to 150.

* TokenMinority: One of the French officers in the first POW camp is Senegalais.
* TunnelKing: The civil engineer.

* TheVonTropeFamily
* WeNeedADistraction
* WorldWarOne: The effects seen in Germany are that every able-bodied male is called up (the POW camp guards are old Landsturm militiamen), food shortages etc.
* WorthyOpponent

* OfficerAndAGentleman: Rauffenstein and de Boeldieu crank this up to 150.

During the First World War, two French aviators, aristocratic Captain de Boeldieu (Pierre Fresnay) and working-class Lieutenant Maréchal (Jean Gabin), embark on a flight for a reconnaissance mission. They are shot down by a German aviator and aristocrat, Captain von Rauffenstein (Erich von Stroheim) who upon returning to base, sends a subordinate to find out if the aviators are officers and, if so, to invite them to lunch. During the meal, von Rauffenstein and de Boeldieu discover they have mutual acquaintances. From there the French aviators are moved to an officers' POW camp.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Marcel Dalio (Rosenthal) later played Émile, the croupier, in ''{{Casablanca}}''.