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{{Short description|1937 war film directed by Jean Renoir}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = La Grande Illusion
| image          = GrandeIllusion.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = [[Film poster|French film poster]]
| director       = [[Jean Renoir]]
| producer       = {{Plainlist|
* Albert Pinkovitch
* Frank Rollmer
}}
| writer         = {{Plainlist|
* [[Charles Spaak]]
* Jean Renoir
}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Jean Gabin]]
* [[Dita Parlo]]
* [[Pierre Fresnay]]
* [[Erich von Stroheim]]
* [[Julien Carette]]
* [[Georges Péclet]]
* [[Marcel Dalio]]
}}
| music          = [[Joseph Kosma]]
| cinematography = [[Christian Matras (cinematographer)|Christian Matras]]
| editing        = {{ubl|[[Marguerite Renoir]]|Marthe Huguet}}
| studio         = [[Réalisation d'art cinématographique|Réalisation d'Art Cinématographique]]
| distributor    = Réalisation d'Art Cinématographique
| released       = {{Film date|1937|06|08|df=y}}
| runtime        = 114 minutes
| country        = France
| language       = {{Plainlist|
* French
* German
* English
}}
| budget         = 
| gross          = $414,620 <small>(US re-release)</small><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Grande-Illusion-La#tab=box-office|title=''La Grande Illusion'' (1937) - Financial Information|publisher=The Numbers|access-date=December 31, 2020}}.</ref>
}}

'''''La Grande Illusion''''' (French for "The Grand Illusion") is a 1937 French [[war film|war]] [[drama film]] directed by [[Jean Renoir]], who co-wrote the screenplay with [[Charles Spaak]]. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who are German [[prisoners of war]] during [[World War I]] and are plotting an escape. 

The title of the film comes from the 1909 book ''[[The Great Illusion]]'' by British journalist [[Norman Angell]], which argued that war is futile because of the common economic interests of all European nations. The perspective of the film is generously humanistic to its characters of various nationalities.

''La Grande Illusion'' is regarded by critics and film historians as one of the masterpieces of [[Cinema of France|French cinema]]<ref name="criterion" /> and among the [[List of films considered the best|greatest films ever made]]. [[Orson Welles]] named ''La Grande Illusion'' as one of the two movies he would take with him "on the ark".<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yjfa1GFwmUA#t=4m10s Welles cites ''La Grande Illusion'' but doesn't name the second film - he just says "something else" (4m 35s)"]. ''[[YouTube]]'', 15 September 2007. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.</ref> Director and producer [[Sydney Pollack]] picked ''La Grande Illusion'' as one of his ten favorite films of all time.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/polls/topten/poll/voter.php?forename=Sydney&surname=Pollack | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626191807/http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/polls/topten/poll/voter.php?forename=Sydney&surname=Pollack | archive-date=26 June 2012 | title=BFI &#124; Sight & Sound &#124; Top Ten Poll 2002 - How the directors and critics voted }}</ref>

In 1958, the film was voted number 5 on the prestigious [[Expo 58#International film poll|Brussels 12]] list at the 1958 World Expo. In 1995, the [[Holy See|Vatican]] included ''La Grande Illusion'' in its list of [[Vatican's list of films|45 "great films"]] under the category of "Art".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://old.usccb.org/movies/vaticanfilms.shtml |title=Vatican Best Films List |work=Official website of the [[United States Conference of Catholic Bishops|U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops]] |access-date=2022-02-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422064928/http://old.usccb.org/movies/vaticanfilms.shtml |archive-date=2012-04-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine ranked it #35 in "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.<ref>[https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/ "The 100 best films of world cinema: 35, 'La Grande Illusion{{'"}}]. ''Empire''. Retrieved: 21 August 2024.</ref>{{TOC limit|limit=2}}

==Plot==
[[File:Grand-Illusion-1937.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pierre Fresnay and Erich von Stroheim in Rauffenstein's Wintersborn office]]
[[File:Haut-koenigsbourg 02.jpg|thumb|[[Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg]], which appears in the film.]]

During the [[World War I|First World War]], two French [[aviator]]s of the ''[[French Air and Space Force|Service Aéronautique]]'', the aristocratic Captain de Boëldieu and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal, set out to investigate a blurred spot found on reconnaissance photographs. They are shot down by German [[flying ace]] and aristocrat ''[[Rittmeister]]'' von Rauffenstein, and both are taken prisoner by the [[Imperial German Army]]. Upon returning to the [[aerodrome]], Rauffenstein sends a subordinate to find out if the aviators are officers and, if so, to invite them to lunch. During the meal, Rauffenstein and Boëldieu discover they have mutual acquaintances—a depiction of the familiarity, if not solidarity, within the upper classes that crosses national boundaries.

Boëldieu and Maréchal are then taken to a [[prisoner-of-war camp]], where they meet a colorful group of French prisoners and stage a [[vaudeville]]-type performance just after the Germans have taken [[Fort Douaumont]] in the epic [[Battle of Verdun]]. During the performance, word arrives that the French have recaptured the fort. Maréchal interrupts the show, and the French prisoners spontaneously burst into "[[La Marseillaise]]". As a result of the disruption, Maréchal is placed in solitary confinement, where he suffers badly from lack of human contact and hunger; the fort changes hands once more while he is imprisoned. Boëldieu and Maréchal also help their fellow prisoners to finish digging an escape tunnel. However, just before it is completed, everyone is transferred to other camps. Because of the language barrier, Maréchal is unable to pass word of the tunnel to an incoming British prisoner.

Boëldieu and Maréchal are moved from camp to camp, finally arriving in Wintersborn, a mountain fortress prison commanded by Rauffenstein, who has been so badly injured in battle that he has been given a posting away from the front, much to his regret. Rauffenstein tells them that Wintersborn is escape-proof.

At Wintersborn, the pair are reunited with a fellow prisoner, Rosenthal, from the original camp. Rosenthal is a wealthy [[History of the Jews in France|French Jew]] who generously shares the food parcels he receives.  Boëldieu comes up with an idea, after carefully observing how the German guards respond to an emergency. He volunteers to distract the guards for the few minutes needed for Maréchal and Rosenthal to escape. After a commotion staged by the prisoners, the guards are ordered to assemble them in the fortress courtyard. During the roll call, it is discovered that Boëldieu is missing. He makes his presence known high up in the fortress, drawing the German guards away in pursuit. Maréchal and Rosenthal take the opportunity to lower themselves from a window by a homemade rope and flee.

Rauffenstein stops the guards from firing at Boëldieu and pleads with his friend to give himself up.  Boëldieu refuses, and Rauffenstein reluctantly shoots him with his pistol, aiming for his legs, but misses and accidentally (and fatally) hits him in the stomach. Nursed in his final moments by a grieving Rauffenstein, Boëldieu laments that the whole purpose of the nobility and their usefulness to both French and German culture is being destroyed by the war. He expresses pity for Rauffenstein, who will have to find a new purpose in the postwar world.

Maréchal and Rosenthal journey across the German countryside, trying to reach neutral Switzerland. Rosenthal injures his foot, slowing Maréchal down. They quarrel and part, but then Maréchal returns to help his comrade. They take refuge in the modest farmhouse of a German woman, Elsa, who lost her husband at [[Battle of Verdun|Verdun]], along with three brothers, at battles which, with quiet irony, she describes as "our greatest victories". She takes them in and does not betray them to a passing army patrol. She and Maréchal fall in love, despite not speaking each other's language, but he and Rosenthal eventually leave from a sense of duty after Rosenthal recovers from his injury. Maréchal declares he will come back to Elsa and her young daughter, Lotte, if he survives the war.

A German patrol sights the two fugitives crossing a snow-covered valley. They fire a few rounds, but their commanding officer, hurrying to the scene, orders them to stop, saying the pair have crossed into Switzerland.

==Cast==
{{cast listing|
* [[Jean Gabin]] as Lieutenant Maréchal, a French officer, of modest social background
* [[Marcel Dalio]] as Lieutenant Rosenthal, a French officer, of [[nouveau riche]] [[Ashkenazi Jew]]ish ancestry
* [[Pierre Fresnay]] as Captain de Boëldieu, a French [[Grand Quartier Général (1914–1919)|staff officer]] and member of the [[French nobility]]
* [[Erich von Stroheim]] as Captain (later Major) von Rauffenstein, a German [[flying ace]] and member of the [[German nobility]]
* [[Dita Parlo]] as Elsa, a German farmwife and war widow
* [[Julien Carette]] as Cartier, the vaudeville performer
* [[Gaston Modot]] as an engineer
* [[Georges Péclet]] as an officer
* Werner Florian as Sgt. Arthur
* [[Jean Dasté]] as a teacher
* Sylvain Itkine as Lieutenant Demolder
* [[Jacques Becker]] as British officer (''uncredited'')<ref>{{Cite web |title=Film Forum · JACQUES BECKER |url=https://filmforum.org/series/jacques-becker-series |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=Film Forum |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sepsey |first=James |date=2008-05-19 |title=Becker, Jacques – Senses of Cinema |url=https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2004/great-directors/becker/ |access-date=2023-08-07 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jacques Becker |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f25042b |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161112070246/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f25042b |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 November 2016 |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=BFI |language=en}}</ref>
}}

==Political and historical themes==
Renoir used the [[World War I|First World War]] (1914–1918) as a lens through which to examine Europe as it faced the rising spectre of [[fascism]] (especially in [[Nazi Germany]]) and the impending approach of the [[World War II|Second World War]] (1939–1945).<ref>Nixon, Rob and Felicia Feaster. [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/76799/grand-illusion#articles-reviews ''Why 'Grand Illusion' is essential''.] ''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.</ref> Renoir's critique of contemporary politics and ideology celebrates the universal humanity that transcends national and racial boundaries and radical nationalism, suggesting that mankind's common experiences should prevail above political division, and its extension: war.<ref name="Pendo p. 107">Pendo 1985, p. 107.</ref>

On the message of ''La Grande Illusion'', Renoir himself said, in a [[film trailer]], dating from the re-release of the film in 1958: "[''La Grande Illusion'' is] a story about human relationships. I am confident that such a question is so important today that if we don't solve it, we will just have to say 'goodbye' to our beautiful world." Despite widespread interest in the subject, Renoir found it difficult to find a producer and distributor, having to "shop around" the project for years.<ref>Feaster, Felicia. [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/76799/grand-illusion#articles-reviews "Review: 'Grand Illusion' (1937)"]. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.</ref>

===Class===
''La Grande Illusion'' examines the relationships between different social classes in Europe. Two of the main characters, Boëldieu and Rauffenstein, are [[Aristocracy (class)|aristocrat]]s. They are represented as [[Cosmopolitanism|cosmopolitan]] men, educated in many cultures and conversant in several languages. Their level of education and their devotion to social conventions and rituals makes them feel closer to each other than to the lower class of their own nation. They share similar social experiences: dining at [[Maxim's Paris|Maxim's]] in Paris, courting dalliances with the same woman, and even know of each other through acquaintances. They converse with each other in heavily formal [[French language|French]] and [[German language|German]], and in moments of intimate personal conversation, escape into [[English language|English]] as if to hide these comments from their lower class counterparts.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.7282/T3CV4G3S|year=1988|last1=Triggs|first1=Jeffery Alan|title=The Legacy of Babel: Language in Jean Renoir's ''Grand Illusion''|journal=New Orleans Review|volume=15|issue=2|pages=70–74}}</ref>

Renoir depicts the rule of the aristocracy in ''La Grande Illusion'' as in decline, to be replaced by a new, emerging social order, led by men who were not born to privilege. He emphasizes that their class is no longer an essential component to their respective nation's politics.<ref name="Pendo p. 107" /> Both Rauffenstein and Boëldieu view their military service as a duty, and see the war as having a purpose; as such, Renoir depicts them as laudable but tragic figures whose world is disappearing and who are trapped in a code of life that is rapidly becoming meaningless.<ref>Paris 1995, p. 50.</ref> Both are aware that their time is past, but their reaction to this reality diverges: Boëldieu accepts the fate of the aristocracy as a positive improvement, but Rauffenstein does not, lamenting what he sarcastically calls the "charming legacy of the French Revolution".

In ''La Grande Illusion'', Renoir contrasts the aristocrats with characters such as Maréchal (Gabin), an engineer from [[Paris]]. The lower class characters have little in common with each other; they have different interests and are not worldly in their views or education. Nonetheless, they have a kinship too, through common sentiment and experience.<ref name="Pop 101">Nixon, Rob. [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/76799/grand-illusion#articles-reviews "Pop culture 101: 'Grand Illusion' (1937)"]. ''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.</ref>

Renoir's message is made clear when the aristocratic Boëldieu sacrifices himself by distracting the prison guards by dancing around, singing, and playing a flute, to allow Maréchal and Rosenthal, members of the lower class, to escape. Reluctantly and strictly out of duty, Rauffenstein is forced to shoot Boëldieu, an act that Boëldieu admits he would have been compelled to do were the circumstances reversed. However, in accepting his inevitable death, Boëldieu takes comfort in the idea that "For a commoner, dying in a war is a tragedy. But for you and me, it's a good way out", and states that he has pity for Rauffenstein who will struggle to find a purpose in the new social order of the world where his traditions, experiences, and background are obsolete.

The critique of the romantic idealization of duty in ''La Grande Illusion'' is comparable to that in the earlier film ''[[All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 film)|All Quiet on the Western Front]]'' (1930), based on the novel by [[Erich Maria Remarque]].

===Prejudice===
In ''La Grande Illusion'', Renoir briefly touches on the question of [[antisemitism]] through the character of Rosenthal, a son from a ''[[nouveau riche]]'' Jewish banking family (a parallel to the [[Rothschild banking family of France]]). His biographers believed that Renoir created this character to counter the rising anti-Jewish campaign enacted by [[Adolf Hitler]]'s government in [[Nazi Germany]].<ref name="Pop 101" /> Further, Rosenthal is shown as a symbol of humanity across class lines: though he may be financially wealthy, he shares his food parcels with everyone so that he and his fellow prisoners are well fed — when compared with their German captors. Through the character of Rosenthal, Renoir rebuffs Jewish stereotypes.

There is also a black French officer among the prisoners at Wintersborn who appears to be ignored by the other prisoners, and not accepted as an equal by them. When he speaks to them he is not responded to. For instance, when he shows his artwork, he is shrugged off.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1386/fiin.4.4.43|title=Insurmountable in their wake: Paradox and ideology in Cavell's title reading of ''La Grande Illusion''|journal=Film International|volume=4|issue=4|pages=43–45|year=2006|last1=Bird|first1=Morgan}}</ref>

===War===
In ''La Grande Illusion'' Renoir seeks to refute the notion that war accomplishes anything, or that it can be used as a political tool to solve problems and create a better world. "That's all an illusion", says Rosenthal, speaking of the belief that this is the war that will end war forever.

''La Grande Illusion'' is a [[war film]] without any depiction of battle. Instead, the [[prisoner of war|prisoner of war camp]] setting is used as a space in which soldiers of many nations have a common experience. Renoir portrays [[war]] as a futile exercise. For instance, Elsa, the German widow, shows photos to Maréchal and Rosenthal of her husband and her brothers who were killed, respectively, at the battles of [[Battle of Verdun|Verdun]], [[Battle of Liège|Liège]], [[Battle of Charleroi|Charleroi]], and [[Battle of Tannenberg (1914)|Tannenberg]]. The last three of these battles were amongst Germany's most celebrated victories in [[World War I]]. Through this device, Renoir refutes the notion that one common man's bravery, honor, or duty can make an impact on a great event. This undermines the idealistic intention of Maréchal and Rosenthal to return to the front, so that by returning to the fight they can help end this war.

== Production ==
Elements of ''La Grande Illusion'' are semi-autobiographical in nature. Jean Renoir was a reconnaissance pilot during World War I, and received a change of post after being wounded in action. Renoir's life was saved by a French pilot, [[Armand Pinsard]], when he was under attack by a German [[Fokker]] in 1915, during the First World War.<ref name="unaffiliatedcritic/grand-illusion-1937"/> In 1935, during the production of ''[[Toni (1935 film)|Toni]]'', Pinsard recounted his WWI history, shot down seven times, captured seven times, and escaping seven times from German POW camps, inspiring Grand Illusion, and Pinsard became the model for Lt. Maréchal.<ref name="unaffiliatedcritic/grand-illusion-1937">{{cite web |last1=McDunnah |first1=Michael G. |title=Grand Illusion |url=https://unaffiliatedcritic.com/2020/12/grand-illusion-1937/ |website=The Unaffiliated Critic |access-date=31 August 2023 |language=en |date=15 December 2020}}</ref> Renoir used his own uniform as [[Jean Gabin]]'s costume in the film.<ref>Durgnat 1974, pp. 27–28.</ref> Several other cast members had also fought in the war, [[Marcel Dalio]] won the [[Croix de Guerre]] for his actions with the French artillery during the [[Action at Villers-Cotterêts (1914)|Action at Villers-Cotterêts]] (1914),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Visionneuse - Archives de Paris |url=https://archives.paris.fr/arkotheque/visionneuse/visionneuse.php?arko=YTo2OntzOjQ6ImRhdGUiO3M6MTA6IjIwMjAtMDctMjEiO3M6MTA6InR5cGVfZm9uZHMiO3M6MTE6ImFya29fc2VyaWVsIjtzOjQ6InJlZjEiO2k6MTc7czo0OiJyZWYyIjtpOjE4NjY4OTY7czoxNjoidmlzaW9ubmV1c2VfaHRtbCI7YjoxO3M6MjE6InZpc2lvbm5ldXNlX2h0bWxfbW9kZSI7czo0OiJwcm9kIjt9#uielem_move=0,13&uielem_rotate=F&uielem_islocked=0&uielem_zoom=190 |access-date=2023-08-07 |website=archives.paris.fr}}</ref> and [[Pierre Fresnay]] was in the army between 1916 and 1919. Renoir developed the screenplay with [[Charles Spaak]],<ref name="inlibris/bn33953">{{cite web |title=Renoir, Jean, French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author (1894-1979). 2 typed letters signed. Paris, 1936 and 1937. |url=https://inlibris.com/item/bn33953/ |website=Antiquariat INLIBRIS Gilhofer Nfg. |access-date=1 September 2023 |date=2020-05-07 |quote=One letter with printed letterhead, the other with punched holes (not touching text). Accompanied by an ALS from Belgian screenwriter Charles Spaak to Renoir in which Spaak accuses the addressee of having cheated him out of the rights of "La Grande illusion", for which Spaak had been a coauthor: "Vieux traitre! ......}}</ref> and spent several years trying to finance it.<ref name="unaffiliatedcritic/grand-illusion-1937"/> Through Albert Pinkévitch,<ref name="isbn=978-1-62872-625-1">{{cite book |last1=Bergan |first1=Ronald |title=Jean Renoir: Projections of Paradise |date=5 January 2016 |publisher=Skyhorse |isbn=978-1-62872-625-1 |page=223 |language=en |quote=It came about through Albert Pinkevitch, the general factotum of a financier named Frank Rollmer who was thinking of getting into the film business.}}</ref> an assistant to the financier, Frank Rollmer,<ref name="isbn=978-1-83871-669-1">{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Julian |title=La Grande Illusion |date=25 July 2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-83871-669-1 |page=24 |quote=One resulted from the intervention of Albert Pinkévitch, an assistant to the financier Frank Rollmer, who provided the funds for RAC. |language=en}}</ref> and the attachment of Jean Gabin, private producers finally supported a small production budget.<ref name="unaffiliatedcritic/grand-illusion-1937"/><ref name="sensesofcinema/2003/great/renoir/">{{cite web |last1=Leahy |first1=James |title=Renoir, Jean |url=https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/renoir/ |website=Senses of Cinema |access-date=1 September 2023 |date=13 June 2001}}</ref>

The casting of [[Erich von Stroheim]] came as Renoir was a great admirer of the director's films, and had inspired him to pursue filmmaking. According to Renoir's memoirs, Stroheim, despite having been born in [[Vienna]], [[Austria]] (then the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]]) did not speak much [[German language|German]] as he had been living in the United States since 1909, and struggled with learning the language along with his lines in between filming scenes. Renoir eventually resorted to hiring a dialect coach to help Stroheim with his lines.

''La Grande Illusion'' was filmed in the winter of 1936-37.<ref name="bfi.org.uk/grande-illusion-1937-greatest">{{cite web |last1=Vincendeau |first1=Ginette |title=The great escape: what makes La Grande Illusion great |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/la-grande-illusion-1937-jean-renoir-greatest-films-poll |website=BFI .org.uk |access-date=31 August 2023 |language=en |date=13 November 2019}}</ref><ref name="unaffiliatedcritic/grand-illusion-1937"/> The exteriors of "Burg Wintersborn" were filmed at the [[Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg|Upper Koenigsbourg Castle]] in [[Alsace]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-01-06 |title=La+Grande+Illusion+-+Films+inspired+by+the+castle |url=https://www.haut-koenigsbourg.fr/en/the-castle/films-inspired-by-the-chateau/la-grande-illusion/ |access-date=2023-08-08 |website=Haut-Koenigsbourg.fr |language=en}}</ref> Other exteriors were filmed at the artillery barracks at [[Colmar]] (built by [[Wilhelm II]]) and at [[Neuf-Brisach]] on the [[Upper Rhine]]. The interiors were shot at [[Epinay Studios|Epinay]] and [[Billancourt Studios]].
<!--
An early script version of ''La Grande Illusion'' had Rosenthal and Maréchal agreeing to meet in a restaurant at the end of the war. In the final scene, everyone there would be celebrating the armistice, but instead of these men, there would be two empty chairs at a table. -->

==Soundtrack==
The score was written by the Hungarian composer [[Joseph Kosma]], who also wrote the famous song "[[Autumn Leaves (1945 song)|Autumn Leaves]]". The soundtrack also includes many well-known songs of the day from French, English, and German culture. The uncredited musical director was the film and music critic [[Émile Vuillermoz]], who had been a composer in his early career.

Songs:

* "Frou-Frou" (1897) lyrics written by Montréal and Blondeau, music by Henri Chatau, performed by Lucile Panis.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110809051500/http://www.chanson.udenap.org/50_chansons/08_frou_frou.htm "Song: 'Frou-Frou{{'"}}]. ''Webarchive'', 9 August 2011. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.</ref>
* "[[Il était un petit navire]]" ("There Once was a Little Ship"), played by Boëldieu with his [[Tin whistle|penny whistle]] to distract the German guards from Rosenthal and Maréchal's escape, a traditional French song<ref>[http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Il_%C3%A9tait_un_petit_navire "Il était un petit navire (fr)"]. ''Fr.wikisource.org''. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.</ref> about a shipwrecked sailor who must cannibalize another sailor to survive. Later in the film, the fugitives Rosenthal and Maréchal shout the song sarcastically at one another as they have a near falling out. The lyrics speak to their own condition of running out of food. As Maréchal realizes this, his singing trails off.
* "[[Frère Jacques]]", a French nursery rhyme
* "[[It's a Long Way to Tipperary]]"
* "Si tu veux Marguerite" (1913) by [[Harry Fragson]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110809052314/http://www.chanson.udenap.org/paroles/si_tu_veux_marguerite.htm "Song: 'Si tu veux Marguerite{{'"}}]. ''webarchive'', 9 August 2011. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.</ref>
* "[[La Marseillaise]]", the French national anthem

==Reception==
===Europe===
After the film won a prize at the [[Venice Film Festival]] for "Best Artistic Ensemble" in 1937, and was nominated for the International Jury Cup, the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] Propaganda Minister [[Joseph Goebbels]] declared ''La Grande Illusion'' "Cinematic Public Enemy No. 1"<ref name="criterion">"DVD: 'La Grande Illusionn{{'"}}. ''The Criterion Collection'', 1999. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.</ref><ref name="ebert" /><ref>Faulkner 1979, p. 18.</ref> and ordered the prints to be confiscated and destroyed. Fearing a decline in fighting morale, French authorities banned the film in 1940 ''pour la durée des hostilités'' (for the duration of hostilities).<ref>Cordelier, Jean-Eudes. [http://www.iletaitunefoislecinema.com/memoire/2128/la-censure-cinematographique-en-france-et-aux-etats-unis "La censure cinématographique en France et aux Etats- Unis" (fr).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120213015/http://www.iletaitunefoislecinema.com/memoire/2128/la-censure-cinematographique-en-france-et-aux-etats-unis |date=20 January 2016 }} ''L'association 'Il était une fois le cinéma'.'' Retrieved: 20 March 2017.</ref> This ban was renewed by the German [[Propaganda]]-[[Abteilung]] in October of the same year. When the German Army marched into France in 1940 during [[World War II]], Goebbels made sure that the film's prints and negative were among the first things seized by the Nazis,<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028950/trivia/?ref_=tt_dyk_trv |title=The Grand Illusion (1937) - Trivia - IMDb |language=en-US |access-date=2025-05-20 |via=www.imdb.com}}</ref> chiefly because of its anti-war message, and what were perceived as ideological criticisms pointed towards Germany on the eve of the Second World War.<ref name="criterion" />

''La Grande Illusion'' was a massive hit in France, with an estimated 12 million admissions.<ref>[http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=fr&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.boxofficestory.com/box-office-jean-gabin-c22691527/64&usg=ALkJrhhMN3YPbBwWyYeJtU2fB4_TaZoWog "Film: 'The Grand Illusion{{'"}}]. ''Box Office Story''. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.</ref>

===United States and elsewhere===
''La Grande Illusion'', released by World Pictures Corporation<ref>[http://www.oscars.org/awardsdatabase "Academy Awards Database {{pipe}} Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences"] ({{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328233500/http://www.oscars.org/awardsdatabase/|date=2014-03-28}}). ''Oscars.org''. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.</ref> in the U.S. premiered on 12 September 1938 in New York City; [[Frank S. Nugent]] in his review for ''[[The New York Times]]'' called ''La Grande Illusion'' a "strange and interesting film" that "owes much to his cast",<ref name="nugent">[[Frank S. Nugent|Nugent, Frank S.]] [https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF173BE564BC4B52DFBF668383629EDE "NYT Critics' Pick: 'Grand Illusion' (1937)"]. ''The New York Times'', 13 September 1938. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.</ref>

{{Blockquote|Erich von Stroheim's appearance as von Rauffenstein reminds us again of Hollywood's folly in permitting so fine an actor to remain idle and unwanted. Pierre Fresnay's de Boeldieu is a model of gentlemanly decadence. Jean Gabin and Dalio as the fugitives, Dita Parlo as the German girl, and all the others are thoroughly right.}}

''La Grande Illusion'' won the awards for Best Foreign Film at the [[1938 New York Film Critics Circle Awards]] and at the [[National Board of Review Awards 1938|1938 National Board of Review Awards]] it was named the [[National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]] for that year.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130526062357/http://www.nbrmp.org/awards/past.cfm?year=1938 "Awards: 'La Grande Illusion{{'"}}]. via webarchive 26 May 2013.</ref> At the [[11th Academy Awards]] held on 23 February 1939, ''La Grande Illusion'' became the first foreign language film nominated for the [[Academy Award]] for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]].

At the time of its release, [[John Ford]], impressed with the film, opted to remake it in English but was urged by studio chief [[Darryl F. Zanuck]] not to. "You'll never top it," he told Ford.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://vimeo.com/736397311|title=The Essentials with Peter Bogdanovich.mov|publisher=Lily Li|date=August 4, 2022|access-date=August 25, 2023}}</ref>

[[Orson Welles]], in an interview with [[Dick Cavett]] on 27 July 1970, expressed that if he only could save a handful of films that were not his own for future posterity, this would be one of those films.<ref>Welles cites La Grande Illusion but doesn't name the second film - he just says "something else" (4m 35s)". YouTube, 15 September 2007. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.</ref>

[[Martin Scorsese]] included it on a list of "39 Essential Foreign Films for a Young Filmmaker".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.openculture.com/2014/10/scorseses-list-of-39-essential-foreign-films.html |title=Martin Scorsese Creates a List of 39 Essential Foreign Films for a Young Filmmaker |publisher=Open Culture |date=15 October 2014 |access-date=1 February 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207201938/http://www.openculture.com/2014/10/scorseses-list-of-39-essential-foreign-films.html |archive-date=February 7, 2015 }}</ref>

Sixty years after its release, [[Janet Maslin]] called it "one of the most haunting of all war films" and an "oasis of subtlety, moral intelligence and deep emotion on the cinematic landscape"; according to Maslin:<ref name="maslin" />

{{Blockquote|It seems especially disarming now in its genius for keeping its story indirect yet its meaning perfectly clear. Its greatest dramatic heights seem to occur almost effortlessly, as a tale of escape derived from the experience of one of Renoir's wartime comrades evolves into a series of unforgettable crises and stirring sacrifices.}}

Film critic [[Roger Ebert]] also reviewed the film after its 1999 re-release, and added it to his list of [[The Great Movies]]:<ref name="ebert">[[Roger Ebert|Ebert, Roger]]. [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19991003/REVIEWS08/910030301/1023=review "Review: 'Grand Illusion' (1937)"] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071119011614/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19991003%2FREVIEWS08%2F910030301%2F1023%3Dreview |date=19 November 2007 }}). ''Chicago Sun-Times'', 3 October 1999. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.</ref>

{{Blockquote|Apart from its other achievements, Jean Renoir's ''Grand Illusion'' influenced two famous later movie sequences. The digging of the escape tunnel in ''The Great Escape'' and the singing of the "Marseillaise" to enrage the Germans in ''Casablanca'' can first be observed in Renoir's 1937 masterpiece. Even the details of the tunnel dig are the same—the way the prisoners hide the excavated dirt in their pants and shake it out on the parade ground during exercise. But if ''Grand Illusion'' had been merely a source of later inspiration, it wouldn't be on so many lists of great films. It's not a movie about a prison escape, nor is it jingoistic in its politics; it's a meditation on the collapse of the old order of European civilization. Perhaps that was always a sentimental upper-class illusion, the notion that gentlemen on both sides of the lines subscribed to the same code of behaviour. Whatever it was, it died in the trenches of World War I.}}

Filmmaker [[Akira Kurosawa]] cited ''La Grande Illusion'' as one of his favorite films.<ref>{{cite web | title = Akira Kurosawa's Top 100 Movies! | url = http://wildgrounds.com/index.php/2009/01/17/akira-kurosawas-top-100-movies/ | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100327124349/http://wildgrounds.com/index.php/2009/01/17/akira-kurosawas-top-100-movies/ | archive-date = 27 March 2010 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> In the 2012 edition of the annual [[Sight And Sound]] poll in which directors are asked to select their favourite movies, [[Woody Allen]] picked La Grand Illusion as one of his top ten.

The February 2020 issue of ''[[New York Magazine]]'' lists ''La Grande Illusion'' as among "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars".<ref>{{cite news|title=The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars|url=https://www.vulture.com/article/best-oscar-best-picture-losers.html|magazine=[[New York Magazine]]|access-date=March 17, 2025}}</ref>

{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|97||74|Jean Renoir's ''Grand Illusion'' is a masterful anti-war statement, bringing humane insight and an undercurrent of ironic humor to an unusual relationship between captor and captive.|ref=yes}}

==Prints and home media==
For many years, the original [[nitrate film|nitrate film negative]] of ''La Grande Illusion'' was thought to have been lost in an Allied air raid in 1942 that destroyed a leading laboratory outside Paris. Prints of the film were rediscovered in 1958 and restored and re-released during the early 1960s. Then, it was revealed that the original negative had been shipped back to Berlin (probably due to the efforts of Frank Hensel) to be stored in the [[Reichsfilmarchiv]] vaults. In the Allied occupation of Berlin in 1945, the Reichsfilmarchiv by chance was in the Russian zone and consequently shipped along with many other films back to be the basis of the Soviet [[Gosfilmofond]] film archive in [[Moscow]]. The negative was returned to France in the 1960s, but sat unidentified in storage in [[Toulouse]] [[Cinémathèque Française|Cinémathèque]] for over 30 years, as no one suspected it had survived. It was rediscovered in the early 1990s as the Cinémathèque's nitrate collection was slowly being transferred to the French Film Archives at Bois d'Arcy.<ref name="criterion" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=" La Grande illusion ", ou la redécouverte d'un film disparu|url=https://www.cnc.fr/cinema/actualites/la-grande-illusion-ou-la-redecouverte-dun-film-disparu_1032884|website=CNC|language=fr|access-date=2022-05-19}}</ref>

In August 1999, [[Rialto Pictures]] re-released the film in the United States, based on the Cinémathèque negative found in Toulouse;<ref name="ebert" /> after watching the new print at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, [[Janet Maslin]] called it "beautifully refurbished" and "especially lucid".<ref name="maslin">Maslin, Janet. [https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/06/movies/critic-s-choice-film-a-renoir-masterpiece-refurbished-and-timely.html "A Renoir masterpiece, refurbished and timely"]. ''The New York Times'', 6 August 1999. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.</ref> A transfer of this restored print was released on [[DVD]] by the [[The Criterion Collection|Criterion Collection]] in 1999 as [[The Criterion Collection#Formats|spine number]] 1, but has been out of print since 2005.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Back to #1: Grand Illusion|url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4710-back-to-1-grand-illusion|last=Turell|first=Jonathan|website=The Criterion Collection|language=en|access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref> ''Grand Illusion'' was intended to be Criterion's first release on the DVD format in 1998, but the discovery of the new negative delayed its release.<ref>"Restoration Demonstration" featurette on Criterion Collection DVD.</ref>

In 2012, [[StudioCanal]] and [[Lionsgate Studios|Lionsgate]] released a 1080p Blu-ray version based on a new high-definition scan of the original negative.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Christley|first=Jaime N.|title=Blu-ray Review: Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion on Lionsgate Home Entertainment|website=[[Slant Magazine]] |date=14 August 2012 |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/la-grande-illusion/|access-date=2020-12-28|language=en-US}}</ref> According to Lee Kline, Technical Director of the Criterion Collection, this release was "night and day of what we did—because they had better film."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Team Deakins: LEE KLINE - Restoration of Films|url=https://teamdeakins.libsyn.com/lee-kline-restoration-of-films|access-date=2020-12-28|website=teamdeakins.libsyn.com|language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Poetic realism]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Cardullo, R. J. "Period Piece, Peace Picture: Renoir's La Grande Illusion Reconsidered". in ''Teaching Sound Film'' (SensePublishers, Rotterdam, 2016) pp.&nbsp;11–21. 
* {{cite journal |last1=Conroy |first1=Melanie |title=The Milieu of the Prisoner-of-War Camp in 'La Grande Illusion' |journal=Romance Notes |date=2015 |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=371–384 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43803444 |publisher=University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for its Department of Romance Studies |jstor=43803444 |issn=0035-7995}} [https://muse.jhu.edu/article/610384/summary excerpt]
* {{cite book | last = Durgnat | first = Raymond | title = Jean Renoir | location = Berkeley, California | publisher = University of California Press | year = 1974 | isbn = 978-0-289-70291-8 }}
* {{cite book | last = Faulkner | first = Christopher | title = Jean Renoir, a Guide to References and Resources | location = Boston | publisher = G.K. Hall & Company | year = 1979 | isbn = 978-0-8161-7912-1 }}
* Jackson, Julian. ''La grande illusion'' (Macmillan, 2009).
* Kerans, James. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1210345 "Classics Revisited: 'La Grande Illusion{{'"}}]. ''Film Quarterly'' 14.2 (1960): 10–17.
* Macdonald, Nicholas. ''In Search of La Grande Illusion: A Critical Appreciation of Jean Renoir's Elusive Masterpiece'' (McFarland, 2013).
* {{cite book | last = Paris | first = Michael | title = From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema | location = Manchester, UK | publisher = Manchester University Press | year = 1995 | isbn = 978-0-7190-4074-0 }}
* {{cite book | last = Pendo | first = Stephen | title = Aviation in the Cinema | location = Lanham, Maryland | publisher = Scarecrow Press | year = 1985 | isbn = 978-0-8108-1746-3 }}
* O'Reilly, Carmel. "À table: an exploration of the uses of food in Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion, 1937". ''Food and History'' 11.1 (2013): 155–175. {{Doi|10.1484/J.FOOD.1.103559}}.
* Samuels, Maurice. "Renoir's La Grande Illusion and the 'Jewish Question{{'"}}. ''Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques'' 32.1 (2006): 165–192. [{{JSTOR|41299366}}.
* Sesonske, Alexander. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/41397267 "Jean Renoir's 'La Grande Illusion{{'"}}]. ''Georgia Review'' 29.1 (1975): 207–244.
* Tallgren, Immi. [https://www.academia.edu/40925821/La_Grande_Illusion "La Grande Illusion"]. ''Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence'' 15.2 (2002): 297–316. {{doi|10.1017/S0841820900003635}}<!-- [https://www.academia.edu/download/61214434/La_Grande_Illusion20191114-22919-soygxt.pdf online]{{dead link|date=October 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. --> On censorship.
* {{cite web |title=La Grande Illusion |url=https://www.reseau-canope.fr/notice/la-grande-illusion_9185.html |website=[[Réseau Canopé]] |access-date=1 September 2023 |language=fr-FR}}
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/15-grand-illusion ''Grand Illusion''] an essay by [[Peter Cowie]] at the [[Criterion Collection]]
* https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2016/cteq/la-grande-illusion/
* https://writersstore.com/blogs/news/la-grande-illusion-a-reflection-by-syd-field
* https://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/filmnotes/fns07n2.html
* https://deepfocusreview.com/definitives/grand-illusion/
* https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/8619

==External links==
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01f68m3 Landmark: ''La Grande Illusion''] (2012) – ''[[Free Thinking|Night Waves]]'', [[BBC Radio 3]]

; Papers

* [https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf796nb4fk/entire_text/ Jean Renoir Papers] UCLA Library Special Collections

; [[Metadata]]

* {{Tcmdb title|id=76799}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160211222317/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6ab6f1c7 La Grande Illusion (1937)], [[British Film Institute]]
* {{Rotten-tomatoes|grand_illusion|La Grande Illusion}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20181002145009/https://www.boxofficestory.com/la-grande-illusion-jean-gabin-box-office-1937-a118827556 La Grande Illusion] at boxofficestory.com
* {{IMDb title|id=0028950|title=La Grande Illusion}}

{{Jean Renoir}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for ''La Grande Illusion''
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{{National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Grande Illusion}}
[[Category:1937 films]]
[[Category:1937 drama films]]
[[Category:1930s war drama films]]
[[Category:1930s French-language films]]
[[Category:1930s survival films]]
[[Category:1930s French films]]
[[Category:Anti-war films about World War I]]
[[Category:Censored films]]
[[Category:Films about shot-down aviators]]
[[Category:Films set in Germany]]
[[Category:Films shot in France]]
[[Category:Films directed by Jean Renoir]]
[[Category:French survival films]]
[[Category:French war drama films]]
[[Category:French black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Joseph Kosma]]
[[Category:Films shot in Alsace]]
[[Category:World War I films set on the Western Front]]
[[Category:World War I prisoner of war films]]
[[Category:World War I aviation films]]
[[Category:French-language war drama films]]
[[Category:English-language war drama films]]
[[Category:German-language war drama films]]
[[Category:1930s rediscovered films]]
[[Category:Rediscovered French films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Charles Spaak]]
[[Category:English-language French films]]