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Comments 1 - 15 of 17

daisyaday's avatar

daisyaday

I read somewhere that the little girl who played Lotte died from flu before the movie was released. I hope her family got to see it. Powerful film.
12 years 6 months ago
radoslav1948's avatar

radoslav1948

One of the first true anti-war movies in European cinematic history. It studies various themes like: the relationship between different classes of society in war, the factor of being a human in animalistic times and the urge to find soul compatriot when times are tough. Jean Gabin gives us a powerful and manly performance in the leading part, that gives him a nice start in his great career.
9 years 6 months ago
vladdy's avatar

vladdy

I love this movie. It's one of those that moves me for reasons I really don't understand. A really beautiful movie, and my favorite Renoir (so far--only seen a handful).
12 years 12 months ago
Jonathan_Hutchings's avatar

Jonathan_Hutchings

I know it's blasphemy to say this, but I think Grand Illusion's a little overrated. I'd take it over lots of other films, but I'm not sure if it's quite as deserving of all the praise it gets.
12 years 5 months ago
ReVision's avatar

ReVision

This being my first Renoir films, one of the first things that I noticed, was that La Grande Illusion doesn’t look or feel like a film released in 1937. If I didn't know any better I would have said this was a late 40’s or early 50’s film. The acting and dialog feel very loose and real, very unlike anything i’ve seen from the 1930’s.

The story overall is pretty good, and it develops at a nice steady pace. La Grande Illusion never feels tiring or too long. Overall i would say it's length is spot on.

The cinematography and different camera shots are great and one of the best I've seen from this era. Really surprised my to be honest.
As mentioned the dialog is great, and this works in part thanks to the amazing cast. All the different characters are well written and convincing, not to mention very likable. Also i love that correct languages are used for French, German and English characters, something that even today is not standard practice.

At the end of it all, I really enjoyed this film.
Looking forward to more from Renoir
4 years 6 months ago
rwj's avatar

rwj

For its time this was a bold movie but it is not timeless. A few too many comedic scenes (especially in the beginning) and the overall story was, well, not there. The last 1/3 was by far the best part. A 6.5/10 from me
12 years 8 months ago
Andrewski's avatar

Andrewski

A great anti-war drama with so much heart. Between the three acts, it shows such a prescient perspective on World War II that I had to double-check partway through when it was made. It’s kind of amazing to see a dozen war movie tropes on screen here.

The camerawork and locations were also ahead of their time, very naturalistic and fluid. Extremely easy to watch even with a relatively slow pacing from my contemporary vantage.
4 years 1 month ago
sureup's avatar

sureup

Like "The Great Dictator" by Chaplin the message is the most important, and to me it is really powerful, but the rest isn't the best. Thankfully it get's really good towards the end so the end result is pretty good, but not the best.
11 years 2 months ago
george4mon's avatar

george4mon

i didnt like it! 'le trou' is a much better french prison movie
12 years 5 months ago
Darkness_prevails's avatar

Darkness_prevails

Worth a watch, I think. Not one of my favorites though.
12 years 8 months ago
akuma587's avatar

akuma587

Definitely a Renoir film worth watching.
14 years 3 months ago
canaan's avatar

canaan

the first act was surely absurdist and I got quite a few laughs. The break and transfer from one setting to the other was jarring and made me feel like it lost momentum. However the relationship between the two captains was good and a good nod to the absurdity of war between two respected men. the last act was really enjoyable and one that was a good ending. however I think i'll largely forget the first two acts.
5 years 3 months ago
Dieguito's avatar

Dieguito

A very distintive side from a war, the detention of captains and sergeants really seems a gentlemans club.. Even arrested, prisoners still try to have a good time!! Interesting movie
12 years 8 months ago
deckard.'s avatar

deckard.

vastly overrated.

wooden crosses is a much better film but somehow it doesn't get the recognition it deserves and very very underrated.

also, i prefer le silence de la mer by melville to this.
2 years 10 months ago

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