Class war hard to relate to

Rating: Null/10 (2 April 2020)

In our times when the rich are increasingly grotesque, the sympathetic view of fading pre-war aristocracy in this film did little for me, memorable as the performances were. The rich, far from dying out, have mutated into a more swinish version of what they are idealised as having being before the great war- is that the illusion of the title? In fact, this film rather glorifies and sentimentalizes the priveliged class, while overdoing in my view just how down to earth and unpretentious the working classes are. Having said all that, I enjoyed this classic prisoner of war film overall, could see it's merit, but rarely felt personally involved in the characters, except for the beautiful German farmer's wife who finds love and has to let it go right at the end. These scenes had a quiet beauty to them and made me glad I'd sat through the film.