What is the Illusion? (SPOILERS)

Rating: Null/10 (9 September 1999)

I understand that movie historians have long debated just what is the illusion referred to in the title. Perhaps we could start our own debate?
There is the illusion that chivalry can make modern warfare palatable. Von Rauffenstein invites the French to luncheon after having just shot them down and many other gestures during the movie. The bubble is burst when he has to shoot de Boieldieu. No matter how you dress it up, war is ultimately about butchering your fellow man.
Then the many social illusions. The illusion of aristocracy shared by Von Rauffenstein and de Boieldieu, of which they are both keenly aware that it is about to pass. (This must have struck a chord with Kurosawa who came from a samurai family and was intensely proud of it.) The illusion of class differences as between the rich Rosenthal and the working man, Marechal. The illusion of racial differences as, again, between the Jew, Rosenthal, and the gentile, Marechal. The illusion of nationality as between Marechal and Elsa, the German farmer's wife.
But hanging above all is the illusion that this was the war to end all wars. All that gallantry, all that sacrifice, all that bravery - for nothing. In two decades, the same antagonists were at each others' throats again. The Grand Illusion makes you understand why the French armee was unable to fight in WW II. And why the madness of appeasement gripped the British before the war. Disillusionment sapped their will to fight. The Germans were just as disillusioned, of course, but they had revenge to motivate them.
So what do *you* think is the grand illusion?
Nice of some poster to mention that the actress who played Elsa was in L'Atlante. (Was it in Day for Night that Truffaut showed the street sign, "Rue Jean Vigo"?)
I see Grand Illusion at 10 yr intervals and each time it acquires new layers of meaning. Just saw it this last weekend in a newly restored print. The movie doesn't change (of course), but the viewer does. The more you experience of life, the more this movie will mean to you.
Is this the greatest French movie? I understand the enthusiasm of some fans, but this is a silly question, especially given the richness of that country's movie heritage. What about Les Enfants du Paradis? Or Renoir's own Rules of the Game? But hey, what would life be if we couldn't indulge in a little silliness once in awhile? I'm sure Renoir, with his joie de vivre, would have approved.
-- ray