I don't get it!

Rating: 7/10 (17 August 1999)

Why has this film been so praised, so admired, so loved? It's not a bad little yarn about World War 1 POW's - but its incredible and deep significance escapes me. In fact I found it a bit of a chore to sit through.
The first part of the film is something like "Hogan's Heroes", with the French POW's having a high old time eating like kings and putting on impossibly elaborate stage shows in drag. And of course there's the ubiquitous escape tunnel! Then it becomes a lot of silly ramblings as a French and a German aristocrat mourn the loss of their class - the other major characters are a French workman and a French Jew. All very deep. And then it all descends into "The Great Escape".
Yes, it's all about the stupidity of war - but it makes its point quickly and then rambles on for another hour and a half. I've always been immune to the charms of over-weight, middle-age French actors like Jean Gabin (and today Mr Depardieu), who we are supposed to find sexy - but Von Stroheim is splendid as the German officer. He carries a tragic weight, as opposed to a cholesterol-induced one, that is very powerful.
Surprisingly ordinary.