Overpraised pacifist statement rings hollow.

Rating: 3/10 (5 September 2006)

This overpraised, overlong film is due for a fresh look from the critics.
The characters are not terrifically individualized or interestingly portrayed, with the exception of Von Stroheim's philosophical Colonel. The plot development is slow to the point of aimlessness. The prisoners are all either happy-go-lucky adventurous types or poor souls who just want to go home. It may be unfair to compare two films made nearly thirty years apart, but there is far, far more of interest going on in "The Great Escape," unquestionably the most thoughtful of the POW movies, than there is here. Which is especially ironic, since "The Great Escape" was made chiefly as an adventure tale. Yet it can boast far better characterizations and far more interesting human interactions than does "Grand Illusion," long a favorite among cinema intellectuals.
Europe's mood in the 1930s (outside of Germany, of course) was pacifistic. Voila! "Grand Illusion" is a pacifist film. It is also, unfortunately, a tedious recital of sentimental clichés, quite undistinguished except for some nice open-air direction at the end, and for Von Stroheim's oddly memorable neck-brace.