The Mirage of War

Rating: 10/10 (31 December 2012)

During World War I, working-class mechanic Jean Gabin (as Marechal) and smoothly suave aristocrat Pierre Fresnay (as Boeldieu) are shot down while piloting a mission for France. Taken prisoners of war by duty-bound German aristocrat Erich von Stroheim (as von Rauffenstein), the pair join "nouveau riche" Jewish officer Marcel Dalio (as Rosenthal) in plotting a Great Escape. But the four men are trapped by more than meets the eye... Writer-director Jean Renoir's wonderful film requires much concentration and reveals intentions with great subtlety. It portends the end of European aristocracy, shoots societal class distinctions through the heart, and points its heroes uncannily toward new and uncertain political horizons.
********** La grande illusion (6/4/37) Jean Renoir ~ Jean Gabin, Marcel Dalio, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim