A "great escape" French style...intriguing but not completely satisfying...

Rating: 6/10 (12 September 2006)

For a film that has been hailed over the years as a masterpiece, GRAND ILLUSION is showing its age. I'm speaking now from a technical standpoint. The version shown on TCM has a series of scenes linked together by choppy editing, abrupt changes of scene that lack smooth narrative style. But overall, the B&W photography is sharp and glistens with the life brought to the story by an excellent cast.
It seems a bit more profound in tackling the subject of prisoners of war, but there are many moments when you might think you're watching the French version of "The Great Escape" or "Stalag 17". The somber mood that prevails is broken intermittently by scenes of male bonding amid camaraderie and clowning around, especially the scene where the men decide to put on a show for the German officers. Needless to say, the drag show is good for a few laughs before the plot has them all struggling to hatch an escape plan, one that hasn't been used before.
But it soon becomes apparent that Capt. Von Rauffenstein (ERICH VON STROHEIM), an aristocratic German in command, has taken an instant dislike to two prisoners especially, a Frenchman (JEAN GABIN) and a Jew (MARCEL DALIO), both from the lower class. The class distinction also includes Von Rauffenstein's tolerance for an aristocratic French officer (PIERRE FRESNAY), who later becomes the pivotal character in helping the two most despised prisoners escape.
The World War I story is poorly paced for a film that runs almost two hours and, as noted before, the editing leaves a lot to be desired. The story's final section takes place in a farmhouse after the two have escaped, supposedly to show the mutual trust and comradeship that develops between the Jew, the Frenchman and a German farm woman who gives them shelter during the Christmas season. Presumably, the intent is to show that the horrors of war are best forgotten when it's time for humans to treat each other with compassion.
Worth watching if you don't mind reading the sub-titles (which are plentiful throughout), except for a short exchange between Erich Von Stoheim and Pierre Fresnay that is spoken in English. Perhaps it was the only part of the negative available when scenes were put together from various pieces for continuity.
Not really the masterpiece that others have called it, with pacifist overtones that are non too subtle in those final scenes. It's an interesting glimpse into the past via the French cinema, nothing more, nothing less, but well worth viewing.
As an "escape" film, it falls far short of the adventurous spirit we're used to in more recent outings of American cinema, and certainly it lacks the rugged style and pace of "The Great Escape" or "Stalag 17".