The French Great Escape in WWI

Rating: 7/10 (23 April 2014)

During WWI, French aviators aristocratic Captain de Boeldieu and working class Lieutenant Maréchal are taken prisoners. Boeldieu and the victorious aristocrat German aviator von Rauffenstein actually has a lot in common. The two captives have differing experiences finally arriving in Wintersborn prison commanded by von Rauffenstein. The prison duo and Rosenthal try to escape.
There are some interesting parts in the first half. It's about 50 minutes when they get to the castle prison. A modern POW escape movie would send them to one place and let the tension built. The second half is closer to that idea. The castle prison isn't the most impressive or the most forbidding. That holds back the movie a little.
The characters are well drawn. The actors are very natural. Beside an escape movie, this is very much a relationship movie. It's their different backgrounds and their connections that make this more. It's a fairly compelling movie but it's not really a war movie. There is very little action or even gun fire. This is more of a human relations movie. I do wish that the original duo stay together throughout the movie. That way their relationship could develop more.