La Grande Illusion

La Grande Illusion
La Grande Illusion
	French film poster
Directed by	Jean Renoir
Written by	Charles Spaak; Jean Renoir;
Produced by	Albert Pinkovitch; Frank Rollmer;
Starring	Jean Gabin; Dita Parlo; Pierre Fresnay; Marcel Dalio; Erich von Stroheim;
Cinematography	Christian Matras
Edited by	Marguerite Renoir; Marthe Huguet; Renée Lichtig (1958 cut);
Music by	Joseph Kosma
Production; company	Réalisation d'Art Cinématographique
Distributed by	Réalisation d'Art Cinématographique
Release date	8 June 1937;
Running time	114 minutes
Country	France
Languages	French; German; English;
Box office	$414,620 (US re-release);

La Grande Illusion (French for "The Grand Illusion") is a 1937 French war drama film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who are German prisoners of war during World War I and are plotting an escape.

The title of the film comes from the 1909 book The Great Illusion by British journalist Norman Angell, which argued that war is futile because of the common economic interests of all European nations. The perspective of the film is generously humanistic to its characters of various nationalities.

La Grande Illusion is regarded by critics and film historians as one of the masterpieces of French cinema^[2] and among the greatest films ever made. Orson Welles named La Grande Illusion as one of the two movies he would take with him "on the ark".^[3] Director and producer Sydney Pollack picked La Grande Illusion as one of his ten favorite films of all time.^[4]

In 1958, the film was voted number 5 on the prestigious Brussels 12 list at the 1958 World Expo. In 1995, the Vatican included La Grande Illusion in its list of 45 "great films" under the category of "Art."^[5] Empire magazine ranked it #35 in "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.^[6]

^ "La Grande Illusion (1937) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 31 December 2020..
^ Cite error: The named reference criterion was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Welles cites La Grande Illusion but doesn't name the second film - he just says "something else" (4m 35s)." YouTube, 15 September 2007. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.
^ "BFI | Sight & Sound | Top Ten Poll 2002 - How the directors and critics voted". Archived from the original on 26 June 2012.
^ "Vatican Best Films List". Official website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archived from the original on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
^ "The 100 best films of world cinema: 35, 'La Grande Illusion'." Empire. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.

[1] "La Grande Illusion (1937) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 31 December 2020..

[criterion-2] Cite error: The named reference criterion was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[3] Welles cites La Grande Illusion but doesn't name the second film - he just says "something else" (4m 35s)." YouTube, 15 September 2007. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.

[4] "BFI | Sight & Sound | Top Ten Poll 2002 - How the directors and critics voted". Archived from the original on 26 June 2012.

[5] "Vatican Best Films List". Official website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archived from the original on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2022.

[6] "The 100 best films of world cinema: 35, 'La Grande Illusion'." Empire. Retrieved: 20 March 2017.

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