Grand Illusion (1937)

Jean Renoir’s “Grand Illusion”

Thematic Elements:  

What is the ‘grand illusion’ in Jean Renoir’s Grand Illusion? To put simply, the grand illusion is that of nationality, class, and race. Throughout the film, both connections and disconnections are made between everyone in the film. The solidarity of nationality is present as the working class Marechal, aristocrat de Boeldieu, wealthy Jewish bourgeoise banker Rosenthal, and comic hall actor Cartier all band together to try and escape their POW camp. The distinct nationality between the Germans and the French soldiers cause solidarity between the two as the rely on each other in this first act of the movie. However, during the second act of the film that distinct divide becomes hazier. As Marechal, de Boeldieu, and Rosenthal are transferred to a more heavily prominent fortress of which the likelihood of escaping is significantly small, they are overseen by the German officer Rauffenstein. Rauffenstein plays favoritism towards de Boeldieu because he recognizes de Boeldieu as being of the same affluent class. They bond over memories of maxims and horses as Rauffenstein treats him to better meals, more meaningful conversation, and even orders the German soldiers not search his area of the room. When asked why he is given such special privileges, Rauffenstein replies that they are both respectable officers, to which de Boeldieu responds, “but the others are officers as well,” to which Rauffenstein plays coy and hints that they are less than the two of them. The distinct separation of nationality is now erased and replaced with the solidarity of class. Rosenthal, however, is also a wealthy banker, so why doesn’t he get this same special treatment? Not only does Rosenthal share the abundantly packed parcels he receives with his fellow comrades, he is also of Jewish decent. This added distinction of race and culture is another line that is drawn and causes Rauffenstein to view him as less than. Because Rosenthal shares in his wealth with the others, Marechal views him as a pal and sees no distinction of class or race because of this. However, Marechal does tell Rosenthal that he is suspicious of de Boeldieu because of his class culture. He believes that de Boeldieu should not be trusted because of the difference in the way they behave; de Boeldieu has more aristocratic sensibilities that Marechal simply cannot understand and connect with. De Boeldieu, however, chooses to view himself as a Frenchman over his wealth and class and decides to sacrifice himself to save his fellow Frenchman in escaping. After escaping, Marechal and Rosenthal come upon a farm in which they decide to hide for the night. After being caught by Elsa, a poor farmer, they believe that she will call the police due to her allegiance with her German nationality (and the fact that her husband and brothers were killed in action by French forces). However, Elsa chooses not to see this nationality and decides to welcome the soldiers into her home and feed them. After leaving the farm, the soldiers are travelling through the mountains when German soldiers spot them. The German soldiers decide not to shoot at them however because they have passed over into Austria. They choose to see the territory as being of Austria, and therefore cannot fire on the soldiers because of this. Renoir is suggesting in this work that these barriers and identifiers are merely an illusion which can only cause conflict. The nature of identifying yourself as belonging to a particular nationality, class, or race can only inherently cause conflict with someone of another nationality, class, or race. These invisible identities are the reason for seeing someone else as an ‘other’. The grand illusion in all of this is that are the soldiers and civilians represented in the film are all the same but made different by these invisible distinctions. These invisible distinctions can create solidarity between your fellow man, but they inherently cause conflict with those you view by other distinctions. These distinctions, much like the war these men are fighting is utterly meaningless. 

Camerawork: 

Renoir often uses a gliding camera in this film. The gliding camera connects people in the scene to each other and strengthens a connection between the fellow men. Renoir also refrains from showing us any actual war and battle taking place. The film entirely consists of small incidents that both undercut and reinforce the hostility of the two sides, each composed of men who are trapped in a seemingly endless conflict. Renoir’s restraint on showing the actual hostility and madness of war and instead showing us the petty differences and uniting similarities between the characters ultimately suggests that is what the war is actually about and the cause of. As we know in our minds that these men are shooting at each other, maiming each other, and inflicting ultimate violence against each other in the field of battle, the real battle and the root of all this are the imaginary differences that the men see in each other. Renoir is able to show us the real evil in restraining what we actually see. Instead he opts to show us men who’s uniforms all look the same, who are all treating each other in the same respect, and who are all in the same situations as the other men. Renoir is showing us that although these men seem to have absolutely no differences between each other, the fact that they choose the see the other men as different than them is entirely the reason for this war and conflict. 

Best Shot: 

In perhaps the sweetest and most tender moment of the film, the best shot is that of Rauffenstein consoling de Boeldieu after just having shot him. Raffenstein is apologizing for bungling the attempt at shooting him in the leg and instead shooting him in the stomach. De Boeldieu accepts this apology saying that it was not only his duty to shoot him, but the fog prohibited him from aiming correctly. The two men who are on different sides of the war find commonality with each other and see each other as the same. The moment they share before de Boeldieu passes away is that of two humans seeing each other as such.