La Grande Illusion
La Grande Illusion also known as Grand Illusion is a 1937 French war film directed by Jean Renoir, who cowrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who are prisoners of war during World War I and are plotting an escape. The title of the film comes from the book The Great Illusion by British economist 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. It is regarded by critics and film historians as one of the masterpieces of French cinema and among the greatest films ever made. Orson Welles named La Grande Illusion as one of the movies he would take with him on the ark. Empire magazine ranked itin The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema in 2010.
De Boeldieu and Marchal are then taken to a prisonerofwar camp, where they meet a colorful group of fellow French prisoners and stage a vaudevilletype performance just after the Germans have taken Fort Douaumont in the epic battle of Verdun. During the performance, word arrives that the French have recaptured the fort. Marchal interrupts the show, and the French prisoners spontaneously burst into La Marseillaise. As a result of the disruption, Marchal is placed in solitary confinement, where he suffers badly from lack of human contact and hunger ironically, the fort changes hands once more while he is imprisoned. De Boeldieu and Marchal also help their fellow prisoners finish digging an escape tunnel. However, just before it is completed, everyone is transferred to other camps. Because of the language barrier, Marchal is unable to pass word of the tunnel to an incoming British prisoner.De Boeldieu and Marchal are moved from camp to camp, finally arriving in Wintersborn, a mountain fortress prison commanded by Von Rauffenstein, who has been so badly injured in battle that he has been promoted, but reassigned, much to his regret. Von Rauffenstein tells them that Wintersborn is escapeproof. ........
Source: Wikipedia
