La grande illusion (1937, France)

An excellent anti-war film by Erich von Stroheim. It follows the lives of some French prisoners of war in the First World War. Much of the film offers a new realism that wasn't in place in earlier films, although the reality loses out in the later part of the film.

As has subsequently become a cliché in PoW films, there is a revue with a dancing chorus. In fact the stunned silence when one character first tries his dress on is quite interesting ... they had been away from home for a long time.

Also interesting is the section when they go to the new camp, and are interviewed by von Stroheim's character. He is reviewing their escape attempt record; Lt Maréchal has escaped three times, the last one "déguisé en femme", perhaps the first film use of the term? He replies that although the idea is amusing, it was not so amusing when an NCO took a fancy to him.

HF December 2002

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