The War and the Sadness of the Times in Renoir's Lens

Lemuel 2022-03-25 09:01:14

And the war in that shot is not the last war as Marsali said, but just the beginning...

The whole film is somewhat like the situation of senior German and French officers (essentially reflecting the good training of the soldiers of the two countries and the state of elite education at that time), the family of the German-French war plus the anecdotes of prisoner-of-war camps and escape anecdotes in the era of high nationalism. At that time, the German and French soldiers still maintained some restraint and respect for each other. Hitler's brainwashing had not yet begun. Yet the wounds and evils of war do hit every civilian family in a concrete way. Renoir's so-called prison break movie showed wars in different situations, and the characters of different classes also reflected the social conditions of Germany and France at that time like a mirror. Criticism of war is restrained and sad, always French. No one can survive the war, the savage giant machine of war will undoubtedly crush everything, and the pain, only those who have experienced it know it.

Renoir's editing is crisp and crisp, and the narrative shots are restrained, similar to Bresson. The French prison escape movie is really high, and Renoir is probably the grandfather... Although it happened to be a coincidence that he was imprisoned in the south of Germany near the Swiss border and met a beautiful hostess, no one would criticize such a coincidence. affectation. Because, since everything is in line with the imagination in the war, the coincidence can be regarded as the focus of the director's own point of view. The escape from prison undoubtedly carries some kind of hope for German and French peace and a call for love, as well as a satire of cruel reality and war. When the two disappeared into the snow, drifting away, and the film gradually came to an end, as a viewer, I felt a sense of sadness, because this is not the end, the tragedy of war is like the footprints moving forward on the snow, Continue to leave a mark in human history...

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Extended Reading
  • Rosalee 2022-03-23 09:02:39

    If Bresson's Prison Break is mathematics and Jacques Beck's The Hole is psychology, then this film is prose poetry. "Don't leave, I'll shoot if you leave." Picking the last flower in the castle for the enemy, touching, but always restrained in close-up. Escape is escaping from captivity, and love is building a fence. The encounter between the lieutenant and the heroine must happen at the door. At the end, they crossed the border between the two countries, in the white snow like a sea. rewatch

  • General 2022-01-07 15:53:50

    To say that this is a jailbreak movie is actually a bit underestimated. This is more like a eulogy film where heroes cherish heroes and the spirit of chivalry survives. Everyone in the movie maintains decency in a difficult environment, which is admirable. . And the subtitles are a bit poor, which affects the perception. .

La Grande Illusion quotes

  • Lieutenant Maréchal: We've retaken Douaumont! They announce it themselves!

    POW in drag: "La Marseillaise" please.

    [singing]

    POW in drag: Allons enfants de la Patrie...

    French POWs: [singing] Le jour de gloire est arrivé! Contre nous de la tyrannie, L'étendard sanglant est levé, Le jour de gloire est arrivé! Contre nous de la tyrannie, L'étendard sanglant est levé...

  • Lieutenant Rosenthal: One thing upsets me, leaving Maréchal behind.

    Capt. de Boeldieu: I dislike it too. In fact, it irks me. Ah! Sentiment has no place in war.