La Grande Illusion - Jean Renoir

Seen for the first time in January 2013.

Something about watching "La Grande Illusion" reminds me of sipping a fine well-aged wheated bourbon. Now a good youngish wheated bourbon initially tastes of vanilla or caramel sweetness transitioning into a golden lushness mid-palate before a nice long soothing finish with a quiet burn. This is, in and of itself, a very tasty and satisfying way to finish off a ruminative and pensive day. But should you age that same bourbon for 10-15 years in new charred oak barrels, that same sip of bourbon will take on an extra dimension. There's a depth and texture that the younger bourbon lacks.

I'm comparing "La Grande Illusion" to aged bourbon, not because it's an old movie, but because it has that same extra dimension of depth and texture. Something that you didn't even know was lacking in other fine movies, and you're not even completely sure how to explain it. It's not greater complexity, or taste, or seriousness. It's another dimension entirely. It's an emanating warmth that pervades everything and yet is impalpable.

They say it's one of the first prison-break movies ever made. But there is no tension nor suspense surrounding the planned escape nor any thrills in its execution. It's notable and remarkable how amicably the Germans and their French prisoners seem to get a long. There is not an ounce of nationalistic propaganda in this film. It accentuates the similarities between people and their needs and at its most on the nose points out the artificiality of borders themselves. The Germans are not portrayed as barbarians, but with honor and a mutual respect for their prisoners.

While it stars the great Jean Gabin, I'd like to emphasize that Pierre Fresnay as aristocratic Boieldieu was a revelation. He's like the Jean Dujardin of another era. Just incredible amounts of gallic charisma and charm. The ending as well is super charming, showing no personal animosity between the French and Germans, which may be unrealistic in some sense, but admirable for striving toward a greater humanistic truth. Grade A.