German And De Boieldieu With Von Rauffenstein example essay topic

The Actual Illusion " It calls for the unity of all Frenchmen across class barriers", claims Raymond Durg nat in his book Jean Renoir, about the film The Grand Illusion (149). It's a war movie without a single battle scene, where only one soldier is killed, and there's not one character which could be portrayed as the villain. Just by the death toll, we get the sense that the film is more than about WWI, but how people are different from each other. The story examines soldiers from different classes and nationalities in an effort to show their common humanity despite these divisions. The film begins with pilots de Boieldieu and Marechal deciding to investigate an area to plan a military attack. While on their mission, their plane is shot down by the noble German officer Von Rauffenstein.

After celebrating his win, Von Rauffenstein orders his German soldiers to seek the fallen pilots and invite them over for lunch before being sent to a prisoners of war camp. Even though they share different allegiances, the moneyed de Boieldieu inevitably strikes up a friendship with Von Rauffenstein since they hail from the same upper social class unlike his fellow countrymen Marechal; who is just a French middle class worker. A German soldier helps Marechal cut his steak and even sparks up a conversation. The dignified Von Rauffenstein Von Rauffenstein apologizes for the death of one of their men. From the beginning of the movie, social division is displayed by seeing people from the same social class uniting like Marechal did with the German and de Boieldieu with Von Rauffenstein. As aristocratic officers, both men are witnessing the gradual erosion of their inherited privilege and the resulting power shift to the working class and try to stay together.

When they arrive at the camp, both Boieldieu and Marechal, are befriended by their fellow countrymen. The prisoners devise a plan that consists of digging a hole through the ground that ends in the gardens on the other side of the wall. They are forced to switch camps before being able to finish their plan. While in the camp, many examples of closed composition as stated by Goblin in his book A Viewer's Guide to Film "The world in a closed framed but always seems to some extend self defined and self contained" are used (59). Throughout most scenes the soldiers are filmed either enclosed in a door or window frame which added to the feeling of them being trapped in the POW camp.

There are also many uses of balanced composition. When the soldiers are in the same scene, they all appear to fit in a triangular composition. This effect starts to show how all these prisoners from different social classes have bonded through this tough time and have become equal despite their divisions. After a few years, and many failed attempts in various POW camps, de Boieldieu and Marechal are sent to the inescapable German fortress which ends up being run by non other then the stiff backed Von Rauffenstein. When they arrive, they " re met by a former friend and wealthy Jew by the name of Rosenthal.

The three desperate men device a plan to escape in which de Boieldieu will act as a decoy and many prisoners will make noise to attract the guards. Despite the barriers between these men: social class, language, religion, they unite sharing the same dream of escaping. In a long shot, composed of balanced composition, six prisoners sit around a table playing their whistles. These men from different nationalities bonded and created a cover for Marechal and Rosenthal to escape. During the escape, de Boieldieu is shot by Von Rauffenstein as Marechal and Rosenthal manage to escape. When de Boieldieu is dying, a pan shot manages to capture a crucifix, red cross and an Iron Cross ribbon.

When he dies, Von Rauffenstein decides to trim the flower of his carefully tended geranium plant, a prop, as a sad, mournful gesture for the man that shared the same loyalty to a code which he knows will soon to be doomed. Rosenthal and Marechal take shelter with Elsa, poor peasant woman, who lost all her family in the trenches at war. Marechal begins to fall for her and decides that it's best for them to leave to Switzerland. After both men quarrel in the snow, the camera holds the men in different shots as if they were far apart.

Rosenthal sits in a mid shot until Marechal appears in the frame and walks within a closer proximity of Rosenthal. This spatial deceit allows to viewer to see a blossoming bond between them. At the end, war ends up bringing all the classes together. The three main characters represent different classes in society with Boieldieu as the aristocrat, Rosenthal as the wealthy bourgeoisie, and Marechal as a member of the working class.

A good analogy of this is when Marechal is talking to Elsa's cow. He calls it a "poor cow" and refers to himself as a "poor man" saying that even though they where born in different places they can still be friends. As Bosley Crowther states in his book The great films "Nature all looks alike. Frontiers are an invention of man" (124).

At the end, the best way to look at things is without all of the man made barriers intended to cut ourselves off from others.