The Grand Illusion

1937, France, Jean Renoir, 114 min.

With Jean Gabin, Dita Parlo, and Pierre Fresnay

Introduced by choreographer David Parsons.

During World War I, two French officers are shot down over Germany and taken as prisoners of war. One a patrician and the other a mechanic by trade, their escape attempts are complicated by fallout from their own class differences.

“It’s not a movie about a prison escape, nor is it jingoistic in its politics; it’s a meditation on the collapse of the old order of European civilization. Perhaps that was always a sentimental upper-class illusion, the notion that gentlemen on both sides of the lines subscribed to the same code of behavior. Whatever it was, it died in the trenches of World War I.” —Roger Ebert, October 3, 1999

“Sophistication at the service of innocence, not cynicism or chic: That’s the glory of “˜Grand Illusion’ as a narrative, a showcase for transcendent acting, a piece of philosophy in action, and a leap into pure cinema.” —Michael Sragow, The New Yorker

Empire magazine ranked The Grand Illusion #35 in “The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema” in 2010.

About Cabaret Cinema

For the Museum’s classic film series, renowned photographer Steve McCurry selected eight films that have influenced the way he looks at light, color, form, and narrative. Journalists and photographers will introduce each film and relate it to one of McCurry’s photographs in the new exhibition Steve McCurry: India.

About the Speaker

David Parsons founded Parsons Dance in 1985 with lighting designer Howell Binkley. Since then he has created works through commissions from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, the American Dance Festival, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, New York City Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, the Spoleto Festival, and Het Muziektheater in Amsterdam, among others. His works have also been performed by Batsheva Dance Company of Israel, English National Ballet, Feld Ballets/NY, Hubbard Street Dance Company, Nederlands Dans Theatre, and Paris Opera Ballet, among many others. He choreographed and directed the dance elements for Times Square 2000, the twenty-four-hour festivities in Times Square celebrating the turn of the millennium.