La grande illusion 1937

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: It's still one of the key humanist expressions to be found in movies: sad, funny, exalting, and glorious. Read more

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader: It's an excellent film, with Renoir's usual looping line and deft shifts of tone, though today the balance of critical opinion has shifted in favor of the greater darkness and filigree of The Rules of the Game. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: It's among the most understated anti-war films ever made, effortlessly humanistic but far too subtle to indulge in preaching. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: ... Renoir, the grand humanist filmmaker, spoke for all that's best about people at a time when people were in danger of becoming their worst. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: A model of simplicity and grace, with emotional effects that move you when you least expect it, the kind of great film that only a master can pull off. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: ... the camera doesn't point or intrude, but glides. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: Renoir films have a way of talking about one thing while being about another. Read more

Stephen Garrett, Time Out: Funny, heart-wrenching, nail-biting, caustic and profound, touting the futility of armed combat while turning imprisonment and escape into a microcosm for society's aspirations and contradictions. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: An artistically masterful feature, the picture breathes the intimate life of warriors on both sides during the [First] World War. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: Read more