Le Grande Illusion and the French Film Festival

I first watched this film during the French Film Festival several years ago. It was a war story that did not have much a war scene. It was a movie that showed the humanity of all sides of the war. It was a war movie that provide message but not a sermon. It was a movie that one could not forget.

Here is a brief description of the movie I wrote for a post when I got a DVD copy of the film.

It was also a movie that the Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels wanted and did confiscate.

Le Grande Illusion,A B&W French film telling the tale of two French officers as they transfer from pow camp to pow camp, along they encountering people from all walks of life and of course trying to escape from their German captors. Critically acclaimed the Goebbels and the Nazis condemed the film and confiscated the original.

Le Grande Illusion the trailer

Grand Illusion Intro by its Director Jean Renoir

Goebbel’s confiscated the film and it was believed to have been destroyed or gone. The negative was found years later it had traveled from Berlin to Moscow and found itself back in France at the storage of the Toulouse Cinémathèque. It was only discovered when the Toulouse Collection was slowly being transferred to the French Film Archives at Bois d’Arcy.

It is one of those movies that one is glad got discovered again and can be shown again.

It is nice to open oneself to things. Another movie I also could not forget from the French Film Festival was The Children of Paradise – Les Enfants du Paradis.

I remember Le Grande Illusion because of two things: (i) I found it and watched a few weeks ago and (ii) I learned it is 15th Year Anniversary of the French Film Festival here in Manila and it is going to happen this 3rd Day of June 2010. Here are the details:

The 15th French Film Festival
Metro Manila, Cebu, the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the University of the Philippines

French Film Festival will run from June 3 to 13 at the Shang Cineplex of the Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila

French Film Festival will run from June 18 to 20 at the Ayala Center in Cebu.

Also in honor of the late filmmaker Eric Rohmer, A Retrospective of his Work will run from June 15 to 19 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines , Manila.

For film and mass Communication Students a selection of films will be shown at the UP Film Institute

Here is a synopses of the film that will be shown:

15th French Film Festival – Film Synopses