| A film for people who dig films...a lot |
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| written by toddandsteph |
May 5, 2007 - 4:20 PM PDT |
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2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
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| I hate to go into a flick with expectations, and I hate hype as well. But, seeing as how the screenwriter of one of my favorite flicks deemed this to be the greatest film ever made, it was quite hard for me to expect it to be anything but great. Luckily, it was. Renoir's Grand Illusion really impressed me, but it wasn't anything that I'd put on my favorites list or anything like that (I would really like to see it again though). This is a whole other ballgame. The plot is pretty easy and melodramatic. There are a number of love affairs going on with servants and masters on a hunting trip just before World War II. These affairs have courses and dips and hills and whatnot. I think the guide on my parent's TV offered this synopsis: "Masters and servants play hard during a hunting trip." Renoir even goes a bit far in telling his viewers in title cards that this isn't a movie about manners. And he's right. The rules aren't a prescribed way whose following causes a character to die due to societal evils...nor are they a new list of rules for this evil new world. The rules refer to the set of manners we give to the world, and when Renoir says that this isn't a story about manners, he's right. There isn't a single set of manners that this film shows being universal. Rather, the film concentrates on displaying the different views of the world as set in rules by different classes and genders. Sound like an awfully annoying pill to swallow? Well, never fear! Renoir impresses on all levels, giving amusing dialogue, a brisk pace, and a neverending cavalcade of amazing things to look at. This is a first rate classic in every sense of the word. Is it the greatest damn thing ever made? Well, everyone has their answer. **** and 1/2 * out've ***** |
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