1 - The Grand Illusion (1937)

1.  One.  Un.  Eins.  Welcome to the first episode of the Spirit Guides… is what I would say if we watched the films of the Criterion Collection in numerical order.  It took us nearly seven seasons, but we've finally been assigned spine number one: Jean Renoir's The Grand Illusion.  Jean Gabin, Pierre Fresnay, and (scene-stealing) Erich von Stroheim, trace the lives of prisoners-of-war and their captors during World War I.  Escapes, indignities, and unexpected friendships mark the scenes, but it's really an exploration of how humanity must compete with national duty.  A powerful, but unheard message, in the prelude to the second World War.

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If you'd like to watch ahead for next week's film, we will be discussing and reviewing Krzysztof Kieslowski's Blind Chance (1981).