21L011 The Film Experience
Professor David Thorburn

Lecture 16 - Renoir's Grand Illusion

1. Camera
   • Invisible witness: respectful, attentive, restless
     
     
2. Actors
   • Von Stroheim: The man you love to hate
   • Gabin: Mad proletarian
     
     
3. Themes
   • Prison camp as microcosm
   • Barriers, boundaries
   • Historical transition
     
     
4. Renoir’s Maturity   
   • Character
   • Plot: a war story without battles
   • The title: how many grand illusions?