La Grande Illusion

To the classic film evening at the Colisée in Carcassonne this evening, to see La Grande Illusion -- which somehow we have managed never to see till now. It's quite hard to imagine how it was received when it was made (1937). And kind of weird that it has scenes that remind you of later films: The Great Escape for the tunnelling and earth disposal, and Casablanca for the singing of the Marseillaise by French prisoners of war. It was a beautifully restored print from the original negative, lost for decades after it was confiscated by Goebbels in occupied Paris. Renoir recreated it from a print, but died before the negative was rediscovered. Gorgeous light and shade, both literal and in the depiction of the characters. And a message that seems highly appropriate right now: overcome nationalism and language barriers, and find our common humanity.