For decades I've read, heared, seen people refer to this film as a
masterpiece of "anything," be it anti-war, about cinematic technique,
whatever. Woody Allen put this into my head by referring to it in his film
and his writings and interviews. When I finally sat down to see it, I
understood the story but was not emotionally moved. And I'm a sucker for
desiring to be emotionally moved even when I say to people I don't want to
be "played" for tears. But Grand Illusion has a message so profound that
it's as a large as a billboard hitting you in the face. And that's just it,
I guess. Expectations were set so high and then here comes the billboard
that hits me in the face and I go "waaa?"
Maybe if I had discovered it on my own, I would've felt like it moved like a
swift current, but it was slow and had been hyped so over-the-top that it
was bound to disappoint. Conversely, "Kane" emerged as this other force
during the 1960s. It felt dated but I think the haunting opening with
Bernard Herrmann's Hitchcock-like score drew me in and I can still put it on
my DVD and find something new each time. My opinion of Grand Illusion is a
minority view and should be discarded because I'm just 1 out of 100 people
who probably think it's just "good" but not "great.
-koose.
----Original Message Follows----
From: Tom Kirby <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Subject: Re: Happy....
Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2007 23:14:50 +0100
Koose - just interested - why do you think La Grande Illusion is overrated?
Tom
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