La Grande Illusion (Grand Illusion) [1937]

Filled with understated humour, wry observations and humanism, Renoir’s Grand Illusion was both a deeply anti-war film and a subtle commentary on societal differences borne out of class, race and nationalities. Captain de Boieldieu (Pierre Fesnay), an aristocratic senior officer, and Lt. Marechal (Jean Gabin), a proletariat pilot, are taken captive in a German POW camp, commanded by Captain von Rauffenstein (Renoir’s idol, Erich von Stroheim), during a reconnaissance mission. After numerous failed attempts, Marechal finally manages to escape along with a Jewish inmate, and they take refuge in the home of a lonely German widow (Dita Parlo) during the course of their arduous journey. Renoir painted a deftly textured picture on the utter futility of war. And, by displaying such anachronistic gentlemanly conduct between the two parties, the film’s grandest illusion was brilliantly depicted – made starker on hindsight by the horrors that WWII has become synonymous with. Yet, for all its poetic realism and its humane portrayal of men and women trapped in the cogs of world politics, Renoir also provided a sly peek into our ingrained social barriers. Boieldieu and Rauffenstein, despite belonging to opposite camps nationally, are bound by their aristocratic heritage and mores; ironically, Marechal and his fellow escapee are naturally strung together by their class and nationality, but the question of race lingers at the back of their minds. Boieldieu and Marechal, despite their national obligations, represent inherently opposing social orders. Luminously photographed and excellently enacted, these paradoxical sociopolitical subtexts, and the juxtaposition of old and new orders, made this a universally relevant masterwork whose resonance has only increased with the passage of time.

Director: Jean Renoir
Genre: Drama/War Drama/Prison Drama
Language: French
Country: France

M [1931]

M, Fritz Lang’s first sound film and made when he was still based in Germany, has come to be recognized as a landmark early talkie. With its dark theme, nocturnal setting and expressionistic photography, it was also an important proto-noir. The film opens with the city of Berlin gripped by the fear of an elusive child killer. As he keeps leaving a trail of young girls in his path, two developments occur one after the other. The hapless police force literally turns the city into a crazy police state in their desperate bid to catch the murderer. The city’s crime syndicate, feeling the relentless heat of the suddenly hyper-active police force, begins a hunt for the man themselves using their vast network of mendicants and vagabonds. The man at the centre of this massive two-pronged attack is Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre), the slimy, deranged sociopath. In its iconic climax, Beckert, upon being finally captured by the underworld after a combing operation in a massive office building, is put on trial in a kangaroo court, and is told of their ability to judge by citing the times served by various gang-members. The film made a star out of Lorre who gave a delectably creepy, albeit gleefully over-the-top, performance. However, despite its sterling legacy, the movie hasn’t really aged well. The overtly theatrical set pieces and the histrionics by some of the cast members ended up serving as mood breakers, thus dampening the effects of the ominous atmospheric. The film, therefore, remains significant in today’s context mostly for its historical importance, its pre-Nazi allegory, and Lang’s innovative use of the then infant technology.

Director: Fritz Lang
Genre: Thriller/Crime Thriller/Proto-Noir/Police Detective Film/Gangster Film
Language: German
Country: Germany

A Day in the Country (Partie de Campagne) [1936]

Jean Renoir had a feature length film in mind when he started working on short story by Guy de Maupassant for A Day in the Country, but couldn’t finish. The result was this 40-minute featurette released 10 years later. The major part of the film is about a day-long picnic of a Parisian family to an idyllic countryside location by the river. There, while the mother has a fun fling when her grumpy husband refuses to pamper her, the young daughter, engaged to a rather neurotic young man, has a more passionate, albeit brief, affair with a soft-spoken commoner – an affair that would continue occupying a sizeable portion of their memories. Handled with velvet gloves, this was a charming look at the foibles and idiosyncrasies of a typical bourgeois family. Yet, despite the satirical undertones and the deliberate accentuation of behavioral traits to elicit laughter, the film was neither malicious nor acerbic in its portrayal; rather, its tone was one of gentleness and warmth. Renoir’s interest lay in portraying the unfulfilled love across a massive class divide, juxtaposing the bittersweet remnants of its memory against a dull and conformist life, and quietly observing life away from the madding crowds. Given its brief length, the simple, lighthearted and fragmentary nature, and the melodramatic style that was alternately amusing and corny, it was difficult to consider it very seriously. Interestingly, the scene where the girl is on a swing with the camera attached to her frame of reference, was recreated by Kurosawa in Ikiru and Ray in Charulata as homage to the master French filmmaker.

Director: Jean Renoir
Genre: Drama/Romantic Drama/Social Satire
Language: French
Country: France

A Night at the Opera [1935]

Marx Brothers shifted their allegiance from Paramount to MGM with A Night at the Opera, their most commercially successful venture. This was also the first film not to feature Zeppo, the fourth Marx, and thus the team of brothers officially became a trio instead of a quartet. Unlike the incredible and anarchic political satire in the garb of high farce, viz. Duck Soup, arguably their greatest artistic accomplishment, this was a rather apolitical affair and more in the tradition of “pure” comedy. The film has Groucho as a wily promoter who is after the money of a wealthy patroness who is desperate to make her way into elite social circles. An opportunistic German businessman signs a pompous tenor for his debut in the US, much to the dim-witted lady’s delight. Meanwhile Chico has become the manager of a talented tenor looking for a break, and illegally boards the ship bound for America. With the laconic Harpo thrown in for good measure, the Marx brothers create the sort of pandemonium that only they could, and the hilarious berserk that ensues makes a mockery of the best laid plans for those in charge. Groucho’s trademark one-liners, wry humour, straight-faced witticisms and cynical retorts made for some of the funniest banters. He, along with the zany Harpo and the eccentric Chico, made this madcap and irreverent comedy a delightful watch. Some of the most memorable sequences include, Groucho and Chico’s absurdist debate over a contract, hordes of men and women randomly being invited into Groucho’s tiny cabin in the ship, a hilarious dinner order, the fooling of an investigating officer in a hotel room, and the gravity-defying rampage in the climax.

Director: Sam Wood

Genre: Comedy/Screwball Comedy/Slapstick Comedy/Musical/Showbiz Comedy

Language: English

Country: US

The Rules of the Game (La Règle du Jeu) [1939]

Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game didn’t receive a favourable reception upon its release from the viewers and critics alike; even the powers that be tried to destroy the prints. It received a proper release nearly two decades later, and since then it has come to be recognized as one of the greatest films ever made. The movie is about a lavish party thrown by wealthy aristocrat Robert and his wife Christine at their palatial manor house in the Parisian countryside. Andre, a national hero in love with Christine, Octave, the lady’s buffoonish childhood friend, Robert’s mistress on the sly, and a garrulous General, are among the various guests invited – consequently numerous complications arise as a result. Meanwhile, complications also crop up among the servants when the gamekeeper of the house notices that the new recruit is flirting with his wife who happens to be Christine’s personal maid. While those belonging to the upper floors are more interested in preserving their show of geniality and propriety, such is not the case with their lower floor counterparts. Thus this party becomes a microcosmic representation of the society at large, and the ensuing comedy of manners a scathing commentary on both class divisions and human behavior. Though some of the plot developments and the acting (which is quite over-the-top at times) might seem dated by today’s standards, there’s no doubting its artistic merit and in its usage of fluid camera movements and deep focus. It also provided the template for such diverse movies as Bunuel’s Exterminating Angels, Altman’s Gosford Park, Nihalani’s Party, among others.








Director: Jean Renoir
Genre: Comedy/Comedy of Manners/Ensemble Film/Romantic Comedy
Language: French
Country: France

Duck Soup [1933]

Duck Soup is often cited as the greatest work of the inimitable Marx Brothers. Brisk to the point of keeping one off-guard right through its crisp length, this was a madcap political satire on warmongering dictators – the kind of people who were especially in vogue when the movie was made. This unapologetically irreverent, outrageously funny, and incredibly witty movie is set in a fictitious country called Freedonia which is nearly broke. The country’s principal benefactress agrees to donate money to save the country, and in return the wisecracking Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) is made its President. Chicolini (Chico Marx) and Pinky (Harpo Marx) are two bumbling spies sent by the ambassador of the neighbouring country Sylvania, but end up becoming parts of Freedonia’s army when war breaks out between the two countries. The brilliant and acerbic one-liners delivered by Groucho in his unique style, as well as the movie’s various plot elements in general, lampooned everything on sight and beyond. And some of the gags it is filled with are worth their weights in gold – the extended mirror pantomime sequence could very well feature amongst the most astounding and ingenuous sequences ever concocted and captured on a motion picture camera. The three brothers, at times, seemed to be in a zone of their own. The degree of farce and slapstick did at times dilute its underlying theme, but it remains a landmark film for its no-holes-barred indictment on the absurdities of war, as also for its sheer entertainment quotient.








Director: Leo McCarey
Genre: Comedy/Slapstick/Political Satire
Language: English
Country: US