A group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal, grapple with their own class differences after being captured and held in a World War I German prison camp. When the men are transferred to a high-security fortress, they must concoct a plan to escape beneath the watchful eye of aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, who has formed an unexpected bond with de Boeldieu.
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🔍 Search on JustWatch →This is quietly operating cinema. No big events, no crisis turns — just people and how they live through what happens to them.
Strengths: atmosphere, actors, accuracy of detail. Weaknesses: the pace isn't for everyone, the ending may feel unresolved.
For people who watch films for feeling, not entertainment.
Director: Jean Renoir
— MovieFinder Editorial
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Viewing atmosphere: An evening when your mind is at peace. With someone you can sit in silence with after. Wine or tea.
Jean Gabin
Le lieutenant Maréchal
Pierre Fresnay
Le capitaine de Boëldieu
Erich von Stroheim
Le capitaine von Rauffenstein
Marcel Dalio
Le lieutenant Rosenthal
Dita Parlo
Elsa
Julien Carette
Cartier, l'acteur
Gaston Modot
L'ingénieur
Georges Péclet
Le serrurier
Werner Florian
Le sergent Arthur
Jean Dasté
L'instituteur
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