La Grande Illusion

Jean Renoir co-writes and directs this classic French war drama. In a WWI German prisoner-of-war camp, three French soldiers, working-class Lieutenant Maréchal (Jean Gabin), middle-class Jew Rosenthal (Marcel Dalio) and aristocratic senior officer Captain de Boieldieu (Pierre Fresnay), are held prisoner by Commandant von Rauffenstein (Erich von Stroheim). A bond of sympathy develops between the German Commandant and the senior French officer, but even though de Boieldieu sacrifices himself for his compatriots to escape, the pair must return to a harsh reality once their role as war heroes is over.