Universally acclaimed as one of the greatest films of all time – and the first foreign film to receive a Best Picture Oscar® nomination – Jean Renoir’s unforgettable tale of a group of captured French soldiers attempting to escape from a German POW camp in World War I was at one time thought to be a lost film. Declared “cinema enemy number one” by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, the camera negative of Grand Illusion was confiscated when the Germans occupied France in 1940, and though poor copies were circulated in the 1950s, it wasn’t until the late 90s that the original material was rediscovered. In 2011, a definitive restoration using the latest high-definition digital technology was undertaken, and at the same time new 35mm prints – complete with a restored soundtrack and newly revised English subtitles – were created from the nitrate camera negative. The DFT is honored to be premiering one of these prints as the opening attraction of our fall season. With Marcel Dalio, Pierre Fresnay, Dita Parlo, Jean Gabin and Erich von Stroheim as the aristocratic German officer who believes his camp to be escape-proof. (114 min.)

 

“A magnificent restoration we should all be grateful for!” –Martin Scorsese

 

 

Friday, September 14 at 7:00 PM

 

Saturday, September 15 at 7:00 PM

 

Sunday, September 16 at 2:00 PM

 

Friday, September 21 at 9:30 PM

 

Saturday, September 22 at 9:30 PM

 

Sunday, September 23 at 4:30 PM 

 

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