Why the Nazis declared a 1937 French film their public enemy number one

Art · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Jean Renoir’s masterpiece La Grande Illusion was a massive hit that infuriated the Third Reich. By portraying war as a futile, class-transcending tragedy, the film challenged the rising tide of fascism. It remains a haunting, humanistic landmark that Orson Welles famously insisted on saving for future generations.

Released in 1937, La Grande Illusion follows French officers in a German prisoner-of-war camp during the First World War. Rather than focusing on combat, director Jean Renoir uses the camp as a microcosm of European society. The film explores the decline of the aristocracy through the relationship between the French Captain de Boëldieu and the German Rittmeister von Rauffenstein. Both men, bound by rigid codes of honor and shared social rituals, recognize that their class is becoming obsolete in a world increasingly defined by mass politics and nationalism.

Renoir’s critique of war is deeply personal and philosophical. Inspired by the experiences of his own wartime comrade, Armand Pinsard, who escaped German captivity seven times, the film refutes the notion that war can solve political problems. Renoir contrasts the fading aristocratic order with the common soldiers, like the engineer Maréchal and the wealthy Jewish prisoner Rosenthal. By depicting these men as kin despite their differences, Renoir argues that universal humanity should transcend national and racial boundaries—a message that directly countered the antisemitic campaigns of Nazi Germany.

The film’s impact was immediate and polarizing. While it became a massive success in France with an estimated 12 million admissions, it was branded 'Cinematic Public Enemy No. 1' by Joseph Goebbels. Nazi authorities confiscated prints and banned the film, fearing its message of unity. Despite this, its legacy endured; it was the first foreign-language film nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture in 1939. Today, it is remembered as an 'oasis of subtlety' that remains as relevant as it was on the eve of the Second World War.

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