Word: grand
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Even high caliber films from Saving Private Ryan to Platoon embody an overwhelming sense of the uncanny human ability to destroy. Thus, when the gods of film restoration rediscover a masterpiece like Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion, the film's social commentary and reflections on humanity appear dated and escape unnoticed if one is not careful...
Toted as the seminal World War I movie, Grand Illusion often garnishes critical accolades for its anti-war message as well as Renoir's masterful use of landscape shots. In 1938, a year after its release, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, the first foreign film ever to receive this honor. Joseph Goebbles, the Nazi propaganda chief, called the film "Cinematic Public Enemy No. 1." Sadly enough, after another world war, the Vietnam War and the melange of violence at home, Grand Illusion no longer has the sense of anti-war urgency that it possessed...
...most moviegoers, World War I might be a distant bleep on the grand spectrum of wars; World War II stands out not only because it is more recent but also because its brutality documented relentlessly. Grand Illusion asks the modern viewer to make the leap back into the pre-World War II and appreciate the depths of human devotion from a less jaded perspective, a task that ultimately proves impossible...
...Grand Illusion might have been a profoundly anti-war movie, but it is impossible to destroy the postmodern baggage of cynicism that a viewer inevitably brings to the movie. Thus, the movie operates under an illusion that we can appreciate the hold freedom has on the spirit...
...with Nomar Garciaparra blasting grand slams against Seattle and Pedro Martinez striking out Mark McGwire en route to All-Star MVP honors, they metamorphosed into the Boys of Summer. Now that their season has sadly concluded prematurely, like the Dodger cry of old, they must once again promise, "Wait 'til next year...