Having now seen bits of Zouzou and all of Grand Illusion, the cinetrix stands behind her dismissive "Gabin schmabin" comment. He's just too burnished somehow, you know? It's hard to explain.
Tant pis. Because I have to say that if you have been looking at Gabin's mug on the cover of the Criterion Grand Illusion for almost a decade [as I did] without submitting to its charms, resist no longer. Sure, it's the Ur-thrilling prison escape movie, and Renoir's camera work is dreamy.
But here's the real reason why: Erich von Fucking Stroheim. As the geranium-tending Captain von Rauffenstein, he shares a relationship with Pierre Fresnay's Captain de Boeldieu that is seven kinds of delicious. These two proud aristocrats are well aware they are a dying breed, and they're just so damned civilized about it.
