La grande illusion (The Grand Illusion)

The film opens during WWI, showing two fliers (Jean Gabin and Pierre Fresnay) on a reconnaissance flight. They are shot down by a German ace (Erich von Stroheim) but survive the crash. Von Stroheim cavalierly invites them to have lunch with him before ground troops arrive to cart the French officers off to a POW camp. Both men are placed in barracks where a French officer (Marcel Dalio), a Jew, befriends them, along with several British officers who have also been taken prisoner.

A classic Renoir study of men in prison coddled by another gentleman officer, The Grand Illusion is a fascinating portrait of military customs, courtesies, and attitudes that evaporated with the coming of WWII.