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La Grande Illusion: Death Of Boeldieu - College Papers

La Grande Illusion: Death Of Boeldieu

Jean Renoir The Grand Illusion 1936

A key scene embodying the themes of La Grande Illusion is the death scene of Boeldieu, near the end of the film. This scene is the culmination of several strains that have carried through the film to this time, themes of the futility of war, the need for human contact, and the inherent similarities between enemies. The scene continues from the previous sequence in which Rauffenstein has been forced to shoot Boeldieu, all the time puzzled about why this seemingly absurd act of defiance is taking place, only to learn that it was a decoy so two other prisoners could escape. Boeldieu has thus sacrificed himself, and Rauffenstein has been the instrument ...

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more free than the jailer, and the jailer lived in a prison of his own. Boeldieu is now escaping as completely as possible from the prison and from the life that Rauffenstein has found so onerous.
When Boeldieu dies, Rauffenstein really is alone. He is seen then only with the nurse for a moment, and the rest of the scene is of Rauffenstein in isolation. Throughout the film, he has nurtured a geranium back to health, and we next see him moving slowly across his room to the window where the geranium sits. That geranium represent life for him, and life has become bitter. As a gesture, he takes up a pair of scissors and carefully cuts the flower from the geranium, signifying an end to Boeldieu's life and in a different way to his own. The two men are separated but still with a bond, and Rauffenstein is truly isolated, having killed the only person with whom he enjoyed spending his ...

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La Grande Illusion: Death Of Boeldieu. (2015, September 9). Retrieved January 24, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/La-Grande-Illusion-Death-Of-Boeldieu/104965

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"La Grande Illusion: Death Of Boeldieu." Essayworld.com. September 9, 2015. Accessed January 24, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/La-Grande-Illusion-Death-Of-Boeldieu/104965.

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 9/9/2015 04:32:12 AM
Category: Film & Theater
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 367
Pages: 2

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