Directed by the great Jean Renoir, La Grande Illusion (1937) is the finest of all anti-war films and a cinematic masterwork. Other films oppose war by showing its horror. Renoir's film holds the horror at arm's length to give us a clearer view of it. A prisoner-of-war drama, with brilliant performances from leading stars of its period, including Erich von Stroheim and Jean Gabin, the film combines popular appeal with a formal brilliance that allows a complex examination of how classes, nations and genders interact.

In this comprehensive and readable companion to the film,...