Formal Analysis

     Slightly low angle near shot of a sign where we can read the name of an officers’ prison camp: Hallbach. Dissolve to a group of prisoners including Boëldieu and Maréchal, framed in a near shot. Boëldieu yawns, covering his mouth delicately with the back of his gloved hand. Maréchal watches him indifferently, then yawns broadly, with no effort to cover it up, as Boëldieu watches somewhat scornfully.

Commentary

     The dissolve at the beginning of this short sequence suggests the passage of time between the arrival of the train and the assembly in the prison courtyard. The static near shot focuses our attention on the opposition of the two Frenchmen. Renoir is emphasizing here the difference of class between Maréchal and Boëldieu. The career officer has elegant manners which come from his aristocratic upbringing, whereas the former mechanic, as a member of the lower classes, has had a less refined upbringing. Boëldieu clearly looks down his nose at Maréchal’s “vulgarity,” but it is no less clear that the mechanic has no inclination to emulate his superior officer. Although they are both French, they have little in common as regards their life style.