2. Seven Samurai vs. Grand Illusion

This may be the easiest ranking I get for awhile.

First of all, I love that the first two films in the Criterion Collection are difference aspects of war. Renoir's Grand Illusion hammered home the psychology of POWs and how they react even in a situation where they are afforded a number of personal rights and privileges. In fact, the German captors even apologize to their prisoners for rudeness and pleasantly offer them seats. Not only that, but the French prisoners even get to put on a stage show full of costumes and music. Contrasting that with trench warfare, the life of a prisoner looks pretty sweet here.

Now we get Seven Samurai, about a farming village that constantly gets terrorized by bandits who steal their food, rape their women, and murder them at will. The farmers are broken down, permanently on edge and afraid of everything. After a farmer overhears the group of bandits plan to attack the village again during harvest, he seeks out the village elder is told to hire some samurai to help them defend themselves. The charming gentleman's war feel of Grand Illusion is absent here, as the farmers hate the bandits and distrust the samurai, the samurai hate the bandits and distrust the farmers, and the bandits hate and distrust everyone. No one's sitting down for cognac and cancan dances here. Life is brutal, the noble die, and even a happy ending makes you feel kinda shitty. Hell, even the romantic subplots of both films are mirror images, with the samurai Katsushiro's affair with farmer's daughter Shino ending with her turning away from him, as the samurai are no longer needed there. This is a far cry from the standard "thanks for the ass, but I have to bail now" feel that Maréchal's fling with Elsa has in Grand Illusion.

Look, if you're reading this, you know the plot of Seven Samurai. It's probably one of the most untouchable classics in cinema history, one of those films like Citizen Kane that kind of hovers above everything else. Even clocking in at 3 1/2 hours the time zooms by, since this film is jam packed with conflict, humor, great character moments, and is so enjoyable that it transcends the standard "homework" feel that certain classics have (I'm looking at you, Umberto D). Now don't get me wrong, I loved Grand Illusion. I love it more each time I see it. But Seven Samurai is on an entirely different level here. It's like asking Chris Paul to play against Magic Johnson. It's too fucking unfair.

Therefore, my current ranking is:

1. Seven Samurai (1954)
2. Grand Illusion (1937)

Next time promises to be another easy ranking, with Hitchcock's early masterpiece The Lady Vanishes. Will I enjoy this more than Seven Samurai and Grand Illusion? My early answer is "no," but stay tuned!