To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Jean Renoir's classic film, it's been given the full restoration treatment.

First released in 1937 the film was not only nominated for an Oscar for Best Film, but went on to become Renoir's most successful film.

With the First World War well and truly under way, Captain de Boeldieu (Pierre Fresnay) and Resenthal (Marcel Dalio) find themselves captured by the Germans during a mission. They are sent to a prisoner of war camp by German commander Van Rauffenstein (Erich Von Stroheim).

When they arrive however, they discover they aren't treated as bad as you would imagine. In fact thanks to some impressive food parcels from home, they find themselves eating better than their captors.

But despite the surprisingly congenial atmosphere, the pair feel it's their duty to attempt to escape. Although they find some of their attempts foiled, it doesn't stop them plotting further escape plots. The longer they find themselves locked away from the world, the more the experience teaches them about not only being soldiers but about being men and the differences between them.

I know we've been cooped up here for some time now but is anyone else finding Francois remarkably attractive?

Although La Grande Illusion is set during a time of war, in a war camp no less, it cannot be considered your typical war film.

For starters, Renoir decides not to reveal the darkness of war; there are no battle scenes in the trenches, no real sense of life-threatening conflict. Instead the director focuses on the relationships that are forged from war. It's a film about honour, national pride and class. Just because you might be on the same side, it doesn't stop their being a class divide.

Boeldieu and Resenthal are united by a common enemy, but have very little in common between themselves. In fact Boeldieu has a better relationship with his opposite number in Van Rauffenstein, because they share the trappings that come with nobility. Renoir enjoys examining the differences between all his characters, as well as the bonds of nationality that bind them.

At the same time, Renoir entertains with his escape plot themes; many of which pre-date the likes of The Great Escape by some margin, particularly the digging of tunnels and depositing the excess soil hidden in trouser legs out in the yard.

But best of all is probably the fact that, thanks to the incredible technology that exists today, La Grande Illusion gets the opportunity to shine magnificently once again on the silver screen. Renoir may not have quite the pulling power of a Spielberg or Cameron, but his films, and this one in particular, are a seminal part of the history of cinema. If you haven't seen a classic black and white film at the cinema before, then this is a pretty good place to start.

But if you don't happen to live in an area that will be showing it – it's probably fair to say that this new print won't see its way onto many multiplex screens – you can catch it in all its restored glory on the 23rd April, when it's released on DVD and Blu-ray, both of which feature some nice little extras.

This re-release is most definitely la grande celebration of cinema at its finest.