The Great Escape

Director: John Sturges
Starring: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Donald Pleasence
Runtime: 172’
Year of Production: 1963

Arguably the most legendary prison (and escape) film in the history of cinema, this acclaimed classic from John Sturges embodies the urgency of freedom as the highest duty against an enemy that represents the exact opposite of this universal human ideal. Because the grandeur of the escape is not limited to the ambitious plan of a group of war prisoners - each of them senior officers of the allied forces and experts in fraud - to break free from the confines of a german concentration camp made especially for them under the watchful eye of the Nazis, ultimately aiming to cause chaos to the enemy, but to that inner calling towards liberty which together with a strong sense of solidarity weave heroic deeds, destined to lead at some point to the final victory.

Through the bitter true story it unfolds, “The Great Escape” remains six decades now rivetingly adventurous and dramatic, full of anthology scenes and gifted with a great cast, at the top of which is Steve McQueen at his best, in the role of the American major who ultimately sacrifices his innate individualism for the greater good. Nektarios Sakkas

With the support of the U.S. Embassy in Athens