Paris brûle-t-il? (1966)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

René Clément

Writers:

Larry Collins (book) and
Dominique LaPierre (book) ...

Release Date:

1966 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

The true story of the departure of the German occupiers from Paris in 1944.

Plot Keywords:

General | French Resistance | 1944 | Swedish | Tank

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Pierrelot - Yvon Morandat
Charles Boyer	...	Docteur Monod
Leslie Caron	...	Françoise Labé
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Lieutenant Henri Karcher
George Chakiris	...	G.I. devant Notre Dame / GI in Tank
Bruno Cremer	...	Colonel Rol Tanguy
Claude Dauphin	...	Colonel Lebel
Alain Delon	...	Jacques Chaban-Delmas
Kirk Douglas	...	Général Patton / Gen. George S. Patton Jr.
Pierre Dux	...	Cerat - Alexandre Parodi
Glenn Ford	...	Général Bradley / Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley
Gert Fröbe	...	Général Von Choltitz / General Dietrich von Choltitz
Daniel Gélin	...	Yves Bayet
Georges Géret	...	Le boulanger / Baker
Hannes Messemer	...	Général Jodl / General Jodl

Also Known As:

Is Paris Burning? (USA)

Runtime:

France:175 min | USA:173 min | Argentina:174 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

French | German

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Netherlands:12 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris 8, Paris, France

Company:

Marianne Productions

Trivia:

During this movie a Nazi propaganda film is shown, saying that Poland had attacked Germany and started the war. The truth is that the Germans staged a "Polish attack" by dressing Polish prisoners in military uniforms and filming the "invasion" as an excuse to invade Poland.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The Allies advance into Paris through Porte D'Italie, which is in the SE of Paris, and advance up Boulevard St Michel towards Notre Dame. This doesn't make sense when they were approaching from Normandy, in the north/north west of the city.

Quotes:

Consul Nordling: General, your enemy is the Allied Army, not the people of Paris.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Paris Is Burning (1990)

Pretty Epic French WWII Film with Shaky Narrative

Director Rene Clement brings together the finest French, American and German actors of the 1960s for a rather muddled historical epic. Released in 1966, "Is Paris Burning?" is a rather mixed bag of historical drama and confusion.

In August, 1944, the Allies are closing in on Paris. Hitler (Billy Frick) orders General von Cholitz (Gert Frobe, "The Longest Day") to take command and burn the city to the ground to prevent its capture. French resistance forces within the city won't permit this to happen, and Swedish consul Nordling (Orson Welles, "The Battle of Austerlitz") convinces Choltitz to make multiple concessions, allowing the resistance to make significant gains and hold on until the armed forces arrive.

The all-star cast is uniformly good, although many of the American stars have little to do. Gert Frobe is the real star of the piece. As Cholitz, he makes a strong and sympathetic character. Cholitz has to make important, difficult decisions – on one hand, he's concerned about his men's safety; on the other, he is trying to follow orders. Welles is somewhat engaging, but he disappears partway through the film without leaving a lasting impression. The script, by Francis Ford Coppola and Gore Vidal, combines several stories, allowing the host of characters little time to do much of anything. Gallois (Pierre Vaneck) and Dr. Monod (Charles Boyer) try to break out of Paris and reach the Allies; Colonel Rol (Bruno Cremer) and Chaban (Alain Delon) organize the resistance forces; Nordling and tries to free Francoise Labe's (Leslie Caron, "Father Goose") husband from a POW camp. It's hard for any of these subplots to make much on an impact, but like "The Longest Day" and "Battle of Britain", the characters are kept distinct enough that they are easy to follow, despite major time lapses between appearances.

The German characters are portrayed by a host of familiar character-actors. Helmuth Schneider ("The Dirty Heroes") plays a Sergeant who throws a pessimistic Corporal (Otto Stern, "Commandos") into a detention cell; Gunter Meisner ("The Bridge at Remagen") is his usual, evil self as an SS Officer in charge of a prison train; Joachim Hansen ("The Eagle has Landed") is a moral officer who tries to help Nordling gain concessions; Wolfgang Preiss ("Von Ryan's Express") has little to do as the commander of a demolition squad; and Karl-Otto Alberty ("Battle of the Bulge") is an SS officer. The American actors tend to have clunky cameos: Kirk Douglas ("In Harm's Way"); Glenn Ford ("Casablanca Express"); Robert Stack and E.G. Marshall are all limited to one or two scenes. Anthony Perkins ("Catch-22") and Skip Ward make more of an impression as infantrymen waiting to liberate Paris.

Clement handles every shot brilliantly. There are several standout scenes. One sequence has partisans ambush a German armored car. One soldier escapes, still smoldering from burns from an exploded Molotov cocktail. He proceeds to hijack a passing French car and make the driver take him to HQ, where his gruesome burns alert the neat-and-clean officers that something is not right in the city. The scene in which Francoise Labe searches for her husband amongst a throng of prisoners in especially moving, and the conclusion is brilliant and unexpected. In another scene, a French squad occupied an old woman's apartment to fire on a German barricade, as the old woman watches while preparing herself a cup of tea. In another scene SS officers arrive to secure a painting for Hitler's birthday from the Louvre, before Frobe burns down the city. Frobe informs them that the Louvre is in French hands, and they reply "But it's right across the street!" Without missing a beat, Frobe tells them to take a white flag over and see if the French will let them in. This grim humor and wit add to the human story within the big picture.

A lot of attention to historical accuracy and detail went into the film's production. Costumes, from French civilian dress to military uniforms are all accurate. The exteriors are beautifully shot in and around Paris, often with excellently staged wide shots showing off the narrow streets and just how vast and battleground was. The scenes of the French resistance gathering in the streets to march on the Police Station, set to Maurice Jarre's thundering, jovial score, are most memorable. The spirit of revolution and joy of liberation is so well-portrayed that you can feel it with the characters on screen.

"Is Paris Burning?" suffers from annoyingly bad dubbing, overlength and a lack of focus, but these are nicks in any epic film, and cannot be avoided in order to tell such a vast story. As its heart, "Is Paris Burning?" is a fine movie about human freedom, told with brilliance and gusto.