Missione diabolica

Surprisingly well-done WW2 drama by 08/15 director Paul May. He keeps things very tranquil and tense, and is in control of the pacing and rhythm. He gets the best out of his cast and gives room to both Martin Held and Hardy Krüger to excel. Paul May must have been really seriously interested in the subject and he avoids all sensationalism.

One of the few WW2 films that indeed had something to tell. And probably it still has to tell something,as it concerns a subject that is not very well publicly known. Although for drama's interest the story must have been more elaborated with a love's interest added, the core of the subject is fascinating: the plans of in France stationed German officers to withstand ideas of Nazi HQ in Berlin to prepare for what later would be known as D-Day. The German officers wanted to give up any defence because they felt too many lives would be lost. Meticulously the films shows the whole process of involving French resistance and the very careful way the officers have to use as they have to prevent any suspicion. Certainly worth a look.

Although Hardy Kruger will forever have my sympathy for having to play Nazi soldiers on screen all the time, I can only hope that movies like The Fox of Paris were cathartic for him in some way. If I didn't hold that hope, it would be too upsetting to watch his movies. Honestly, I can't believe the German cinema made him act through this story, when something so horrible nearly happened to him in real life. You've been warned, folks. This is not a feel-good movie.

Hardy plays a young Nazi soldier sent to work under his uncle's (Martin Held) command in occupied Paris. In the beginning, Hardy jumps in the river to save a civilian, and as a thank-you, a Parisian woman (Marianne Koch) invites him back to her house to change into some dry clothes. She and her family are grateful to Hardy until they discover he's a German. It turns out, Marianne and the others are key players in the French Resistance. When Martin finds out about the interaction, he encourages Hardy to woo Marianne and spend more time with her. If Hardy "accidentally" leaks false classified information to Marianne, she'll pass it along to the French Resistance. What Hardy doesn't know is that his uncle is setting him up; the information being leaked is real.

Why? You'll have to watch this intricate war drama to find out. Make sure you have thick skin, since it's very upsetting. If somehow you've come across this movie because you're a fan of German cinema or war movies that don't take place on the battlefield, it might sit better in your heart. You might not want to read up on Hardy Kruger's real-life story. If you are aware of what happened to him during WWII, every time you see him in uniform, you'll feel tremendously sorry for him. It's a rare gem for him to find roles like The Secret of Santa Vittoria where he could play a three-dimensional soldier who happens to wear a Nazi uniform.

Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to adult content, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

I happened accidentally upon DER FUCHS VON PARIS, spoken in German and with subtitles. The plot emerges clearly from the outset, turning around the nobility of a few senior Deutsche Wehrmacht officers in the occupied French capital who can see the madness of the plans coming from Berlin as the inevitability of an Allied invasion looms ever larger.

Martin Held delivers a commanding performance as General Quade (his surname sounds more British than Teutonic, which should have raised some red flags in the highly suspicious Gestapo right up to the top ranks, Adolf included - but apparently did not. Bad mistake, Adolf!)

Quade does not want to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of German soldiers on the Wehrmacht's defense lines along the vast French cast, so he decides to pass the actual plans from Berlin to the enemy.

And the messenger is none other than his nephew, the young Hardy Kruger, a Wehrmacht captain fresh from an icy time in Russia and looking forward to some fun in the City of Light, where he promtply saves a child from drowning in the River Seine. And how convenient that proves to Marianne Koch, playing a young French Resistance woman - although she does not use a single French word throughout.

Apart from some well taken shots of Paris from the gargoyles of Notre Dame, Montmartre and other Parisian landmarks, this film does not feel much like taking place in France. The whole drama is about the error of following the Berlin plan and how noble Quade sends his nephew to his death - with the undeserved reputation of traitor to boot - and ultimately takes his own life, when he sees that his nephew cannot be spared.

On the plus side, in doing so Quade managed to leave this world giving the impression that his nephew's betrayal had very nobly prompted his suicide.

Clearly, DER FUCHS is an antiwar film that depicts the irony of a most unfortunate sequence of events that blight the love beginning to blossom between a pure French girl and a pure German boy, she of the French Resistance, he of the Wehrmacht.

Can anyone think of purer souls?

The script, conveniently designed to convince the spectator of the well-meaning nature of most Germans under Adolf's jackboot, has some fine moments and dialogue.

Excellent cinematography by Georg Bruckbauer, the film's best asset in my view. 7/10.