Paris brûle-t-il ?

Do not listen to the naysayers. There is nothing confusing about this movie, unless you got into it thinking it would be MISSING IN ACTION part 17. The cast is stellar and the performances are solid. It mixed real-life documentary footage with staged performances, giving it a very realistic feeling. If you loved THE LONGEST DAY, you will love this movie. Highly recommended.

In August 1944, Adolf Hitler assigns General Dietrich von Choltitz (Gert Froebe) to be in the military governor of Paris and to burn the city in case of the Allied forces arrival. Meanwhile, the French resistance has internal fights of the different factions and leaderships. One French major convinces the Allied forces to liberate Paris from the Germans. General von Choltitz disobeys Hitler's orders and spares Paris from destruction.

"Paris brûle-t-il?", a.k.a. "Is Paris Burning?", is an underrated French super production about the liberation of Paris in World War II. It is impressive the number of stars in this movie, directed by René Clément; screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola; music by Maurice Jarre. There are many cameos of great actors and also a huge number of bit players. Unfortunately the dubbing in English is awful. Fortunately this German general did not destroy one of the most beautiful cities in the world. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Paris Está em Chamas?" ("Is Paris Burning?")

This film is a very well done dramatisation of the account of the liberation of Paris in August of 1944.History buffs take note;notice the mascot names of the tanks in General Leclerc's Free French armoured division.Many had Spanish names such as "Madrid" "Teruel" & "Zaragosa" as these vehicles were manned by anti-Fascist Spanish refugee fighters who played a largely important yet mostly un-acknowledged part largely ignored by mainstream historians about the WW2 period.

I made my first trip to Paris this past year. There are remembrances of World War Two on nearly every street corner, plaques with the names of resistance fighters who died during the war and during the Liberation. And France's military history is also on display, from monuments to Louis XIII, to Napoleon, and to their Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe. As Americans we forget sometimes that the French army lost millions during World War One, and struggled with how to fight the Second World War. Losing Paris was a humiliating defeat that the Free French army needed desperately to avenge. This film does a pretty engaging job of telling the story from a French point of view. Like many war films from the time it's a little too long, some celebrity cameos are miscast, and some facts and events are abridged. But unlike some other films from the period, it has some humor, and some great pathos. There's also great footage of the real liberation intercut with the narrative. If you've ever been to Paris, it's a beautiful travelogue of all the famous public spaces, seen through eyes from 1945 and 1966. I can only imagine seeing it in widescreen, and I hope to get a non-dubbed version soon.

Although Hitler somehow survived the failed July assassination attempt his paranoia increased. One of the few high-ranking officers he felt he could still trust was Dietrich von Choltitz. He had served Hitler well and was an officer who could be relied upon to obey orders implicitly. Hitler appointed him Governor-General of Paris with instructions to restore order and if need be destroy Paris rather than let it fall into Allied hands. Every bridge and monument was mined. This and the general insurrection led by the French Communist Party combined to make this a momentous and perilous time in the history of the French capital. As the Allies approached, von Choltitz rescinded Hitler's order. Seventy-five years on it is almost impossible to appreciate just how close Paris came to total destuction.

These events should, in theory anyway, provide sufficient material for a first-class movie, especially with René Clément at the helm.

In reality alas the film is a dud. One can try and find reasons. Personally I think it is down to a variety of factors: at a little under three hours it rambles; the newsreel footage is far more interesting and thrilling than the filmed action; there is an irritating mish mash of accents with some decidedly dodgy dubbing; there are too many writers and far too many famous faces. One critic at the time observed that the flames were extinguished by the shower of stars! The performance that stands out is that of Orson Welles as Swedish Consul Raoul Nordling, an unsung hero whose diplomatic relationship with von Choltitz assuredly influenced the latter's thinking. This relationship is very well depicted in Volker Schloendorff's film 'Diplomacy' with Niels Arestrup and Andre Dussollier as General and Consul.

The scene that really packs a punch is the sight and sound of the bell of Notre Dame which had been silenced for over four years. This is especially poignant in light of the recent fire that engulfed this monumental edifice. Clement has also included a rendition of 'La Marseillaise' which never fails to move. Needless to say the film was a tremendous success in France and Maurice Jarre's rather hurdy-gurdy 'Paris Waltz' theme extremely popular in its own right. Big budget plus well known actors equals great film? In this case decidedly not. Strange indeed that 'The Longest Day' which had no less than five directors, seems to work better than this with just the one. The real star of course is Paris itself.