Is Paris Burning?
Director: Rene Clement
Year: 1966
Rating: 7.0
Rather clunky but engaging and historically accurate film about the last
days of Paris before the Allies entered the city in 1944. This was like a
few other WW II films made in the 1960's with great ambition, a long running
time (2 hours 45 minutes) and filled with cameo's from many actors. In fact,
this film is almost a running interchanging series of cameo's with very few
actors getting more than a few minutes of meaningful time. The character
with the most time is the German General von Choltitz played by Goldfinger
himself, Gert Frobe who has been ordered by Hitler to defend Paris but if
it is going to fall he should utterly destroy it. In the meantime with the
Allies having successfully landed at Normandy, the French Underground begins
an open uprising. Loads of different real life characters are portrayed to
tell the heroic story.
The cameos from American actors are Kirk Douglas, Glen Ford, Anthony Perkins,
Robert Stack and Orson Welles - but on the French side it is practically
a who who's of French actors at the time - Belmondo, Delon, Leslie Caron,
Boyer, Cassel, Montand, Piccoli, Simone Signoret, Trintignant and many others.
Not any with much screen time. But still lovely to see.
Choltitz is an interesting historical figure who in the end refused to obey
Hitler's orders and let Paris stand. He said that it was a pointless gesture
and that Hitler was clearly insane by this time - as opposed to earlier when
he decided to conquer the world and kill all the Jews I guess. He had been
in a number of battles already serving with distinction and with some brutality.
After the war they looked to see if he had a role in murdering Jews but the
evidence was murky. He lived till 1966, the year the film was released. He
probably would have been pleased with Frobe's sympathetic portrayal of him.
There is some surprising talent behind the camera for a film such as this
which is far from elegant - the two men who adapted the book to a screenplay
were none other than Gore Vidal and Francis Ford Coppola. The music was composed
by the great Maurice Jarre. And the director is Rene Clement of Purple Noon,
Forbidden Games, Joy House and The Battle of the Rails which is also about
the French resistance.
