Is Paris Burning?
| Is Paris Burning? | |
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 Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | René Clément |
| Produced by | Paul Graetz |
| Written by | Gore Vidal Francis Ford Coppola |
| Starring | Kirk Douglas Glenn Ford Gert Fröbe Yves Montand Jean-Paul Belmondo Robert Stack Alain Delon |
| Music by | Maurice Jarre |
| Cinematography | Marcel Grignon |
| Editing by | Robert Lawrence |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 26 October 1966 (France) 10 November 1966 (United States) |
| Running time | 173 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
Is Paris Burning? (French: Paris brûle-t-il?) is a 1966 film dealing with the 1944 liberation of Paris by rival branches of the French Resistance (communist and Gaullist) and the Free French Forces.
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[edit] Plot
The title is Adolf Hitler's question to his chief of staff Alfred Jodl on the eve of the liberation of Paris (August 25): the military governor of Paris, General Dietrich von Choltitz, had been ordered to destroy Paris rather than let it fall undamaged into the hands of the Allies, but von Choltitz disobeyed.
The film follows historical events as U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, head of the Allied invasion, refuses to divert troops to liberate Paris. His hand is forced by the French military leader, Philippe Leclerc, and by a Resistance uprising in the city. Von Choltitz keeps details of the uprising from the German high command in an effort to save the city being destroyed in retaliation. The film follows his turmoil as a soldier and as the man who doesn't wish to be seen by history as the cause of a beautiful city's destruction. In this he is helped by the intervention of the Swedish consul, Raoul Nordling.
The film looks not only at the taking of Paris by French and American troops but at rivalries within the Resistance. Of the two main sections, the branch loyal to General Charles de Gaulle was against an uprising by the Resistance while the branch linked to the communists, led by Henri Rol-Tanguy, believed action was necessary. De Gaulle tried to overcome communist influence during and after Liberation, believing the communists planned to take control of the city and then of France.
[edit] Production
The film is based on the best-selling book by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre and was directed by René Clément, from a screenplay by Gore Vidal and Francis Ford Coppola. The music is by Maurice Jarre. It later had words added by Maurice Vidalin and became a patriotic anthem sung by Mireille Mathieu under the title Paris en colère.
Is Paris Burning? stars Kirk Douglas, Glenn Ford, Gert Fröbe, Orson Welles, Anthony Perkins, Robert Stack, Charles Boyer, Yves Montand, Leslie Caron, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Simone Signoret, and Alain Delon. It was filmed in 180 sites. Claude Rich plays two parts: General Leclerc, with a moustache, and Lt Pierre de la Fouchardière, without a moustache. He is credited at the end only with the part of Leclerc. His role as the young lieutenant is not by chance; Claude Rich, as a teenager, was watching soldiers in the street when the real-life Pierre de la Fouchardière called him into a building to protect him.
The film is almost entirely in black and white, presumably because of the inclusion of actual footage (the film was shot in black and white mainly because, although the French authorities would allow swastika flags to be displayed on public buildings for key shots, they would not permit those flags to be in their original red color; as a result, green swastika flags were used, which photographed adequately in black and white but would have been entirely the wrong color), but the closing credits feature aerial shots of Paris in color. The entire film was shot on location in Paris, France.
[edit] Cast
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[edit] Awards and honors
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards:[1]
- Best Art Direction (Willy Holt, Marc Frédérix, Pierre Guffroy)
- Best Cinematography (Marcel Grignon)
[edit] In popular culture
- The video game Commandos 2: Men of Courage has a level called "Is Paris Burning?"
- Spoofed in Mad magazine in 1967 as "Is Paris Boring?"
- The video game Sakura Taisen 3 has the subtitle ~Pari wa Moeteiru ka~, Japanese for "Is Paris Burning?"
- Referenced in The Sopranos episode "Cold Stones"
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "NY Times: Is Paris Burning?". NY Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/25423/Is-Paris-Burning-/awards. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
[edit] Further reading
- Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, Is Paris Burning?, New York: Pocket Books, 1965.
[edit] External links
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