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Is Paris Burning?Rating:
Release Date: 01 March, 2004 Retail Price: $14.98 OUR Price: $12.99 You SAVE: $1.99! Cast: Complete Cast (14 total) |
Is Paris Burning? Reviews
Paris saved
This is a great depiction of the end of Germany in Paris. The movie is filmed from the Allied and the German positions in saving the City of Lights, the treasures, buildings and structures from the warped mentality of Adolph Hitler. It demonstrates that even in the German High Command, there were officers who had the courage to make a counter decision to save the beauty and history of this famous old city. The movie is a great narative of what could have happened, and did in many other places. The film contains actual footage of the Allied entry, adding to the reality of the retaking of Paris, confirming that war is cruel and devastating for everyone.
A piece of little-known history
Who would have thought that Paris would be saved by the German general that Hitler sent to burn it to the ground? This gem of a film from the 1960's tells the story.
The film was a colossal failure in its initial realease; it's often called a 'turkey'. I'd have to disagree pretty strongly with that assessment. It's biggest problem, at least for American audiences, is that it's--well, so French. Even though the screenplay was written by Gore Vidal and Francis Ford Coppola, the cast is nearly all French--some of the biggest French stars of the 1960s. Americans are relegated to cameo roles.
Americans also disliked the film because it claims that the French, not the Americans, liberated Paris. That notion has never gone down well on this side of the pond. But if you read the book (and just about any other account of the incident), it's clear that the Americans and British wanted to bypass Paris. They had good reason for doing so--Patton argued that he would save enough gasoline to make the Rhine by the end of August and end the war by Christmas.
The Parisian insurrection in mid-August made those plans pretty questionable, but it was DeGaulle's threat to withdraw his forces and march on Paris, together with horror at the destruction of Warsaw (which Stalin was 'bypassing' at the same time), that changed things. Even so, the Allies let French Gen. LeClerc take the city, because they still had hopes of maintaining the momentum of their main thrust toward the Rhine.
If you are a Freedom-Fry lover, you probably won't like this film. If you are interested in this period of history, read the book first, but definitely watch the movie. Some reviews criticize this movie for dubbing it's French actors (many of whom dubbed their own lines into English). I certainly would have preferred the movie that way, and I dearly wish someone would restore it with French dialog. But, had that been done, about 85% of the movie would have been in French. That's a hard sell in America, whether the year is 1966 or 2006.
Finally the movie is in black and white, except, oddly enough, for the end credits. Many assume that's because of the amount of archive footage incorporated into the movie. But the real reason is that the French government refused to allow the Nazi flag to fly over any Parisian buildings for the exterior shots. A compromise was worked out where limited display of the swastika was permitted, but only on a gray flag (rather than a red one). During filming, one elderly Parisian stumbled across a couple of extras in German uniforms and ran off screaming "They're back!"
But in 1966. the era of black and white was over, and the use of B&W was the third strike against this film for American audiences. It's a shame, because this film really does a great job of showing how German Gen. Von Choltitz saved the city, at considerable risk to himself and, ultimately, his family. His reason? He concluded that Hitler was insane, and that the destruction of Paris would do nothing to improve the German military position. "If I thought that destroying Paris would aid our war effort," he said, "then I would not hesitate to burn it to the ground. But that is not the case."
Recommended for WW II buffs and those who love Paris.
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