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“FASCINATING…
[Schlöndorff’s] precise, restless camera creates a feeling of claustrophobic
suspense as the plot races against the clock.”
—A.O. Scott, THE NEW YORK TIMES
“4 OUT OF 4 STARS.
GRIPPING AND EXTREMELY SATISFYING…
Keeps up the suspense and pulls off surprises.”
—Leba Hertz, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
“FASCINATING.”
—David Denby, THE NEW YORKER
“PACED LIKE A THRILLER…INCREDIBLE CAST…
The two lead actors, André Dussollier and Niels Arestrup, are just
two of the greatest actors in their country.”
—Leonard Lopate, WNYC
“A LOVE STORY ABOUT PARIS.
An alluring story, beautifully dramatized and acted.”
—Ian Buruma, NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS
“Schlöndorff gives it the IMMEDIACY OF
A LIFE AND DEATH ENCOUNTER.”
—Serena Donadoni, THE VILLAGE VOICE
“PASSIONATE, ENGAGING AND EMOTIONAL…
A fine return to form for the veteran German helmer (The Tin Drum)… An elegant orchestrated pas de deux between formidable opponents.”
—Scott Foundas, VARIETY
“FILLED WITH TWISTS, TURNS
and underhanded schemes that show how history sometimes lies in the hands of a selected few, not to mention a good glass of Chardonnay… One thrilling verbal duel after another.”
—Jordan Mintzer, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“The great Volker Schlöndorff has crafted
A MODERN-DAY ‘GRAND ILLUSION’
— a fascinating moral debate about war, by men who have their orders.”
—G. Allen Johnson, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
“André Dussolier and Niels Arestrup give stunning performances…
The adaptation by Volker Schlöndorff is
SIMPLY MAGNIFICENT.”
—Jean Roy, L’HUMANITÉ
“STUNNING!”
—John Oseid, FORBES
As the Allies march toward Paris in the summer of 1944, Hitler gives orders that the French capital should not fall into enemy hands, or if it does, then only ‘as a field of rubble’. The person assigned to carry out this barbaric act is Wehrmacht commander of Greater Paris, General Dietrich von Choltitz, who already has mines planted on the Eiffel Tower, in the Louvre and Notre-Dame and on the bridges over the Seine. Nothing is to be left as a reminder of the city’s former glory. However, at dawn on 25 August, Swedish Consul General Raoul Nordling steals into German headquarters through a secret underground tunnel and thus starts a tension-filled game of cat and mouse as Nordling tries to persuade Choltitz to abandon his plan.
In this riveting adaptation of the stage success by Cyril Gély, the great Volker Schlöndorff (Academy Award winner THE TIN DRUM) has created a psychologically elaborate game of political manners between two highly contrasting characters played by two of France’s greatest stage and screen actors André Dussollier and Niels Arestrup. While Choltitz entrenches himself behind his duty to unquestioningly obey all military orders, Nordling tries everything he can to appeal to reason and humanity and prevent the senseless destruction of the beloved ‘City of Light.’
WATCH THE TRAILER
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