Is Paris Burning? (1966)

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Is Paris Burning is the description of the fall of Paris, and Hitler's order in such an event to destroy the city. It is a detailed description, giving point of perspectives from all participants, from German Commander Choltitz, French Resistance Leader Rol and the advancing Allied Army. Thus it is quite long, approaching almost three hours, and feels like a combination of a drama and documentary. Even though some events and actions may be disputed, it feels plausible. And if you like me, like war movies Is Paris Burning is interesting despite its length. It actually never became dull, but not really entertaining either because of the documentarian feel. There was little suspense or surprising developments. We just tagged along with the story, with neither we or characters being able to change anything.It is quite interesting that the movie was filmed quite recent after the fact, when measured up with seriousness and the trauma of the event. Also that German officers are portrayed by Germans, most notably Fröbe. Also check the trivia why it was filmed in black and white.The movie is also augmented by its cast list, it is almost worth watching because of it, which among many others include Alain Delon, Kirk Douglas, Orson Welles, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Anthony Perkins, Yves Montand , Jean Pierre Cassel and along with Fröbe (Goldfinger) Michel Lonsdale (Sir Hugo Drax (Moonraker)) is the second Bond villain to appear. Also written by Gore Vidal and Francis Ford Coppola.5/10

I've never been a big fan of big star cameos but I always overlook this fromage cinematique every time I watch this film. I first saw this film on TV after having recently returned from a visit in and around Paris on business. Maurice Jarre's (Lawrence of Arabia) militaristic heavy beat of marching drums crowds the plaintive theme music as arrogant looking German victors roll down the Champs Elysee to the utter horror and humiliation of the populace.Gert Frobe (Goldfinger) is perfect as a member of the evil Master Race who dominate the city, and is the best actor in the film by far. He looked as much like the real-life General Von Coltitz as Kirk Douglas did General Patton. But Frobe's stern yet surprisingly sensitive portrayal of Von Coltitz is as brilliant and as sympathetic a performance as you will ever see of a portrait of a Wehrmacht officer.Jarre's soaring theme music "The Paris Waltz" at the end of the film, with the liberation of Paris, the film changes from an oppressive black and white to a spectacular segue to glorious color. It is as sublimely joyous and unabashedly sincerely emotional a moment in cinema as any I have ever experienced. I cannot imagine anyone who has been to the City of Light feeling anything but jubilation and appreciation in watching this film despite it's minor flaws.My feeling after the film concluded was this; what a profound loss it would have been if Paris was indeed reduced to ashes. General Von Coltitz' humanity in refusing Hitler's Satanic order was a coupe de grace that history will probably forget. What a shame.

I have read all the user comments about "Is Paris Burning?" and I think that I understand the movie better now, but I still argue that it was an inferior opus. No, I have not read the book, but I will put it on my list of books to read. Nevertheless, good history doesn't always guarantee classic movies, and "Is Paris Burning" remains hopelessly questionable in my opinion. Before I generate a laundry list of flaws, let me tote up the assets. First, Maurice Jarre's orchestral soundtrack qualifies as nothing short of brilliant because he captures the atmosphere and the drama in the events. Second, Marcel ("Taxi to Tobruk") Grignon's black & white widescreen cinematography rivals Jarre's score in the epic scope that it confers on the film. The producers clearly filmed this movie on location in the City of the Lights and the filmmakers may be applauded for giving the film a documentary flavor. The performances raised no concerns for me, except for Kirk Douglas, looking like he was on vacation when the casting director caught him and convinced him to portray General Patton, did raise an eyebrow. "Is Paris Burning" is a professionally mounted motion picture and there is no evidence of a shoe-string budget. Ultimately, however, what undoes "IS Paris Burning" is the overlong Gore Vidal & Francis Ford Coppola screenplay, along with the other acknowledged contributions from other scenarists, because there are no truly sympathetic character--just too many to keep track of, the storyline is episodic to the point of incoherence, and the entire movie wears out its welcome by the time that it pauses nearly two hours later for an intermission. There is no quotable dialogue and I felt like a lot of information that I learned on IMDb.COM should have been in the film itself. At the intermission, I wish that Paris had burned in the movie, BUT NOT IN REAL LIFE. As a World War II military history scholar, I can now appreciate the historical contribution that "Is Paris Burning" makes in its cinematic context, but as a film consumer, this bland, obtuse yarn just makes me yawn.

Big-budgeted multi-story retelling of the liberation of Paris in 1944.Some spoilers aheadMovie starts off with firmly stating who the bad guys are (as if we didn't know) showing the German occupation forces at their most brutal : sending of wagon loads of prisoners to the concentration camps and the cold-blooded killing of dozens of young resistance fighters.Movie structure consists of two main segments, first the Parisian uprising then followed by the actual liberation by Free French and US troops. Due to the many characters and storyplots it all comes over rather incoherent and sometimes muddled as often quite important characters appear and disappear without no particular reason. Every major French star of the sixties is in this. Delon( as the later famous politician Chaban-Delmas), Belmondo (who still can't keep a straight face) but also Michel Piccoli, Claude Rich, JP Cassel, Yves Montand (as a tank driver) and so on. Some US actors get also thrown in but, besides Orson Welles, they have really no more then an extended cameo appearance. The one pivotal character, who also holds together the 2 main segments of the movie is General Von Choltitz, the German governor of Paris,excellently portrayed by Gerd Froebe. Von choltitz is right in their-from the start and keeps being on the screen continuously until the very last minutes, his surrender of course. By the way, the screenplay (based on the bestseller of Collins/Lapierre)was written by none other then Francis Ford Coppola and Gore Vidal.But this is of course mainly a French show, besides the actors it has a French producer and a French director and last but not least Paris itself, so there is quite a lot of French flagwaving going on, giving the impression that 95 % of the Parisians were in the "Resistance'. In reality it was more of the opposite, at least until the liberation. Keep also in mind that a few months prior to these events large numbers of Parisians were cheering Marechal Pétain, the leader of the Vichy collaboration government. But despite all its many plot lines and overall length it is competently directed and features quite some well-staged and realistic battle scenes, from numerous firefights in the Parisian streets, blowing up German vehicles, tanks crashing into each other and culminating in the storming of the German 'Kommandantur'. All in all, this is like "The Longest day" 'à la française', featuring many stars and stories, filmed in black-and-white, in 70 mm (it really needs to be seen on the big screen) and essentially a propaganda piece on one of the few exploits of the French during WWII.(I saw the letterboxed version on French TV with everybody speaking French. The best version is of course with everybody speaking their own language.