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Is Paris Burning?

Play trailer Poster for Is Paris Burning? 1966 2h 53m War Play Trailer Watchlist
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75% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 72% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Near the end of World War II, Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz (Jean-Paul Belmondo) receives orders to burn down Paris if it becomes clear the Allies are going to invade, or if he cannot maintain control of the city. After much contemplation Choltitz decides to ignore his orders, enraging the Germans and giving hope to various resistance factions that the city will be liberated. Choltitz, along with Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling (Leslie Caron), helps a resistance leader (Alain Delon) organize his forces.

Critics Reviews

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Rudie Obias Battleship Pretension 08/15/2023
With so many plotlines and characters, it’s almost a marvel that the result is a well-paced and engaging epic that’s surprisingly raw and funny at the same time. Go to Full Review
Alberto Abuín Espinof 09/04/2019
It's touching in the deepest with those final sequences, in which the narrative time seems stretched millimetrically. [Full Review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 06/16/2005
3/5
Philip Martin Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 03/28/2005
3/5
Victoria Alexander FilmsInReview.com 01/21/2004
4/5
Belmondo in anything! Go to Full Review
Tony Mastroianni Cleveland Press 11/20/2003
The real star of Is Paris Burning? is the city of Paris itself. Its other performers are miscast, the film's direction is uneven, its development is confused. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Dennis K. @dragonintherain 1d Excellent and (for me) moving. We always celebrate military people who fight for freedom... But this is about mostly the citizen fighters. Thank God the German General in charge was somewhat sane and didn't as Hitler commanded, destroy Paris. Fanfare for the common Man. See more Steve D @RT35616104 07/27/2023 Too long and all over the place but not without its successes. See more 01/30/2021 A messy clash of styles, badly dubbed and a glorified view of the liberation of Paris. See more 10/22/2015 I actually didn't think it was "trying to be epic". It was pretty simple and realistic to me. I assume because of the book the movie is very technical, but I liked it. Another side, another cinematic history lesson. Great actors. Good movie. One thing though. If you buy the DVD, look for the original one. I got a dubbed one and it totally ruins the mood for me. There's no passion, no emotions when it's dubbed. I can read dammit. Why force the dubbed version? Hope you can find the original somewhere. See more 02/03/2015 This probably works better if you were raised knowing exactly what happened here. I read the book this was based on years ago and I had trouble following it. That's largely because there's no real narrative behind it, just a series of events happening at once. The closest thing to a central arc is Gert Fröbe (Goldfinger)'s Choltitz and his gradual decision to disobey Hitler's orders and not burn Paris. This could have been focused on more or they could have given the resistance fighters more of an individual focus. The last half of the film is especially odd since it features a long march into Paris which doesn't feature much fighting in the end. Mostly they get there and party. Which is exactly what I'd do, but it doesn't make for exciting cinema. Some of the large scale scenes in Paris were impressive though, and unlike anything I've seen before. They also have a few bizarre casting choices, such as Kirk Douglas for General Patton. When they revealed who he was supposed to be I couldn't help laughing. See more 04/23/2014 not so much WWII pic post WWII See more Read all reviews
Is Paris Burning?

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Movie Info

Synopsis Near the end of World War II, Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz (Jean-Paul Belmondo) receives orders to burn down Paris if it becomes clear the Allies are going to invade, or if he cannot maintain control of the city. After much contemplation Choltitz decides to ignore his orders, enraging the Germans and giving hope to various resistance factions that the city will be liberated. Choltitz, along with Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling (Leslie Caron), helps a resistance leader (Alain Delon) organize his forces.
Director
René Clément
Producer
Paul Graetz
Screenwriter
Gore Vidal, Francis Ford Coppola
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Marianne Productions, Transcontinental Films
Genre
War
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 10, 1966, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 1, 2014
Runtime
2h 53m