Diplomacy (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | diplomacy |
| Original title | diplomacy |
| Country of production |
France , Germany |
| original language |
French , German |
| Publishing year | 2014 |
| length | 84 minutes |
| Age rating |
FSK 12 JMK 10 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Volker Schlöndorff |
| script |
Cyril Gely Volker Schlöndorff |
| production |
Frank Le Wita Marc de Bayser |
| music | Jörg Lemberg |
| camera | Michel Amathieu |
| cut | Virginie Bruant |
| occupation | |
| |
Diplomacy is a film drama by Volker Schlöndorff from 2014 about the failure of Paris to be destroyed in 1944 . Niels Arestrup as city commander of Choltitz and André Dussollier as consul Nordling play the leading roles . The film is based on the play of the same name by Cyril Gély , shown for the first time in 2011 at the Théâtre de la Madeleine with the same leading actors. He condenses the historical events surrounding the Liberation, the liberation of Paris , into the last 24 hours of real events.
The film was shown for the first time as a preview on February 12, 2014 at the Berlinale . It premiered in France on March 5, 2014. The actual German premiere only took place in Berlin on August 25, 2014.
Schlöndorff dedicated his work to the US diplomat Richard Holbrooke (1941-2010). The French film title is identical to the German, the English version is called Diplomacy.
action
Diplomacy describes, largely in the form of a chamber play and based on real events, above all a fictitious word duel between the German General Dietrich von Choltitz and the Swedish Consul General in France Raoul Nordling . The nocturnal conversation takes place in the building of the German city command, the luxury hotel Meurice , and continues into the morning.
The general had received the "rubble field order" from Hitler three weeks earlier . At the beginning of the action around four o'clock in the morning, he has the execution of the preparatory measures confirmed: All Seine bridges in the Paris area except for the central Pont Neuf and the most important of the buildings that shape the cityscape are mined; the debris from the central detonation is supposed to dam the river and flood large areas without regard to civilians .
When von Choltitz is alone, the Swedish consul Nordling enters the room through a secret door and tries to prevent Paris' destruction through diplomacy . The city commander is completely surprised, but treats the intruder with respect and engages in a dialogue . Initially, he was determined to carry out the order and, in the meantime, had resistance people arrested by the demolition squad immediately shot. Nordling, however, does not let himself be deterred in his plan, while the position of his counterpart hesitantly threatens to falter and the issuing of the execution order is delayed due to a lack of connection to the demolition squad.
In the meantime, SS officers came to the hotel on behalf of Heinrich Himmler in order to steal art treasures such as the Bayeux Tapestry from the Louvre at the last minute , but not the Mona Lisa , as von Choltitz found out, irritated when he asked . Rejected in their hopeless plan, the SS people smugly refer to Hitler's special liability for von Choltitz's family. Back at Nordling, the city commandant is noticeably frightened. The consul promises to save the family from Baden-Baden to neutral Switzerland.
Outside the morning had long since begun when Nordling, to his amazement, saved von Choltitz's life, helpless after an asthma attack . Then the radio link to the demolition squad is finally ready and the fighting is raging in the immediate vicinity. Nordling was on the roof when von Choltitz's last order finally canceled the operation. Back in the office, the consul congratulates him with a whiskey as the “savior of Paris”. Before he leaves the scene, he receives the necessary pass and his wedding ring as an identifier for von Choltitz's wife.
Immediately afterwards, Nordling's promise turns out to be a deception. Von Choltitz surrenders to fate with his last soldiers, historical film recordings are faded in. Eventually he is captured by US forces. A hotel employee, apparently a representative of the Resistance , observes this, lights an American cigarette and congratulates the Nordling who has stepped up. He cradles Choltitz's wedding ring thoughtfully in his fingers before they both walk to the town hall, where Charles de Gaulle awaits Nordling.
background
The film was shot in Paris from August 19 to September 21, 2013 . Both main actors had previously played in the play of the same name, which was performed in early 2011 in the Théâtre de la Madeleine in Paris' district of the same name .
In order to recognize the dramatic adaptation of the destruction order in Schlöndorff's film, a comparison with the war film, Burning Paris ?, made by Lapierre and Collins in 1964 with a large star cast, is suitable . The successful play was in this respect a recapitulation.
In the credits it says that Nordling and von Choltitz only met again, in 1955, in Paris. The consul gave his "Medal of Honor" stamped in just one copy to the general, which shows on the back "how Paris breaks its chains". Von Choltitz's family had escaped kinship liability and was spared by the Allied war opponents.
reception
Schlöndorff's work received mostly very positive reviews. Klaus Lesche called it for the first “A clever chamber play” about “the perseverance of an individual” and Heike Mund for Deutsche Welle called it “an exciting chamber play for the cinema”. Lars Friedrich even certified "the Paris enthusiast Schlöndorff" for the NDR as "a grandiose late work". And the German film and media rating found that diplomacy was a "focused, exciting and complex film" and "a great lesson about the power of diplomacy."
Also Harald Jähner in the Frankfurter Rundschau , the verbal duel as was "quite well done", "really too big for the standards of the Chamber of the game (...)" and "the rescue of Paris was caused the issue but in reality many more factors and ultimately much more exciting". Overall, "the bold grip of dramaturgical reduction (...) is dashing, but it is not a triumph."
Daniel Sander gave Spiegel Online a rather neutral assessment of a "film that wants to understand without claiming to have understood everything."
See also
- Paris brûle-t-il? (Is Paris Burning? Brennt Paris?) By René Clément (director), Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins (book) , 1966 (French-American war film)
Web links
- Diplomacy in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Diplomacy at filmportal.de
- Diplomacy at the German Film and Media Assessment (FBW)
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Release for Diplomacy . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , July 2014 (PDF; test number: 145 254 K).
- ↑ Age rating for diplomacy . Youth Media Commission .
- ^ A b Heike Mund: Premiere of Schlöndorff's "Diplomatie". Deutsche Welle , August 25, 2014, accessed September 1, 2019 .
- ↑ Nathalie Simon: André Dussollier et Niels Arestrup refont l'Histoire. Le Figaro , December 26, 2010, accessed September 1, 2019 .
- ^ Klaus Lesche: Diplomacy - The story of the rescue of Paris. The First , August 27, 2014, archived from the original on September 3, 2014 ; accessed on September 1, 2019 .
- ^ Lars Friedrich: Reception. (Title unknown). (No longer available online.) Norddeutscher Rundfunk , archived from the original on August 28, 2014 ; accessed on August 28, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Diplomacy. German film and media rating , accessed on September 1, 2019 .
- ↑ Harald Jähner : Reception. (Title unknown). (No longer available online.) Frankfurter Rundschau , archived from the original on December 29, 2019 ; accessed on August 28, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Daniel Sander: The final around Paris. Spiegel Online , August 28, 2014, accessed September 1, 2019 .
