ianlouisiana Review of Is Paris Burning?

Is Paris Burning? (1966)

"Listen vairy carefully - I wheel say zis only once......"

[6/10 · 24 August 2008]

Made 20 years after the end of the second world war possibly in an attempt to expiate their sense of guilt "Paris - Brule -t'il?" presents a Franco - centric view of La Liberation that might lead the unwary viewer to think that although it was nice of the Yanks to turn up,the French could have done it all themselves,merci beaucoup.Er,would that be those same heroes who surrendered ignominiously four years earlier leaving the Brits to fight the war on their own until Pearl Harbour?The same heroes who set up a pro - Nazi government in their own capital city?"Yes" is the word you're looking for. Having got that straight let's get on to the much - vaunted "Resistance". In the immediate post - war years half the population claimed to have been involved in a united effort to send the Hun packing,but of course had that actually been so,the country would have very quickly become ungovernable and the Germans would have either had to move out or bring in huge amounts of men and machines from other theatres of operation to impose their rule.As this didn't happen one can only assume that membership of the Resistance after the war increased in inverse proportion to German membership of the Nazi party. Victory does indeed have many fathers. In reality the Resistance was composed - certainly in its early manifestation - of different political groups each with its own agenda. It was also riddled with informers,collaborators and downright crooks. Only when the S.O.E. became actively involved did it become an effective force.Valiant though some of its members were,it was too fragmented to be anything more than a slight nuisance to the Germans. After the Normandy landings when it became clear that the initiative had swung towards the Allies,more and more French ceased to cooperate with the Boches,seeing which way the wind was blowing. The movie "Charlotte Gray" despite its faults will give you a truer picture of the efficiency of the partisans and the ambivalence of the French towards Les Anglais. The hero of this movie is General Frohlich (Herr Gert Frobe),a pragmatist with an eye to history who defied Hitler's order to destroy Paris in the face of the Allies' advance.By brokering a deal with the partisans and the Americans he assured the survival of his troops,and,incidentally,guaranteed that one of Europe's most beautiful cities would remain intact.For this intelligent,compassionate act he was ostracised by his countrymen which says more about them than it does about him. There are lots of cameo roles for American actors that were probably demanded by Fox.They add nothing to the movie,merely distract from its efficacy. Any Rene Clement production is worth watching and "Paris,Brule t'il?" has some deft touches.The fact that it was made in black and white gives it that "authentic" 1940s look,Messrs Belmondo,Delon and Montand are always worth watching,and it puts on record an important event in European history,but it tends to give the impression the Paris - indeed all of France - was saved by ugly blokes wearing trenchcoats and riding bicycles.Not quite true,I'm afraid.