YMMV / Is Paris Burning?

• Americans Hate Tingle: While American audiences didn't exactly hate this film, it was certainly more frostily received in the United States than in France, where it was one of the top-grossing films of the year. A big part of this is that, despite the films attempts at being a "crossover" hit with trans-Atlantic appeal, its overwhelming focus on French characters and history whose struggles would be familiar to French audiences but largely unknown to American ones (not helped by a certain cultural trope over the years). Its lack of a clear protagonist and the distracting cameos by American stars only aggravated the problem. It didn't help that many critics felt that director René Clément's mix of European and Hollywood filmmaking sensibilities didn't work. This didn't stop it from being nominated for three Academy Awards.
• Awesome Music: Once again Maurice Jarre proves sto be the master composer, now actually creating a momentous soudntrack for a film shose setting is his home country. In particular the accordion bits are simply so beautiful pieces of music.
• Spiritual Successor: To The Longest Day. Black and white historical epic, international invokedAll-Star Cast, loads and loads of characters, Allied victory in WWII, French Resistance at work... you get the picture. It can very much serve as a sequel to it as far as historical events are concerned (if you skip the — very grueling for the Allies — Battle of Normandy that followed D-Day, that is). Also, both films had a soundtrack by Maurice Jarre and had Gert Fröbe in their cast.
• Vindicated by History: Largely overlooked on release in the US and criticized by local critics for its apparent "slowness", its reputation has grown steadily overtime, and its now considered on par with the film it is a Spiritual Successor of, The Longest Day.

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