History Film / IsParisBurning

** Creator/JeanLouisTrintignant as "Captain Serge", [[spoiler:the French collaborator who leads a group of resistance fighters to their death. It wouldn't be his last time playing a [[Film/TheConformist wartime fascist collaborator]]]].

* BadassBeard: One of he Resistance leaders, who is giving orders through a telephone even as gunfire bursts through the window.

** George Chakiris, hot off the success of ''Film/WestSideStory'', appears as a U.S. tank sergeant racing his Sherman to the Eiffel Tower.

''Paris brûle-t-il ?'' (''Is Paris Burning?'') is a 1966 historical film directed by René Clément, based on a screenplay by Creator/GoreVidal and Creator/FrancisFordCoppola, based itself on a book by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. It depicts the events leading to the Liberation of UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII August 1944]].

The title comes from UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler's question to his chief of staff Alfred Jodl on the eve of the liberation of Paris (August 25): "Brennt Paris, Jodl?". The military governor of Paris, General Dietrich von Choltitz (Creator/GertFrobe), had been ordered to [[IfICantHaveYou destroy the city rather than let it fall undamaged into the hands of the Allies]].

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/TheLongestDay''. Black and white historical epic, international [[invoked]]AllStarCast, loads and loads of characters, Allied victory in WWII... you got it. 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).

''Paris brûle-t-il ?'' (''Is Paris Burning?'') is a 1966 historical film directed by René Clément, based on a screenplay by Creator/GoreVidal and Creator/FrancisFordCoppola, based itself on a book by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. It depicts the events leading to the Liberation of UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} in August 1944.

''Paris brûle-t-il ?'' (''Is Paris Burning?'') is a 1966 historical film directed by René Clément, based on a screenplay by Creator/GoreVidal and Creator/FrancisFordCoppola, based itself on a book by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. It depicts the events leading to the Liberation of Paris in August 1944.

%%* MolotovCocktail: Prepared by Pr. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Joliot-Curie Frédéric Joliot-Curie]].

* WellDoneSonGuy: The French lieutenant who takes the Generals surrender shows a triumphant side of this, calling his father to brag that his military career is not as unexceptional as the old man thought.

* BigDamnHeroes: {{Subverted|Trope}}. The consul Raoul Nordling and Françoise Labé arrives in a train station just when a train full a prisoners is going to leave. They have a release order for Françoise Labé's husband. Unfortunately, the SS officer refuses to release the prisoner. Bernard Labé [[AnyoneCanDie is even shot dead]] by a soldier when his wife runs to him saying he is free.

** Creator/JeanLouisTrintignant as "Captain Serge"; [[spoiler:the French collaborator who leads a group of resistance fighters to their death. It wouldn't be his last time playing a [[Film/TheConformist wartime fascist collaborator]]]].

** And the Swedish consul Raoul Nordling.

* HonorBeforeReason: Depends on your point of view. Von Choltitz is ordered to burn Paris to the ground. Realizing that history would never forgive him if he did, the general does what he can to arrange a quiet surrender instead. It may have been dishonorable to the Nazis, but it was reasonable and honorable to the French. In RealLife, the French regarded him as "The Savior of Paris" and French officers attended his funeral in 1966. Von Choltitz himself wanted to fight for the city, but when promised reinforcements did not arrive, he decided that destroying buildings and monuments was pointless.

* LargeHam: Hitler, unsurprisingly.

* MolotovCocktail: Prepared by Pr. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Joliot-Curie Frédéric Joliot-Curie]].

* RefugeInAudacity: When "Pierrelot" (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is tasked to retake Hôtel Matignon from LesCollaborateurs, he cannot get any men in insurgent Paris. So what does he do? Walk into the place with just his female aid, and ask for control of the place in the name of the temporary government. It ''works'', and he's treated like a minister.

* RoadBlock: The Germans have set road blocks around Paris, so that the resistants cannot communicate with the allied forces.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/TheLongestDay''. Black and white historical epic, international [[invoked]]AllStarCast, loads and loads of characters, Allied victory in WWII... you got it. It can very much serve as a {{sequel}} to it as far as historical events are concerned (if you skip the -- very gruelling for the Allies -- Battle of Normandy that followed D-Day, that is).

* TitleDrop: Although in German -- toward the end, Hitler is insistingly asking "Brennt Paris?" (Is Paris Burning?) on the phone.

* WeAreStrugglingTogether

Other actors in the AllStarCast include Creator/KirkDouglas, Creator/GlennFord, Creator/CharlesBoyer, Creator/YvesMontand, Creator/LeslieCaron, Creator/JeanPaulBelmondo, Creator/SimoneSignoret, Creator/AlainDelon, among [[AllStarCast many others]].

Other actors in the cast include Creator/KirkDouglas, Creator/GlennFord, Creator/CharlesBoyer, Creator/YvesMontand, Creator/LeslieCaron, Creator/JeanPaulBelmondo, Creator/SimoneSignoret, Creator/AlainDelon, among [[AllStarCast many others]].

* BaitAndSwitchTyrant: Von Choltitz initially seems unimpressed with the beauty of Paris and determined to follow any order Hitelr gives him, but ultimately shows a more reasonable side.

** French Army: Pierre de La Fouchardière, Raymond Dronne, Philippe Leclerc.

For a political contrast on resistance movements, compare ''Film/TheBattleOfAlgiers'', made the same year. For a recent and specific take on the story of Choltitz and Nordling, see ''Film/{{Diplomacy|2014}}''.

* SameLanguageDub: The film's script was written in three different languages, and all the actors spoke their dialogue in their own languages (i.e. the French actors spoke French, the Americans spoke English, and the Germans spoke German), then the film would be dubbed into a single language depending on where it was released. In a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] of the usual process, most of the French and German actors did their own dubbing, because many of them were bilingual.

TheCameo: Much of the film's all-star cast only appear in brief, one-or-two scene cameos that sometimes only last a few minutes.

* TheCameo: Considering the film's epic scope and sheer number of character, these are unavoidable.

The film looks not only at the taking of Paris by French and American troops but at [[WeAreStrugglingTogether rivalries within the Resistance]]. Of the two main sections, the branch loyal to General UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle was against an uprising while the branch linked to the communists, led by Henri Rol-Tanguy (Bruno Cremer), believed action was necessary. De Gaulle tried to overcome communist influence during and after Liberation, [[RedScare believing the communists planned to take control of the city and then of France]].

* TheCavalry: Finally, the French and American troops arrive in Paris to support the insurgents who needed help because they did not have enough amunition.

** US Army: [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeSPatton George S. Patton]], Omar N. Bradley, Edwin L. Sibert.
** Germans: [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Adolf Hitler]], Dietrich von Choltitz, Alfred Jodl, Hans von Boineburg-Lengsfeld, Walter Model, Wilhelm Burgdorf.

* QuestioningTitle: Brennt Paris, Jodl?

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/TheLongestDay''. Black & white historical epic, international [[invoked]]AllStarCast, loads and loads of characters, Allied victory in [=WW2=]... you got it. It can very much serve as a {{sequel}} to it as far as historical events are concerned (if you skip the -very gruelling for the Allies- Battle of Normandy that followed D-Day, that is).

* AmericaSavesTheDay: The American Arm provides key support and manpower for the final liberation (albeit somewhat reluctantly, and not without careful consideration).

* TooHappyToLive: An American GI whose absolutely giddy to see Paris, only to be shot by a sniper, as well as a French tank commander, happy at seeing his wife again after six years of operation who is blown up.

* EpicMovie: By French cinema standards at least.

For a political contrast on resistance movements, compare ''Film/TheBattleOfAlgiers'', made the same year.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/TheLongestDay''. Black & white historical epic, international AllStarCast, loads and loads of characters, Allied victory in [=WW2=]... you got it.

** George Chakiris, hot off the success of ''Film/WestSideStory'', appears as a U.S. tank sergeant racing his Abrams to the Eiffel Tower.

* BadassGrandpa: An old civilian with a ''muzzleloader'' insists on joining the liberators for long enough to get off one shot.

* LaResistance: Most of the French protagonists, naturally. This arguably one of the definitive "French Resistance" movies.