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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eiffel.jpg]]
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4''Eiffel'' is a 2021 French historical romantic drama film loosely based off the life of Gustave Eiffel, the UsefulNotes/{{Fr|ance}}ench civil engineer who gave UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} its most iconic monument, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower Eiffel Tower]]. It is directed by Martin Bourboulon and written by Caroline Bongrand, and Music/AlexandreDesplat composed the soundtrack.
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6Towards the end of the 1880s, master engineer Gustave Eiffel (Creator/RomainDuris), who revolutionized construction using iron beam structures, just finished collaborating on the structure of the Art/StatueOfLiberty. The French government want him to conceive "something spectacular" for the 1889 World's Fair in Paris. At a dinner, he meets an old flame of his youth, Adrienne Bourgès (Creator/EmmaMackey), whom he met when building a bridge over the Garonne river. Their flame gets revived and she even partly inspires him the new project, a 300 meter tall iron tower. Trouble is, Adrienne is married to another man.
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8!!''Eiffel'' provides examples of:
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10* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Gustave Eiffel did have a relationship with a woman named Adrienne Bourgès in his youth, but nothing has ever indicated that they ever were reunited after it was called off. Nor that the "A" of her name inspired him the shape of the tower, for that matter.
11* HowWeGotHere: The film starts in 1889 with Gustave in his office at the top of the finished tower during a storm. He works on a plan of the tower, reminisces about the inauguration day and goes out in the gusts of wind to take a look at the city. Then it cuts to three years earlier, when he was made a Honorary US Citizen for having built the iron structure of the Art/StatueOfLiberty, then to him in his offices in 1887.
12* INeedAFreakingDrink: Gustave's reaction upon learning that his daughter Claire wants to marry his employee Adolphe Salles. Though he accepts the situation and ends up taking several glasses and sharing the booze between himself, Adolphe and Adrienne to celebrate.
13* ItWillNeverCatchOn:
14** At the beginning, Gustave explains he'd prefer working on UsefulNotes/LeMetropolitain because it is "modern" and he doesn't like the idea of a temporary monument for the World's Fair. Of course, the tower he would build would be anything but temporary and become THE symbol of Paris.
15** When Gustave is presented a model of a proto-iron tower just like the tower would become (with more refinements in its structure), he simply finds it "ugly" and leaves. He comes back at it and pushes through later on.
16* MakingTheMasterpiece: The film is a fictional account of how Gustave Eiffel got the idea to build his namesake tower the way it is.
17* MissingMom: Gustave's wife Marguerite and Claire's mother died prior to the beginning of the story (in 1877 in RealLife).
18* OldFlame: Gustave and Adrienne were in a relationship long ago and it ended. They get reunited in 1887.
19* OpenMindedParent: Gustave has a INeedAFreakingDrink reaction upon learning that his daughter wants to marry his employee Adolphe Salles, who's clearly not the type he expected for her. Surprisingly though, he doesn't object, and even consents to giving his daughter's hand to him and offers them both a drink to celebrate.
20* UrbanSegregation: Gustave wants to avoid this by building the tower right in the middle of Paris so everyone, bourgeois and working classes alike, can appreciate the view.
21* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: There's even a message stating "Freely inspired by real facts" at the beginning.

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