Director: Volker Schlöndorff Reviewer: Paul Sorrell 

Think of Paris without the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame Cathedral, not to mention its famous bridges and railway stations. Yet these irreplaceable monuments were threatened with destruction by the retreating German army of occupation in August 1944. This arresting drama tells the story of how Paris was saved by the courage and humanity of two very different men.

Many already know the story through the bestselling book (and film) by Lapierre and Collins, Is Paris Burning? This was Hitler’s question after he had ordered the razing of the city; if Berlin lay in ruins, Paris could not be left standing. Focussing squarely on the two protagonists in this dramatic story – Swedish consul Raoul Nordling and German general Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris – the film shows how the tide of history was turned in a single day in what many would regard as the world’s most beautiful city.

Wisely, scenes of military action are kept to an essential minimum, and the focus falls on the developing relationship between the two men. The consummate diplomat, Nordling’s job is to convince von Choltitz to abandon his plan of blowing up the city – literally pushing the plunger to level the buildings, monuments and historic bridges that have been wired for destruction. Seen from the general’s luxurious headquarters in the Hotel Meurice, the city’s famous skyline echoes to the sound of desultory explosions and small-arms fire as resistance fighters take to the streets. The Germans are reduced to increasing panic as French and American forces enter the suburbs.

As the crisis unfolds, Nordling uses all his urbane charm and powers of persuasion to appeal to von Choltitz’s humanity: “You will be remembered as the man who saved Paris.” At first, von Choltitz dismisses his overtures, asserting his authority as a German general and commandant of Paris. When the consul hands him a letter from a French general outlining peace terms, he tears it in pieces. However, von Choltitz is no Nazi fanatic, but rather the product of an aristocratic military family, a man whose human and cultural values are still largely intact beneath an uncompromising exterior. Yet his decision is not an easy one, as Hitler has one final hold over him that means that disobeying orders will come at enormous personal cost.

Although Diplomacy largely takes the form of a conversation between two men holed up in a sumptuous apartment in a Paris hotel, the tension never flags and the issues at stake are still alive in our conflict-ridden world. See it if you can.

Published in Tui Motu Magazine. Sept 2014: 29.