Screened as part of NZIFF 2014

Diplomacy 2014

Diplomatie

Directed by Volker Schlöndorff World

This expert adaptation of a hit stage play imagines the negotiation between the German governor tasked by Hitler to destroy Paris and the Swedish counsel credited with persuading him not to.

France / Germany In French and German with English subtitles
84 minutes CinemaScope / DCP

Producers

Marc De Bayser
,
Frank Le Wita
,
Sidonie Dumas
,
Francis Boespflug

Screenplay

Cyril Gely
,
Volker Schlöndorff. Based on the play by Cyril Gely

Photography

Michel Amathieu

Editor

Virginie Bruant

Production designer

Jacques Rouxel

Costume designer

Mirjam Muschel

Sound

Philippe Garnier
,
André Zacher
,
Olivier Dô Hùu

Music

Jörg Lemberg

With

André Dussollier (Consul Raoul Nordling)
,
Niels Arestrup (General Dietrich von Choltitz)
,
Burghart Klaussner (Captain Ebernach)
,
Robert Stadlober (Lieutenant Bressensdorf)
,
Charlie Nelson (concierge)
,
Jean Marc Roulot (Jacques Lanvin)
,
Stefan Wilkening (Corporal Mayer)
,
Thomas Arnold (Lieutenant Hegger)

Festivals

Berlin 2014

Elsewhere

“‘Is Paris burning?’ was the famous question Adolf Hitler allegedly asked General Dietrich von Choltitz as the Allied forces reached the city’s borders… While we all know that von Choltitz and his retreating German army didn’t in fact burn Paris to the ground, the machinations behind that fateful decision make for highly engaging drama in Diplomacy, Volker Schlöndorff’s adaptation of the hit play by French dramaturge Cyril Gely… Serving as Governor for the occupying German army, von Choltitz (Niels Arestrup) rules over his forces from the elegant Hotel Meurice on the Rue de Rivoli. With a balcony looking out to the Tuileries Garden, the Seine and many other premiere sites, it’s the perfect spot to witness the city blown to high hell, which is the plan ordered up by the Führer himself and, if all goes well, about to be undertaken by von Choltitz’s troops. But a major monkey wrench is tossed into the machinery when Swedish consul Raoul Nordling (André Dussollier) shows up unannounced, and slowly but surely works his way into the German’s heart and mind, using every tool within his power – including a fair amount of wine and camembert – to convince the Governor to call off the blitz… Keeping the action mostly confined to von Choltitz’s elegant office, the director and cinematographer take great pains to reveal the city’s beauty as it lingers in the background, until a final, stunningly shot sequence underscores how much lovers of Paris owe to these two men.” — Jordan Mintzer, Hollywood Reporter