Whoever was responsible for writing the first half of the movie botched it. The script fails to set up the story, leaving the movie without the necessary tension. The second half, on the other hand, is very good, and follows the the details of the book closely.
The first half of the movie is devoid of the suspense found in the book. The viewer is left with a bored, who cares attitude to the events we see of the French Resistance. The book is different.
I lent the book to a friend, who read it in less than two days. I, on the other hand, savored it, reading a portion at a time of the wonderfully detailed accounts of hundreds of French, Germans and Americans reported by the two authors, Larry Collins and Dominique LaPierre. I am a journalist, and this is the most magnificent job of reporting I have ever read. I asked my friend why she was in such a hurry, and she said she wanted to see how it ended! You see, the key to the book is found in the title, "Is Paris Burning?" This question recurs throughout the book. Will General von Choltitz have to destroy all of Paris, part of Paris, or will it be spared? How will he handle this order?
Von Choltitz' position on this is not made clear until more than halfway into the movie, and even then the issue, as described in the book, is never stated explicitly. When you know the whole story, von Choltitz' pivotal, heroic role is clear. But the movie drops the ball on this. Perhaps the French director was not willing to go that far. Back in the early 1960s, many Europeans who lived through the war were not willing to forgive the Germans, any German. My father was French. Nearly all of his family were killed by the Germans. So I know. But the price paid by the director is a botched movie.
General Dietrich von Choltitz is the true hero; it is he who saved Paris from destruction. He died shortly after the movie was released. I suspect he was at least a little disappointed by the movie, but from what I have read, he lived quietly, and I doubt he did what he did to be thanked; I think he did it because it was right. That's the picture I got from the book.
The book, and I am going from memory here, begins with von Choltitz being called to see Hitler, as does the movie. The book makes it clear that von Choltitz realizes that Hitler is now insane and the war is lost; the movie does not have von Choltitz state this until halfway through. Next, on a train he encounters a Gestapo officer by chance who has written new guidelines to make sure all officers in the field follow orders, despite the impending collapse of the war: If they fail to obey orders, their families will be slaughtered and their homes and possessions destroyed. So he now knows the price if he fails to destroy Paris on Hitler's orders. That is how the book opens. The movie NEVER states that von Choltitz's family could be killed. But at the end, right before his surrender, von Choltitz asks General Speidel to see that his family does not suffer.
Von Choltitz had destroyed other cities in Eastern Europe, a fact not stated by the movie. That is why Hitler chose him. But he realizes from the beginning that there was no military point to destroying Paris as a simple act of vengeance, and he never had any intention of carrying it out. Therefore, he had to perform a delicate dance with the Resistance to satisfy German command and to avoid things getting out of control so that the Germans forced the total destruction of the city. That is the tension that drove the book; it is almost completely missing from the first half of the movie. How will von Choltitz balance the two forces?
While von Choltitz acted the tough German general in the beginning, he soon had several sympathetic conversations with the Resistance, pleading with them not to force his hand. The most astonishing detail of the book is that it is von Choltitz who called in the Resistance and told them to cross the German lines and go to the Allies and ask them to invade Paris, and hurry! If they did not, he would be forced to set off the explosives set throughout Paris. This is almost entirely missing from the movie, though there is the scene with Consul Nordling that suggests this.
There are a number of historical inaccuracies, mainly in the first half of the movie, as I recall from the book. One odd error is that the movie has von Choltitz being asked by a German general why he did not call in the Luftwaffe to bomb Paris. Actually, he did do one bombing run to placate the Germans and buy time: of a Parisian slum. Not of the Parisian monuments Hitler wanted destroyed.
The second half of the movie is excellent; virtually all of the detailed dialogue is true, even of those who die seconds later, reconstructed by hundreds of interviews. The scene where the soldiers invite themselves into the old lady's apartment, who sits happily by, as if it were a tea party, as they kill Germans, is true. It was one of the highlights of the book, in my opinion.
One memorable detail missing from the movie is that as von Choltitz is taken through the streets as a prisoner of war, a woman spits on him, reminiscent of "A Tale of Two Cities." It was one of the great ironies of the book, for it was von Choltitz who had saved her city. But the Parisians did not know this.
The first half of the movie is devoid of the suspense found in the book. The viewer is left with a bored, who cares attitude to the events we see of the French Resistance. The book is different.
I lent the book to a friend, who read it in less than two days. I, on the other hand, savored it, reading a portion at a time of the wonderfully detailed accounts of hundreds of French, Germans and Americans reported by the two authors, Larry Collins and Dominique LaPierre. I am a journalist, and this is the most magnificent job of reporting I have ever read. I asked my friend why she was in such a hurry, and she said she wanted to see how it ended! You see, the key to the book is found in the title, "Is Paris Burning?" This question recurs throughout the book. Will General von Choltitz have to destroy all of Paris, part of Paris, or will it be spared? How will he handle this order?
Von Choltitz' position on this is not made clear until more than halfway into the movie, and even then the issue, as described in the book, is never stated explicitly. When you know the whole story, von Choltitz' pivotal, heroic role is clear. But the movie drops the ball on this. Perhaps the French director was not willing to go that far. Back in the early 1960s, many Europeans who lived through the war were not willing to forgive the Germans, any German. My father was French. Nearly all of his family were killed by the Germans. So I know. But the price paid by the director is a botched movie.
General Dietrich von Choltitz is the true hero; it is he who saved Paris from destruction. He died shortly after the movie was released. I suspect he was at least a little disappointed by the movie, but from what I have read, he lived quietly, and I doubt he did what he did to be thanked; I think he did it because it was right. That's the picture I got from the book.
The book, and I am going from memory here, begins with von Choltitz being called to see Hitler, as does the movie. The book makes it clear that von Choltitz realizes that Hitler is now insane and the war is lost; the movie does not have von Choltitz state this until halfway through. Next, on a train he encounters a Gestapo officer by chance who has written new guidelines to make sure all officers in the field follow orders, despite the impending collapse of the war: If they fail to obey orders, their families will be slaughtered and their homes and possessions destroyed. So he now knows the price if he fails to destroy Paris on Hitler's orders. That is how the book opens. The movie NEVER states that von Choltitz's family could be killed. But at the end, right before his surrender, von Choltitz asks General Speidel to see that his family does not suffer.
Von Choltitz had destroyed other cities in Eastern Europe, a fact not stated by the movie. That is why Hitler chose him. But he realizes from the beginning that there was no military point to destroying Paris as a simple act of vengeance, and he never had any intention of carrying it out. Therefore, he had to perform a delicate dance with the Resistance to satisfy German command and to avoid things getting out of control so that the Germans forced the total destruction of the city. That is the tension that drove the book; it is almost completely missing from the first half of the movie. How will von Choltitz balance the two forces?
While von Choltitz acted the tough German general in the beginning, he soon had several sympathetic conversations with the Resistance, pleading with them not to force his hand. The most astonishing detail of the book is that it is von Choltitz who called in the Resistance and told them to cross the German lines and go to the Allies and ask them to invade Paris, and hurry! If they did not, he would be forced to set off the explosives set throughout Paris. This is almost entirely missing from the movie, though there is the scene with Consul Nordling that suggests this.
There are a number of historical inaccuracies, mainly in the first half of the movie, as I recall from the book. One odd error is that the movie has von Choltitz being asked by a German general why he did not call in the Luftwaffe to bomb Paris. Actually, he did do one bombing run to placate the Germans and buy time: of a Parisian slum. Not of the Parisian monuments Hitler wanted destroyed.
The second half of the movie is excellent; virtually all of the detailed dialogue is true, even of those who die seconds later, reconstructed by hundreds of interviews. The scene where the soldiers invite themselves into the old lady's apartment, who sits happily by, as if it were a tea party, as they kill Germans, is true. It was one of the highlights of the book, in my opinion.
One memorable detail missing from the movie is that as von Choltitz is taken through the streets as a prisoner of war, a woman spits on him, reminiscent of "A Tale of Two Cities." It was one of the great ironies of the book, for it was von Choltitz who had saved her city. But the Parisians did not know this.