18 Jun Diplomacy
Niels Arestrup as General Dietrich von Choltitz (left) and André Dussollier as Consul Raoul Nordling in DIPLOMACY. A film by Volker Schlöndorff. A Zeitgeist Films release. Photo: Jérome Prébois.
(2014) It is August of 1944. Hitler gives orders to the German Military Governor of Paris that the city must be destroyed before the Allies can reach it. If Berlin is in ruins, so shall be Paris. The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame … explosives have been planted on the famous landmarks.
The Governor’s name is Dietrich von Choltitz. He is determined to follow the orders of his Fuhrer until the end. Besides that, the order has just come out that the family of anyone who disobeys will suffer.
On the final evening before the destruction is scheduled to occur, Swedish Consul General Raoul Nordling tries to convince Governor von Choltitz not to do it.
The movie Diplomacy is based on a 2011 play, Diplomatie, by Cyril Gely. Both main actors also starred in the play, Niels Arestrup as the German, André Dussollier as the Swede. They did an excellent job.
The movie and the play are loosely based on the real facts. This is another one of those movies that made me want to know more. Raoul Nordling lived in Paris his entire life. The “Square Raoul Nordling” is named in his honour with a commemorative plaque.
Following the end of the war, Dietrich von Choltitz spent two years in Allied prisons. According to the film, his family was not harmed. In 1955, France honored him as a Knight of the Légion d’honneur, that country’s highest decoration.
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