Diplomatie (Diplomacy)

Seen in Vienna, dubbed in German from the French original

Cecil says: We’d heard about this film as we passed through Paris and found out it was to be released in Germany just after we left, so we were delighted to find it suddenly in front of our eyes in Vienna.

We found a small independent cinema and wanted to escape from the pouring rain. Diplomatie had just begun five minutes earlier, but we thought we’d go for it.

All we knew was that it was about how a Swedish man had saved Paris from being bombed by the Nazis during the War. We didn’t even know which end of the Paris occupation this was (just before the Germans arrived, or just before they left), but with having been in Paris for the 70^th anniversary of the Liberation, this felt like a very appropriate film to see.

I’ve no idea how the film begins, but within seconds of sitting down we knew it had to be as the Germans were leaving, since there were scenes of German soldiers looking slightly the worse for wear and uniforms smudged or torn, with sweat on their brows.

As usual in German/Austrian cinemas, this film was dubbed (I guess from French, even though Schloiendorff is of course German), which meant some of the dialogue was extremely quick (do the French really talk that much faster than the Germans?), so we both may have missed some of the subtleties of the script, but this was a gripping film from the moment we took our seats.

It’s all about how a Swedish (neutral in theory) diplomat manages to persuade the Germans not to blow up most of the Paris landmarks as they abandon the city. The film is big on dialogue and on the persuasive methods of the Swede, as he slowly convinces the man in charge that for historical reasons, family reasons, and any other reasons he thinks might work, it is wrong to press the trigger.

There are a few things we didn’t quite understand, like why the hardline officer let his junior leave with a laissez passer early on in the film – and it is his return towards the end that reveals to him that he has been duped after all.

And there’s the lovely moment when the man who early on is most nervous about the project ends up being the one who actually stops it happening – but we won’t do a spoiler on that one.

I’d love to see this film again to get those nuances, and maybe see it in the original (French).

Well worth an afternoon out of the rain. I’d go even in brilliant sunshine

****

Bea says: Despite being interested in WW2 history in Europe, this film made me realise how little I actually knew about the German occupation of Paris, and how Paris actually escaped the bomb damage that scars almost all of the rest of the major European cities, and it was very personally resonant as we had just been in Paris as it celebrated 70 years since liberation.

 We saw it about a week into our time in German speaking countries, and so I had had a chance to recover some of my fluency in German after a long break, but as Cecil says the dialogue was fast paced, and somewhat complex as well, but although I did not follow all of the intricacies, I did keep up with the plot – visual contextual clues helping a lot, as did the extremely expressive face of …, the Swedish diplomat.  Perhaps it was because I was relying more on visual cues to check out my understanding of the dialogue but I have rarely seen facial features used so well in film. 

A gripping film, particularly as the pace and tension builds throughout.  I would also love to see it again, and in fact could have watched it again straight away.

****