Status
Released
original language
fr
Budget
$ 35000000
Revenue
$ 0
General Gontier
General Gallet
Laurent Prades, general manager of Notre-Dame
Chief Adjutant Joël
Chief Sergeant Reynald
Aurélien, young manager
Captain Francis
Lieutenant Alexandre
Chief Sergeant Jordan
Chief Corporal Marianne
Corporal Sandro
Novice firefighter Marie-Eve
Novice firefighter Victor
Captain Marcus
Moumet D., fire safety supervisor
Jonas, guardian of the cathedral
Little Chloé's mom
Chloé, little girl
Captain PC
Lieutenant Colonel Michelon
Scottish guide
Petit-Pont roadblock policeman
Chief of staff of the Mayor of Paris
Adjutant Ibrahim
Firefighter Francis
Anne Hidalgo
Édouard Philippe
Selfie American tourist
Lieutenant Rufus
Monseigneur Charley
Father Boulanger, fire chaplain
Colonel Roland
Conservative of Notre Dame
Donald Trump
Italian guide
Young architect in sneakers
Hostess Versailles
Céline, conservative
Climbing firefighter
Jean-Paul, canon
Organist
Guardian of 'Lever de doute'
Self
Self
Self
Spanish guide
Chinese guide
Quebecois guide
Russian guide
German guide
Cantonese guide
French guide
Japanese guide
Hungarian guide
Firefighter responsible for the extrication truck
BSPP operational center teleoperator
BSPP operational center teleoperator
BSPP operational center teleoperator
Mother of the little Quebecer
Father of the little Quebecer
Site manager
Mr. Merlin
Old lady with cat
Fireman who draws
Self (archive footage)
Macron film director
Woman of the turnstile
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Bodyguard of Brigitte Macron (uncredited)
Evacuation police officer (uncredited)
M.d. (voice) (uncredited)
American tourist (uncredited)
Written by Geronimo1967 on 2022-07-28
Just imagine. A builder on the roof of this ancient monument is having a fly cigarette. He throws the butt from the rooftop but instead of finding it's way to the ground, it is blown through one of the slitted windows whereupon it encounters some debris from a pigeon's nest and - well quite literally all hell breaks lose. Jean-Jacques Annaud intersperses real footage of this terrible conflagration with a drama offering us a plausible depiction of just how difficult it was for the Pompiers of Paris to not only tackle this blaze, but to get through the grid-locked streets of their city to the Île de la Cité in the first place. There is a palpable sense of the heat, the smoke - and the fear as the fire fighters tried to coax the water pressure into a meaningful tool to put out the fire whilst what seemed like gallons of molten lead slurped around the roof using the gargoyles as did Charles Laughton back in 1939. The dramatic elements are adequate, but to be honest they don't really matter - most of this is eye-watering. Certainly, you are pretty clearly aware of what is real and what has been staged - the intimate photography leaves us in little doubt of that, but again that doesn't really matter. This film demonstrates the courage and bravery of those tasked with stopping history burning down around them, whilst building on the response nightmare and the religiosity of those who can't quite believe God is allowing this to happen at all! It is all told pacily and effectively in just under two hours. What I really found irritating - exasperating, even, were all the spectators clogging everywhere up - so long as they had a vantage point then the emergency services could wait their turn... Fascinating to watch, and well worth it.