DIRECTED BY RENÉ CLÉMENT/FRENCH/1966

BLU-RAY STREET DATE: AUGUST 15, 2023/KL STUDIO CLASSICS

If Hitler can’t hold Paris, he wants to make sure no one else will, either. It’s up to resistance fighters to stop the iconic city from burning in director René Clément’s 1966 epic, Is Paris Burning? (Paris brûle-t-il). The mighty cast includes Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Boyer, Leslie Caron, Jean-Pierre Cassel, George Chakris, Alain Delon, Kirk Douglas, and many more. In the short video below, David Blakeslee of the Criterion Reflections podcast discussed the film and its new Blu-ray release from KL Studio Classics…

The official promotional text… “Acclaimed filmmaker René Clément (Forbidden Games, The Day and the Hour, Rider on the Rain) brings you the explosive, courage-filled story of the Allied Resistance and the Paris Liberation of 1944. As the Nazi jackboot marches through Europe, the freedom fighters of Paris mount a brave resistance. An insane and desperate Hitler sends a top general to determine if the Nazis can hold the city. If not, Paris will be burned. With a powerful script by Gore Vidal (Suddenly, Last Summer) and Francis Ford Coppola (The Conversation); and a rousing score by legendary composer Maurice Jarre (Doctor Zhivago), this epic film boasts an international cast of screen legends, including Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Boyer, Leslie Caron, Jean-Pierre Cassel, George Chakris, Alain Delon, Kirk Douglas, Glenn Ford, Gert Fröbe, Yves Montand, Anthony Perkins, Michel Piccoli, Simone Signoret, Robert Stack, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Orson Welles. Is Paris Burning? is a staggering portrait of heroism and brotherhood, and one of the most riveting stories to come out of World War II.”

Special Features:
• Digitally Restored from a 4K scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative by Paramount Pictures in Association with American Zoetrope and Francis Ford Coppola
• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Daniel Kremer and Howard S. Berger
• 5.1 Surround/Lossless 2.0 Stereo English Audio and Lossless 2.0 Mono French Audio
• Optional English Subtitles