So, the Eiffel Tower was just a giant love letter?
THE iconic landmarks of Paris are getting some proper dramatic attention this summer. Notre-Dame On Fire was released just a few weeks ago, and now another French-language film, Eiffel (★★★★☆, 15, 108 mins), deftly weaves fact and fiction in the story of how engineer Gustave Eiffel (Romain Duris) conceived and then executed his plan for a mighty lattice structure rising 330 metres above the Seine.
The factual bit relates to the tower itself, and is more riveting than a story about rivets has any right to be. Belle Epoque Paris is very nicely evoked and the construction scenes are superbly done.
Plus, there are all kinds of fascinating historical snippets. For instance, there were strenuous objections from the Vatican, on the basis that the modern monstrosity would overshadow NotreDame. Meanwhile, its visionary creator was revered, then reviled and finally revered again, as his tower took shape.
Where Eiffel topples, arguably, is in the fictionalising of a reignited love story between him and an old flame, Adrienne, played by the bilingual Emma Mackey in her first major French-speaking role.
It’s cheesier than an overripe camembert and the notion that Eiffel designed his tower in the shape of an A as a kind of wrought-iron love letter to Adrienne might be too much for some. But the acting is terrific and I confess I bought into it heart and soul. It’s a pleasingly oldfashioned film, a picture that might have come out of 1950s Hollywood with American accents all round, maybe with Alan Ladd or even Kirk Douglas as Eiffel. I enjoyed it very much.
Where Is Anne Frank (★★★☆☆, PG, 99 mins) gives American accents to the famous teenager and the imaginary friend, Kitty, to whom she wrote her diaries. That grates a little, but otherwise Israeli director Ari Folman does a fine job of animating Anne’s heartrending story, flitting back and forth, rather fancifully at times, between wartime and presentday Amsterdam.
Whether you want to see it turned into an animation is a different matter. But the film is aimed squarely at a young adult audience and is done with sensitivity and skill.
■ Both films are in cinemas now.