Annual Top Films Lists

Top 200 Most Anticipated Films for 2014: #149. Volker Schlondorff’s Diplomacy

Published on February 10, 2014

Diplomacy

Director: Volker Schlondorff
Writers: Volker Schlondorff, Cyril Gely
Producers: Film Oblige’s Marc de Bayser and Frank de Bayser
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Andre Dussollier, Niels Arestrup, Robert Stadlober

The German auteur has another film ready to premiere this year, which we hope gets more attention than Schlondorff’s 2011 film, Calm At Sea, which had a rather subdued festival run and no US distribution. Two wizened stars of French cinema headline his latest, a period piece reimagining the near bombing of Paris by Hitler. War torn Germany and World War II era Europe are some of Schlondorff’s favorite subjects, but we’re hoping this sees some traction in the coming year.

Gist: During the night of August 24th to 25th, 1944, the future of Paris is in the hands of General von Choltitz, the governor of Grand Paris, who is preparing, on Hitler’s orders, to blow up the capital.

Release Date: His 2007 Ulzhan film was the last to play at Cannes and was not in competition, but if it’s not screened there, we can bank on Toronto or Venice.

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Nicholas Bell

Los Angeles based Nicholas Bell is IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic and covers film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and TIFF. He is part of the critic groups on Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and GALECA. His top 3 for 2021: France (Bruno Dumont), Passing (Rebecca Hall) and Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro). He was a jury member at the 2019 Cleveland International Film Festival.