Romantic French Socialism and An Architect Gone Mad in New Film 'The Great Arch'

A period film with all the juicy modern Paris architecture gossip! In this episode of Lost in Frenchlation, hosts ARBL Murray (Alex Brook Lynn) and Manon Kerjean are excited to delve into the film L'Inconnu de la Grande Arche or The Great Arche with director, Stéphane Demoustier.

The film takes place in the 1980s and is based on the true story about the building of The Great Arch at La Défense in Paris. It was to be a great achievement among The Grands Projects of socialist President Francois Mitterrand, It was to become a part of the great views of Paris and to add to the sight line from the Arc de Triomphe. A Danish Architect, named Johan Otto von Spreckelson won a design competition and was awarded the project. His insistence on perfection and his clear vision butted up against the compromises needed in French bureaucracy, and of course in the mid eighties the realities of private interest eroding the sanctity of public projects. Under the weight of circumstance one man goes mad with his ambitions for lasting art and architecture.

The film is based on the 2016 novel Le Grande Arche by Lawrence Cossé.

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