Beautifully produced film with great story, great filming, great actors, but spoilt by very poor ending. Eiffel, the architect of the amazing tower, is beset by huge financial problems, huge construction problems, huge political problems, yet suddenly we cut to the completed tower, with crowds cheering and champagne flowing, and no explanation as to how any of these issues were resolved! Did someone let an amateur editor loose on the movie?
31 Reviews
hmm
djurrepower20 February 2022
First and foremost a overly sappy romantic drama that checks all the usual clichés. Apart from the 3rd act, the eiffel tower construction takes a back seat to this romance story. And this 3rd act is wich stood out the most, for the overall good execution and telling the story of the eiffel tower construction. But overall it's a basic, well made, romance movie with a few hints of originality sprinkled throughout.
6/10: little basic, but not that bad tbh.
6/10: little basic, but not that bad tbh.
The love story ruined it.
sd-forum20 February 2022
This had so much potential and they ruined it. The huge majority of the movie is about a love story and not the creation of the Eiffel Tower.
If you want to make a love story, make a separate love story movie. The creation of the tower and the obstacles and all the other things is so much more interesting. The story should have focused on that.
If you want to make a love story, make a separate love story movie. The creation of the tower and the obstacles and all the other things is so much more interesting. The story should have focused on that.
A mixed bag
oldcarbuff25 October 2021
The acting was good, as were the photography and the sets which suitably evoked the Paris of the 1880s and the tower construction.
I felt it a shortcoming that the film seemed to reduce the massive engineering design work to little more than Eiffel drawing sketches of his planned tower. In those pre-computer times, there would have had to be teams of people doing calculations (probably with slide rules), but while this aspect did not need to be laboured, it would have been good to at least give it some acknowledgement by having Eiffel walk through the office.
As already noted in the comments, the background love story sometimes intrudes on the film narrative. There also seems a jump in the tower construction to finalisation, despite questions having been raised about the ongoing support of the council and funding.
Overall, an enjoyable film, even if not in the 'great' category.
I felt it a shortcoming that the film seemed to reduce the massive engineering design work to little more than Eiffel drawing sketches of his planned tower. In those pre-computer times, there would have had to be teams of people doing calculations (probably with slide rules), but while this aspect did not need to be laboured, it would have been good to at least give it some acknowledgement by having Eiffel walk through the office.
As already noted in the comments, the background love story sometimes intrudes on the film narrative. There also seems a jump in the tower construction to finalisation, despite questions having been raised about the ongoing support of the council and funding.
Overall, an enjoyable film, even if not in the 'great' category.
Pleasant but disappointing, if not a bit boring...
jcdauf17 October 2021
Pleasant for the acting and nice to watch for the budget invested in the sets and everything of this period... for the rest, the love story, put ahead of the architectural project and G. Eiffel's carreer, is disappointing and particularly boring (and too loooong), too bad ...
More interesting about the history of Eiffel Tower assembly than...
li090442620 February 2022
The movie "Eiffel" is more interesting from a historical point of view of the building of the tower than the fictional romance between its builder and Adrienne. But I must admit that the authors managed to create a credible plot by mixing the history of the professional career of Mr. Eiffel with a fictional romance where destiny plays a big role. Overall, this movie turned out to be a typical melancholy drama.
That's why there's no second Eiffel Tower.
noshouse25 September 2023
Director Martin Bourboulon truly captures the passion and enthusiasm of the protagonist, Eiffel, in this biographical film. Tasked with designing a magnificent landmark for the upcoming Paris World Fair, the movie not only authentically portrays his love story with Adrienne but also emphasizes Eiffel's spirit and his rallying cry to the workers. Particularly, in the face of engineering challenges and the essence of problem-solving, it underscores why the world has not seen a second Eiffel Tower. This film beautifully illustrates that when you beautify and perfect something, it becomes truly awe-inspiring because the fusion of aesthetics and craftsmanship sets the bar for greatness.
A missed opportunity
smaricou21 February 2022
The movie is not about Eiffel or the Eiffel tower. It's a movie of a romance between a man who makes sketches of the Eiffel Tower. The constuction for instance is left out...,the romance seems to be the most important.
A dissapointment.
A dissapointment.
How To Get Women To See A Movie About Engineering The Old-Fashioned Way
boblipton5 June 2022
The 100th anniversary of the French Revolution is coming up, and the city of Paris is looking for some big tourist attraction that will restore national pride after the Franco-Prussian War. So Gustave Eiffel (played by Romain Duris) buys the rights to a metal latticework tower and pushes it, along with his prestige from doing the interior of the Statue of Liberty and a lot of advanced bridges over the last couple of decades. To cap it off, he needs some political pull. Fortunately, his old school buddy, Bruno Raffaelli, has some solid connections, so Eiffel looks him up, and they connect. Too bad Raffaelli is married to Emma Mackey, with whom Eiffel had an affair more than twenty years ago and whom he desperately wished to marry before she just vanished. Fortunately, this is a French movie and she has no objection to renewing their affair, of which her husband soon becomes aware.
Oopsie. Fans of old movies will have no trouble recognizing the pushme-pullyou in which some man's biopic is augmented with a tragic love affair, so you can take an essentially masculine film about the problems of engineering and still bring in the lady audience. Many of the issues for building the Eiffel Tower are explained by the Great Man to a skeptical audience he is trying to sell the Tower to. Much is made of the caisson construction method, both in the question-and-answer sessions and when a politician is touring the site and the water starts rising. No mention is made of caisson disease, aka the Bends.
Meanwhile, Miss Mackey is a lovely, doe-eyed young woman who looks good with 19th-Century clothes coming off. Handsome camerawork and intelligent use of CGI to show the Tower under construction add up to a pleasant 108 minutes that will please old-fashioned audiences.
Oopsie. Fans of old movies will have no trouble recognizing the pushme-pullyou in which some man's biopic is augmented with a tragic love affair, so you can take an essentially masculine film about the problems of engineering and still bring in the lady audience. Many of the issues for building the Eiffel Tower are explained by the Great Man to a skeptical audience he is trying to sell the Tower to. Much is made of the caisson construction method, both in the question-and-answer sessions and when a politician is touring the site and the water starts rising. No mention is made of caisson disease, aka the Bends.
Meanwhile, Miss Mackey is a lovely, doe-eyed young woman who looks good with 19th-Century clothes coming off. Handsome camerawork and intelligent use of CGI to show the Tower under construction add up to a pleasant 108 minutes that will please old-fashioned audiences.
Film is more about the engineers love life than really the construction and design of the Eiffel Tower.
movieman6-413-92951029 October 2021
Eiffel is a new romantic biography directed and partly written by Martin Bourboulon, the director of the Papa ou maman film series.
The film is about the engineer Gustave Eiffel (Romain Duris). After helping to design world-famous buildings such as the Statue of Liberty, Eiffel is asked by the French government to help design a new tower. Eifel rejects the government, because he is already busy enough with other projects. When Eiffel sees his old love Adrienne Bourgès (Emma Mackey) during a dinner, his old feelings for her rekindle. To give her these feelings again, he tries to impress her and agrees to build the tower. So this becomes his new passion project.
The project of this biography of how the Eiffel Tower was conceived and built was already around 1997, but never really came up with a good idea or story to make into a film. Several film studios and directors have looked at the project, but have not come up with a film. In the end, the starting producer Vanessa van Zuylen managed to make the film together with director Martin Bourboulon. Together with screenwriter Caroline Bongrand, they continued with the project that led to the final film.
Unfortunately, all the people behind the idea and making of the final film are on the novice side in the film world, which unfortunately shows in the film. They chose to focus the film more on the relationship between Gustave and Adrienne than on the actual design or construction of the Eiffel Tower. The film quickly becomes a cliché romantic film about two old lovers, who struggle to pick up their old relationship again. For people who like romantic movies, the movie can be entertaining, but otherwise just come across as a standard romantic drama. People who would rather have seen the story of the design or construction of the Eiffel Tower should check Wikipedia or an informative YouTube video. The scenes of the building process of the Eiffel Tower are interesting to watch, but for this you have to get through a somewhat trite romantic film.
Romain Duris and Emma Mackey deliver good acting, but don't do anything special with the film either. In flashbacks, the viewer learns how the two met and how their relationship went.
The film is about the engineer Gustave Eiffel (Romain Duris). After helping to design world-famous buildings such as the Statue of Liberty, Eiffel is asked by the French government to help design a new tower. Eifel rejects the government, because he is already busy enough with other projects. When Eiffel sees his old love Adrienne Bourgès (Emma Mackey) during a dinner, his old feelings for her rekindle. To give her these feelings again, he tries to impress her and agrees to build the tower. So this becomes his new passion project.
The project of this biography of how the Eiffel Tower was conceived and built was already around 1997, but never really came up with a good idea or story to make into a film. Several film studios and directors have looked at the project, but have not come up with a film. In the end, the starting producer Vanessa van Zuylen managed to make the film together with director Martin Bourboulon. Together with screenwriter Caroline Bongrand, they continued with the project that led to the final film.
Unfortunately, all the people behind the idea and making of the final film are on the novice side in the film world, which unfortunately shows in the film. They chose to focus the film more on the relationship between Gustave and Adrienne than on the actual design or construction of the Eiffel Tower. The film quickly becomes a cliché romantic film about two old lovers, who struggle to pick up their old relationship again. For people who like romantic movies, the movie can be entertaining, but otherwise just come across as a standard romantic drama. People who would rather have seen the story of the design or construction of the Eiffel Tower should check Wikipedia or an informative YouTube video. The scenes of the building process of the Eiffel Tower are interesting to watch, but for this you have to get through a somewhat trite romantic film.
Romain Duris and Emma Mackey deliver good acting, but don't do anything special with the film either. In flashbacks, the viewer learns how the two met and how their relationship went.
A triumph
jdrennan1321 March 2021
I was lucky enough to see this film in Sydney for the French Film Festival. It captures not only a wonderful engineering feat, but also the thrilling life and times of the Eiffel Tower's creator. A man who was unrelenting in his desire to create a legacy, regardless of the pressure on him.
I can only hope that this film gets a cinematic release that it deserves in Europe and elsewhere.
I can only hope that this film gets a cinematic release that it deserves in Europe and elsewhere.
A beautiful but unbalanced movie
Chinesevil1 March 2022
The scenography and the beautiful era, symbol of the highest human cultural development, are of great quality even if the cast is not at the same level.
The management has put too much emphasis on the romantic story which is misleading from the great event of the Paris International Exposition, the latter being underestimated in this cinematic work.
The management has put too much emphasis on the romantic story which is misleading from the great event of the Paris International Exposition, the latter being underestimated in this cinematic work.
Boring romance
diegocimarosti15 February 2022
I expected to see e biopic about a great engineer and his biggest achievement, the eponymous tower, but instead I had to bear a boring romance cliche movie, where the Eiffel tower is barely seen.
The love story is not very credible and nowhere near Eiffel's real life, it is overwhelming and making up most of the movie timeline, leaving little to none to the tower construction part.
One of the worst movies I have seen, and the facts it was released on tv rather than cinemas and on Valentine's day should have been hints of how just bad this movie is.
The love story is not very credible and nowhere near Eiffel's real life, it is overwhelming and making up most of the movie timeline, leaving little to none to the tower construction part.
One of the worst movies I have seen, and the facts it was released on tv rather than cinemas and on Valentine's day should have been hints of how just bad this movie is.
Gustave Eiffel biography mixing the building of the Eiffel tower with a forbidden love story.
ma-cortes18 April 2023
The government is asking Eiffel to design something spectacular for the 1889 Paris World Fair, but Eiffel simply wants to design the subway. Suddenly, everything changes when Eiffel crosses paths with a mysterious woman from his past. September 1886 - Eiffel receives an award for his groundbreaking design for an iron skeleton to support the Statue of Liberty. Afterward, he considers what his next construction should be, for the 1889 World's Fair in Paris. Two of his employees, Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, propose a 200-meter steel tower, but he turns down their proposal, favoring a Metro system for Paris. In order to get publicity for his enterprise, he contacts an old friend, journalist Antoine de Restac. At a society party, Eiffel meets Restac's wife, Adrienne. They have a strange, instant connection. Transfixed by her, Eiffel suddenly announces he will build a 300-meter steel tower, shocking the other guests. In 1886 - Eiffel presents his plans for the tower to the judges for the competition. At the ceremony to announce the winner, as his name is announced, Eiffel and Adrienne instinctively hold hands. Restac sees this. Eiffel begins construction of the tower. At a garden party, he dances with Adrienne and asks her to meet him at a cheap hotel in the country. She refuses. As construction continues, the workers threaten to strike. Adrienne realizes Restac has become suspicious of her. She searches his things and finds a cartoon belittling Eiffel's tower. Out of jealousy, Restac is using his position as a top journalist to sabotage public opinion against the tower. With uncertainty clouding the whole undertaking, the workers at the tower go on strike. Then , Restac, who married Adrienne and nursed her back to health after her family abandoned her, is aware of her affair with Eiffel.
Eiffel is a 2021 French romantic drama film professionally directed by Martin Bourboulon, from a script written by Caroline Bongrand. Eiffel premiered on 2 March 2021 at the Alliance Française French Film Festival in Australia, and was released in France on 13 October 2021, by Pathé Distribution . The film stars Romain Duris as Gustave Eiffel and follows a fictionalized romance between Eiffel and Adrienne Bourgès, his childhood sweetheart, well played by Emma Mackey, both of them perform some erotic scenes while making love . It also stars Pierre Deladonchamps in a supporting role. Not a biopic so much as a sketchy piece of historical fiction, relying heavily on the love relationship between Gustave Eiffel and Adrienne Bourgès , while telling the various interested parties when he makes his formal bid to build the tower. Ambitious, handsomely appointed but some boring film , resulting to be an unapologetically old-fashioned flick.
The picture contains some biographic depiction about Eiffel (1832-1923) who was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway network, most famously the Garabit Viaduct. He is best known for the world-famous Eiffel Tower, designed by his company and built for the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris, and his contribution to building the Statue of Liberty in New York. After his retirement from engineering, Eiffel focused on research into meteorology and aerodynamics, making significant contributions in both fields. . The Eiffel tower design was exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884, and on 30 March 1885 Eiffel read a paper on the project to the Société des Ingénieurs Civils. After discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying that the tower would symbolise. . The design was exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884, and on 30 March 1885 Eiffel read a paper on the project to the Société des Ingénieurs Civils. After discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying that the tower would symbolise "not only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be built as an expression of France's gratitude."Little happened until the beginning of 1886, but with the re-election of Jules Grévy as president and his appointment of Edouard Lockroy as Minister for Trade decisions began to be made. A budget for the Exposition was passed and on 1 May Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition which was being held for a centerpiece for the exposition, which effectively made the choice of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion: all entries had to include a study for a 300 m (980 ft) four-sided metal tower on the Champ de Mars. On 12 May a commission was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals and on 12 June it presented its decision, which was that only Eiffel's proposal met their requirements. After some debate about the exact site for the tower, a contract was signed on 8 January 1887. This was signed by Eiffel acting in his own capacity rather than as the representative of his company, and granted him one and a half million francs toward the construction costs. This was less than a quarter of the estimated cost of six and a half million francs. Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation during the exhibition and for the following twenty years. Eiffel later established a separate company to manage the tower. The tower had been a subject of some controversy, attracting criticism both from those who did not believe it feasible and from those who objected on artistic grounds. Just as work began at the Champ de Mars, the "Committee of Three Hundred" was formed, led by Charles Garnier and including some of the most important figures of the French arts establishment, including Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet: a petition was sent to Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand, the Minister of Works, and was published by Le Temps."To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream". Work on the foundations started on 28 January 1887. Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, each leg resting on four 2 m concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg but the other two, being closer to the river Seine were more complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m long and 6 m in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m thick. Each of these slabs supported a limestone block, each with an inclined top to bear the supporting shoe for the ironwork. Although no more than 250 men were employed on the site, a prodigious amount of exacting preparatory work was entailed: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detail drawings of the 18,038 different parts needed. The task of drawing the components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of precision required: the positions of rivet holes were specified to within 0.1 mm and angles worked out to one second of arc. The components, some already riveted together into sub-assemblies, were first bolted together, the bolts being replaced by rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit it was sent back to the factory for alteration. The four legs, each at an angle of 54° to the ground, were initially constructed as cantilevers, relying on the anchoring bolts in the masonry foundation blocks.
Eiffel is a 2021 French romantic drama film professionally directed by Martin Bourboulon, from a script written by Caroline Bongrand. Eiffel premiered on 2 March 2021 at the Alliance Française French Film Festival in Australia, and was released in France on 13 October 2021, by Pathé Distribution . The film stars Romain Duris as Gustave Eiffel and follows a fictionalized romance between Eiffel and Adrienne Bourgès, his childhood sweetheart, well played by Emma Mackey, both of them perform some erotic scenes while making love . It also stars Pierre Deladonchamps in a supporting role. Not a biopic so much as a sketchy piece of historical fiction, relying heavily on the love relationship between Gustave Eiffel and Adrienne Bourgès , while telling the various interested parties when he makes his formal bid to build the tower. Ambitious, handsomely appointed but some boring film , resulting to be an unapologetically old-fashioned flick.
The picture contains some biographic depiction about Eiffel (1832-1923) who was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway network, most famously the Garabit Viaduct. He is best known for the world-famous Eiffel Tower, designed by his company and built for the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris, and his contribution to building the Statue of Liberty in New York. After his retirement from engineering, Eiffel focused on research into meteorology and aerodynamics, making significant contributions in both fields. . The Eiffel tower design was exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884, and on 30 March 1885 Eiffel read a paper on the project to the Société des Ingénieurs Civils. After discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying that the tower would symbolise. . The design was exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884, and on 30 March 1885 Eiffel read a paper on the project to the Société des Ingénieurs Civils. After discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying that the tower would symbolise "not only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be built as an expression of France's gratitude."Little happened until the beginning of 1886, but with the re-election of Jules Grévy as president and his appointment of Edouard Lockroy as Minister for Trade decisions began to be made. A budget for the Exposition was passed and on 1 May Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition which was being held for a centerpiece for the exposition, which effectively made the choice of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion: all entries had to include a study for a 300 m (980 ft) four-sided metal tower on the Champ de Mars. On 12 May a commission was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals and on 12 June it presented its decision, which was that only Eiffel's proposal met their requirements. After some debate about the exact site for the tower, a contract was signed on 8 January 1887. This was signed by Eiffel acting in his own capacity rather than as the representative of his company, and granted him one and a half million francs toward the construction costs. This was less than a quarter of the estimated cost of six and a half million francs. Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation during the exhibition and for the following twenty years. Eiffel later established a separate company to manage the tower. The tower had been a subject of some controversy, attracting criticism both from those who did not believe it feasible and from those who objected on artistic grounds. Just as work began at the Champ de Mars, the "Committee of Three Hundred" was formed, led by Charles Garnier and including some of the most important figures of the French arts establishment, including Adolphe Bouguereau, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet: a petition was sent to Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand, the Minister of Works, and was published by Le Temps."To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream". Work on the foundations started on 28 January 1887. Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, each leg resting on four 2 m concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg but the other two, being closer to the river Seine were more complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m long and 6 m in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m thick. Each of these slabs supported a limestone block, each with an inclined top to bear the supporting shoe for the ironwork. Although no more than 250 men were employed on the site, a prodigious amount of exacting preparatory work was entailed: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detail drawings of the 18,038 different parts needed. The task of drawing the components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of precision required: the positions of rivet holes were specified to within 0.1 mm and angles worked out to one second of arc. The components, some already riveted together into sub-assemblies, were first bolted together, the bolts being replaced by rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit it was sent back to the factory for alteration. The four legs, each at an angle of 54° to the ground, were initially constructed as cantilevers, relying on the anchoring bolts in the masonry foundation blocks.
Eiffel's love storey. who also built the tower
rrvidwans-4383919 September 2023
Main theme is the passion and love storey of two lovers , one of who also builts the Eiffel tower. Construction of tower is a side storey in movie but main storey is about ups, downs in their love storey. So, then becomes a storey which has been seen in many many films , only difference is, here the lover is famous Eiffel tower builder, who also side by side builds that tower in this film. If you watch this film for drama, skill, storey, engineering, documentation of construction of Eiffel tower, you will be disappointed and if you see it as a love storey, then also you will be disappointed. Acting is good, direction is split between obvious two parts, none of which is handled with great expertise but as a routing, insipid drama only.
a saggy memorabilia...
ops-5253516 February 2022
Of a biographical romantic historical drama, when the brightheads where few, but their ideas mastodontic. Its an off the mark story about the castiron king kong gustave eiffel and the miracoulous iron tower carrying his surname, still standing tall in the midst of the meteroplic city of paris, namely the eiffel tower...
its just that... it seems like the producers could not decide whether making it a '' how we built the tower'' film, or making a melodramatic threesome lovedrama, so the depth aint deep here nor there, a saggy soup of costumedrama, and some cloned cgis at low cost to illustrate the construction site, well it is not good enough in my mind, and should they make a biopic over isambard kingdom brunel, the great british mastodont maker of all times, then it would be a complete coffin turnaround in the cul de sac.
Had they cathegorized this as a tv-movie, then the standard wouldve been sat , but as a biopic cinema movie of the grand master of wrought iron artifacts its dull and slow, so just a small recommend from the history freaked grumpy old man.
its just that... it seems like the producers could not decide whether making it a '' how we built the tower'' film, or making a melodramatic threesome lovedrama, so the depth aint deep here nor there, a saggy soup of costumedrama, and some cloned cgis at low cost to illustrate the construction site, well it is not good enough in my mind, and should they make a biopic over isambard kingdom brunel, the great british mastodont maker of all times, then it would be a complete coffin turnaround in the cul de sac.
Had they cathegorized this as a tv-movie, then the standard wouldve been sat , but as a biopic cinema movie of the grand master of wrought iron artifacts its dull and slow, so just a small recommend from the history freaked grumpy old man.
The title of the film is "Eiffel"...Not "The Eiffel Tower"
marc889 June 2022
Eiffel is the last name of the builder...It is about the man who BUILT the tower and not about the structure!! Why people are judging it on not being about the building of the tower are missing the point of the film. Looking at it in from that perception I found it a very engrossing film.
Why is she like 25 and he's pushing 50
vjohn-6242712 October 2021
There are many little things in this movie, which is supposed to be a true story, that threw me off. All those little things piled up at the end making the over all experience odd. Could have been an interesting biopic but felt like it got in its own way.
A shallow movie focusing on a dull and irrelevant love story
better_world_inc8 April 2022
A shallow movie which main focus is set on a dull love story with too long and irrelevant scenes between the lovers instead of telling us about all the challenges met by Eiffel, his background, childhood, social origins, his education, his aspirations and dreams, his past architectural realisations only furtively mentioned - bridges and the structure of the statue of Liberty among others, the urban context of Paris, a bit of history about Paris, the district choice, the sociology, the technological advances that made it possible... So many interesting topics completely overseen to focus on the irrelevant melodrama. Was it the marketing studies that convinced the producers to make it 60% a love story and oversimplify all about the process, instead of making an architectural and historical epic film? I am french and I am disappointed. Another missed opportunity to make a great film.
Don't bother
emrys-948-23895814 September 2022
It's not about the building the Eiffel tower, a major engineering achievement in its day. It's mainly a day-time soap about the un-interesting love life of Mr. Eiffel. Even his reasonably interesting daughter barely gets a look in, the Eiffel tower under construction is mainly confined to back-drop, to provide variety from the over-long close-ups of faces with 'emoshunal' expressions.
What a wasted opportunity. Just tragic. The actual mechanics of the team that got this done, which would have been interesting, is un-touched. How they dealt with problems that occurred and differences of view during construction ... nothing.
What a wasted opportunity. Just tragic. The actual mechanics of the team that got this done, which would have been interesting, is un-touched. How they dealt with problems that occurred and differences of view during construction ... nothing.
Not as bad as the reviews given here
rgb-0317815 June 2022
I can't imagine if you leave out a parallel drama - Eiffel's love story - what would the ratings have been? If Titanic got a 7.9 and it's about a love story on a sinking ship, what's with all the 1's?
I found that the cinematography was good, acting believable, and the tower's history interesting.
So I'll give it an 8.
I found that the cinematography was good, acting believable, and the tower's history interesting.
So I'll give it an 8.
Half-completed tower, half-completed film?
Lomax34318 August 2022
Most of this film is pretty good, merging the two strands of the building of possibly the world's most famous monument, with the tangled love-life of the chief engineer (whether the latter has any basis in fact, I have no idea, but that doesn't affect how I rate the film).
The former strand is the more interesting; there's a wonderful scene centring around the attachment of the first cross-piece, which give the audience vertigo.
But.
There are many loose ends not tied up. Eiffel loses most of his financial backers, for example, and it's never quite explained how he manages to carry on anyway. The tide of popular opinion is against the tower in its early stages, and it's never explained how the public is won round.
Then there's the ending. We go from a crisis meeting at a point when the tower has yet to reach its second level - only to see the tower fully completed two scenes later. At which the film just ends.
A promising subject badly handled.
The former strand is the more interesting; there's a wonderful scene centring around the attachment of the first cross-piece, which give the audience vertigo.
But.
There are many loose ends not tied up. Eiffel loses most of his financial backers, for example, and it's never quite explained how he manages to carry on anyway. The tide of popular opinion is against the tower in its early stages, and it's never explained how the public is won round.
Then there's the ending. We go from a crisis meeting at a point when the tower has yet to reach its second level - only to see the tower fully completed two scenes later. At which the film just ends.
A promising subject badly handled.
Unwatchable..
danilomello205 August 2022
Oh Dear, What A Shame!
martimusross12 November 2023
Eiffel
Clearly it was a challenging project turning Gustave Eiffel's life into a movie, like most of these great men their lives consisted of work, work and more work. However the script writers made some very poor decisions, instead of creating a faithful biopic, including his family tragedy, 5 small children and no mother, burgeoning work projects and financial worries, they chose to insert a fabricated unrequited romantic interlude.
The scale of the fabrication subsumed the movie and overshadowed the Eiffel Tower and even the Statue of Liberty, what was worse this romantic interlude had the passion of an empty baked bean can and was really quite sordid and gratuitous. Had I been a descendant of Mister Eiffel I would considering defamation of character in the courts.
This was a very big budget production and could have been great, instead it was pedestrian. I'm giving this a 5 outta 10, meaning the tower was the star not the man.
Clearly it was a challenging project turning Gustave Eiffel's life into a movie, like most of these great men their lives consisted of work, work and more work. However the script writers made some very poor decisions, instead of creating a faithful biopic, including his family tragedy, 5 small children and no mother, burgeoning work projects and financial worries, they chose to insert a fabricated unrequited romantic interlude.
The scale of the fabrication subsumed the movie and overshadowed the Eiffel Tower and even the Statue of Liberty, what was worse this romantic interlude had the passion of an empty baked bean can and was really quite sordid and gratuitous. Had I been a descendant of Mister Eiffel I would considering defamation of character in the courts.
This was a very big budget production and could have been great, instead it was pedestrian. I'm giving this a 5 outta 10, meaning the tower was the star not the man.
ABSOLUTELY MAGNIFICENT
deborahmartiniii23 February 2022
This is one of the best movies I've ever seen, I fell in love with Emma Mackey's performance, she's majestic in this role, and the story is beautifully written. The chemistry between the two protagonists is extremely palpable and the love scenes are intense; this movie made me feel a rollercoaster of emotions and I cried in the end. I definitely recommend it for helplessly romantic hearts.
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