Notre-Dame on Fire (2022) User Reviews

A National Shame

[gcarpiceci · 7/10 · 23 March 2022]

Notre Dame Brûle is a crying indictment to the entire system (or lack thereof) that was supposed to protect and preserve from the risk of fire one of the most ancient and beautiful monuments of the world.

How is it possible that the several tons of very old wood that made the roof of the cathedral were not equipped with an extensive state of the art anti fire system? Had any of the cathedral's curators ever took a stroll across what was called "the forest"? Had the idea of what a sparkle could do in such environment ever crossed their mind?

How is it possible that none of the curators ever felt the need to design and put in place a pre-defined plan of intervention that would allow an instantaneous deployment of the fire brigades in case of fire emergency?

How is it possible that no one ever thought it might be a good idea to invest into equipping the cathedral with a modern, reliable, pervasive fire alarm system?

How is it possible that so many of the cathedral's infrastructures, like the pipes supposed to carry the water to the roof, were completely decrepit and unusable?

All the polemics surrounding the crisis management after the fire were simply sterile: one hour after the roof caught fire, the cathedral was doomed, the fire was out of control. All was decided in those 60 minutes when all the outdated, failing systems in place did nothing to trigger a prompt response.

This is no hindsight: the hypothesis of a fire was (should have been) a very real one; but none of those in charge acted upon it.

If Notre Dame is still standing, despite the ineptness of its curators, it is thanks to the superior bravery of a bunch of fire brigades officers who put their lives at risk to go in and extinguish the fire in the left tower.

This incident however will remain a forever stain on France's credibility in its ability to protect its artistic patrimony.

What is this film supposed to be?

[lonker · 6/10 · 10 September 2022]

On the one hand, it's very interesting how this film is almost devoid of a personal history or development of the characters. Also there is are no real main roles at all. On the other hand, it's what's missing to make it entertaining. So we see a lot of rescue workers who don't really know what to do, a city population that ignores and hinders the rescue workers and an 800 years old cathedral that almost burns down completely.

Not so exciting, because apart from the tragedy of the destruction, nothing special happens. No special event shown or a known reason is told for this catastrophy that answers our only question: why this happened? ... like in millions of other fires where old buildings simply start burning for seemingly no reason. But is this enough for a entertaining flick? I think not. Not if it's not artfully staged and it isn't. Sometimes you even think you're watching a B-movie.

A real documentary would have been more exciting than an entertainment film without a real story that doesn't know what it's supposed to be.

A French wannabe disaster movie

[ionutiosub · 5/10 · 11 January 2024]

Based on the real 2019 Notre-Dame de Paris fire. A kind of Louis de Funes movie, but with firefighters, not gendarmes. Not very accurate, despite using some archive footage from the real events.

It shows the French as incompetent and out-of-reality people, lacking all interests about doing things properly. It intended to show the Paris Fire Brigade in a good light, as working hard heroes, but in fact it portrait them as slackers, a "fake it till you make it" command, more interested in being ultra religious, braving in a humoristic and ridiculous way.

A film comparable at most with hollywoodian disaster movies.

Another GUERRE DU FEU for Jean-Jacques Annaud

[searchanddestroy-1 · 16 January 2023]

French TOWERING INFERNO, but nearly fifty years later and involving Notre Dame instead of a gigantic tower building. As far as I know, that's the only and first French disaster film ever made; but maybe I am wrong. I have seen only forty thousand films in my life. It is truly a masterpiece, Jean Jacques Annaud lost nothing of his talent, his awesome skills, forty years after LA GUERRE DU FEU. It's fire war - GUERRE DU FEU - again.... It's as awesome as his first epic, back in 1981, which was about another topic of course. It is great, accurate, providing thousands of details about this disaster. Everything you wished to know about it, you have here. Except maybe the real reasons of the fire. Accidental? Maybe. Maybe. But never forget that president Macron was in a bad position in April 2019, bad political position, because of the Yellow Jackets "revolution" that spread all over France. And this tragedy over Notre Dame was the best decoy for him, to "help" people forgetting for a long while the Yellow Jackets wrath. That's my own opinion. An accident? Maybe. Maybe.

I love the Director, but was specting much more

[urkus · 6/10 · 27 October 2022]

Jean Jaques Qnnaud is a great filmaker witch brought us in the eightees three master pieces: the bear, the quest for fire and the name of the rose.

Here he had a great opportunity to make a new and a different film. Based in a true story. But he missed the opportunity, cause he is not Soderbergh or Paul Greengrass. The way of telling the story, mixing images taken from movile phones, medias and cameras of the tourists, is from my point of view a wrong way to tell the story. The documentary way of telling it if we mix the fiction with real images must be done in a way that audience doesn't realise it. But you start seen some characters, there is none on the film because You start loosing them with the archive footage. You don't know what you are watching, and you loose the interest when you see Macrons face.

I don't undertand the point of the movie, isit a documentary!? Is it a drama!? A biopic!? Or a mixed of real images with archive footage, filmed scenes in a set with no sense at all.

6 stars out of 10, because of it is a bit entertining.

It was eight centuries old

[thor2029 · 8/10 · 27 July 2022]

Between the report and the reconstruction, the movie by Jean-Jacques Annaud is excellent. The only extra-production thing that makes a stain is that we collect hundreds of millions to rebuild what has been destroyed and we can't find a hundred cents to give to the unfortunate. A crazy world.

Amateur and slow (but beautiful images)

[yannick-burky · 3/10 · 15 August 2022]

Apart from the very well done fire reenactments, I feel like I've been watching a slow amateur film with commercials for the Paris fire department. It's so poorly acted that I thought it was replayed by the firefighters themselves before I realized it wasn't.

Documentary style

[valadas · 8/10 · 2 May 2022]

And real and very good. This movie relates the fire in the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris in April 2019. And does it with an extremely good editing, articulating and combining real actual scenes (even President Macron appears once) with fiction ones in such a realist sequence that we when watchibg it, feel like if we were there present side by side with intervenients. It is to follow the work of firemen and other responsible persons doing evrything possible to extinguish the fire. A fascinating and surprising movie.

Excellent documentary movie, with hidden deeper meaning

[khemass · 9/10 · 5 February 2024]

This film took me by surprise. I heard about the fire at Notre Dame that year but I didn't read a lot of details about it. The film pulled me into the event of that day and, honestly, I was so thrilled and scared and was so impressed at the same time. It's incredible how a documentary can be so exciting.

The beginning might look a little slow but I appreciate how it gives background about the church and let us see how popular it is among tourists. That small dramatic moment of the little girl trying so hard to donate her money and made a prayer in Notre Dame at the very last moment became a theme of faith and give the film a wonderful conclusion at the ending.

I think the film just honestly follow the situation and let us see points of view from different directions. I was routing for the firemen team because the movie shows clearly that they are in dangerous situation, working inside the old Cathedral. I also felt sympathy for the man who holds the key to the most important treasure. He tried so hard, tried his very best to get there, and the scene that they saved Jesus crown of thorns at the very last moment was such a thrill.

The part where doors seem to close by themselves and lock the firemen in, together with flashes of demonic rock decorations seem to point out that there are evil power involved in this fire. But at the ending, the whole city praying and singing hymns show us that at last God triumphed. Maybe this is His will after all, to get the people of Paris praying together.

Overall, it is a very outstanding documentary, beautifully-told, with a hidden beautiful theme of faith. Hat-off to the director. Thank you so much for producing it.