“パリのシンボルに隠された、美しくも切ない恋。”
アメリカに贈られた自由の女神像の制作に協力した、ギュスターヴ・エッフェル。1889年に開催されるパリ万国博覧会を数年後に控え、シンボルモニュメントの制作コンクールが催されるが彼は無関心だった。ところが、あるパーティーで友人の妻アドリエンヌから「ぜひ見てみたい。野心作を」と言われて奮起。その席上で「パリの真ん中に300メートルの塔を全て金属で造る」と宣言する。その後もエッフェルが反対運動や資金不足にめげずにまい進する理由には、アドリエンヌとの秘めた過去が大きく関わっていた。
AIが作品の魅力を深く読み解いています
製作費: $26,000,000 (39億円)
興行収入: $13,000,000 (20億円)
推定収支: $-13,000,000 (-20億円)
※製作費・興行収入はTMDBのデータを参照しています。収支は(興行収入 - 製作費)で算出したFindKey独自の推定値であり、広告宣伝費や諸経費は含まれません (1ドル=150円換算)。
脚本: Martin Bourboulon / Martin Brossollet / Nathalie Carter
音楽: アレクサンドル・デスプラ
制作: Marie de Cenival / Geneviève Lemal / Martin Moszkowicz
撮影監督: Matias Boucard
制作会社: Pathé / VVZ Production / Constantin Film / SCOPE Pictures / M6 Films / M6
Romain Duris turns in a creditable enough performance but otherwise this is a rather lacklustre mix of romance and engineering that veers way too much to the former than the latter. The narrative tries to run the twin threads of his younger years - where he builds a bridge and falls in love with "Adrienne" (Emma Mackey) with a contemporary one that sees him bidding in a competition to design the Parisian entry for the 1889 World Fair. His plan to build a 300m tower wins - it beat the Mètro - but pretty quickly he faces industrial issues, strikes, banking confidence colly-wobbles and to add to his complications, he re-alights on "Adrienne", by now married to the influential "Antoine" (Pierre Deladonchamps). There are a few scenes - especially when they are laying the foundations to the tower and when aligning the metal works, when the engineering elements impress and we get some clue as to his genius. The use of sand, water and sheer brute force to ensure millimetre accuracy is sometimes quite tensely portrayed here. Unfortunately, though, for the most part it's a rather uninspiring melodrama about his turbulent relationship and though it does offer an interesting explanation as to why the tower might look like the letter "A", it all just sinks into a rather mediocre sediment of mush. The production looks good, the costumes and settings are well presented, but the rest of it is unremarkable and I found myself wondering why I thought he wasn't Maximillian Schell and she wasn't Margot Robbie. One for the telly, I'd say.
