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The Great Arch

Play trailer Poster for The Great Arch 2025 1h 45m Drama Biography Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 14 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Ratings
1983. French President François Mitterrand decides to launch an international architectural competition for the flagship project of his mandate: the Great Arch of La Défense, aligned with the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe. Against all odds, Otto von Spreckelsen, a Danish architect, wins the competition. Overnight, this 53-year-old man, unknown in France, arrives in Paris where he is propelled at the helm of this pharaonic project. While the architect intends to build the Great Arch exactly as he envisioned, his ideas quickly clash with realistic constraints and the vicissitudes of politics.

Critics Reviews

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David Jenkins Little White Lies 2d
3/5
It’s a solid, well-made culture-clash drama that does manage to provide a little more insight and emotion than would come from scanning von Spreckelsen’s Wiki bio. Go to Full Review Phil Hoad Guardian 5d
3/5
The crushingly downbeat ending is intriguing -- a sobering exposé of the supposed Gallic cult of the artist. Go to Full Review Brian Tallerico RogerEbert.com May 17
A dramatic film about architecture is an inherently risky proposition and “The Great Arch” gets lost in the details that Von Spreckelsen considered so important. Go to Full Review Luis Martínez El Mundo (Spain) 1d
3/5
Stéphane Demoustier crafts an architecturally brilliant film. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Carlos Boyero El Pais (Spain) 1d
...I have no doubt that this film would spark endless attention and discussion if it were shown in architecture schools, among professionals in that field or art. But as a moviegoer, I find it incredibly boring. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Desirée De Fez Fotogramas 4d
3/5
But where 'The Architect' truly shines is in the decisions Demoustier makes—in the choice of locations, the planning, and the staging—to formally (and architecturally) reinforce the film's ideas. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Cast & Crew

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Stéphane Demoustier

Director

Claes Bang

Johan Otto von Spreckelsen

Michel Fau

François Mitterrand

Sidse Babett Knudsen

Liv von Spreckelsen

Xavier Dolan

Jean-Louis Subilon

Swann Arlaud

Paul Andreu
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The Great Arch

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Movie Info

Synopsis 1983. French President François Mitterrand decides to launch an international architectural competition for the flagship project of his mandate: the Great Arch of La Défense, aligned with the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe. Against all odds, Otto von Spreckelsen, a Danish architect, wins the competition. Overnight, this 53-year-old man, unknown in France, arrives in Paris where he is propelled at the helm of this pharaonic project. While the architect intends to build the Great Arch exactly as he envisioned, his ideas quickly clash with realistic constraints and the vicissitudes of politics.
Director
Stéphane Demoustier
Producer
Muriel Meynard
Screenwriter
Stéphane Demoustier
Production Co
Agat Films, Ex Nihilo, Zentropa Entertainments
Genre
Drama, Biography
Original Language
French
Runtime
1h 45m