The fictionalized story of a real-life architecture teacher from Copenhagen who surprised the world when he won a French open-call competition to build Paris' next landmark wonder.
1983. French President 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 to 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. [104 min; drama; English, French, and Dutch with English subtitles]
"Claes Bang captivates as the unknown Danish architect battling French bureaucrats to build his monumental work." — Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter
"A drama...engaged by its period detail and ode to admittedly brilliant architecture." — RogerEbert.com
"What is worse? Abandoning one’s life project or compromising with less than optimal solutions? The Great Arch asks such personal questions in an architectural way." — Lucy Viegen, The Film Verdict
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