Diplomatie (play)
Diplomatie is a play by French writer that tells the story of a fictional meeting that could have taken place in the early hours of August 25, 1944, between Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling and German general Dietrich von Choltitz, at the in Paris.
The play has had productions in France, Switzerland, and Australia. It was also adapted into a film of the same name, which premiered at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival in 2014. Gély co-wrote the screenplay with director Volker Schlöndorff.
Plot
Fresh off a decisive defeat at the Battle of Normandy, the Nazis are facing imminent defeat. Dietrich von Choltitz, the German general and governor of occupied Paris, is ordered by Adolf Hitler to destroy the city before it can be liberated. The situation is rooted in historical reality, as Hitler told von Cholitz by telegram, "Paris must not fall into the hands of the enemy except as a field of ruins."Before dawn on August 25, 1944, Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling arranges a meeting in von Cholitz's suite at the in Paris to dissuade him from following Hitler's order. The play follows the imagined cat-and-mouse conversation between the two men, using a single set and consisting almost entirely of dialogue.