The Monuments Men featured a group of middle-aged men saving culture for mankind, and Diplomacie is about two middle-aged men saving Paris from destruction. The difference is that Diplomacie is a French/German co-production and is the film of the play, so has a more serious script.

The director, Volker Schlöndorff, took the film to the Berlin Film Festival. He said: “It’s exactly what the title says. It’s about a diplomat’s huge efforts to bring a general to his knees. The movie relies heavily on the film-making and the acting. Niels Arestrup and André Dussollier are both wonderful actors making it like watching a tense boxing match.”

Of course, the way the movie ends is never in doubt: the Nazis don’t blow Paris to smithereens as they withdraw from the city. But the arguments put forward by the two characters are a fascinating study of the psychology of war and peace.