# The Great Arch > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Great_Arch > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Great_Arch.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Arch > Source revision: 1349306916 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox film | name = The Great Arch | native_name = {{infobox name module|fr|L'Inconnu de la Grande Arche}} | image = L'Inconnu de la Grande Arche.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = [Stéphane Demoustier](/source/St%C3%A9phane_Demoustier) | producer = Muriel Meynard | writer = Stéphane Demoustier | based_on = ''La Grande Arche'' by [Laurence Cossé](/source/Laurence_Coss%C3%A9) | starring = [Claes Bang](/source/Claes_Bang)
[Sidse Babett Knudsen](/source/Sidse_Babett_Knudsen)
[Xavier Dolan](/source/Xavier_Dolan)
[Swann Arlaud](/source/Swann_Arlaud)
[Michel Fau](/source/Michel_Fau) | music = Olivier Marguerit | cinematography = [David Chambille](/source/David_Chambille) | editing = Damien Maestraggi | studio = Ex Nihilo
Zentropa Entertainment | distributor = [Le Pacte](/source/Le_Pacte) | runtime = 108 minutes{{Cite web |date=19 January 2026 |title=''The Great Arch'' [PG] |url=https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/great-arch |access-date=20 January 2026 |website=[Australian Classification Board](/source/Australian_Classification_Board)}} | released = {{film date|2025|5|16|[Cannes](/source/2025_Cannes_Film_Festival)|2025|11|5|France|df=y}} | country = France | language = French | budget = }} '''''The Great Arch''''' ({{langx|fr|L'Inconnu de la Grande Arche}}) is a 2025 French [biographical drama film](/source/biographical_drama_film) written and directed by [Stéphane Demoustier](/source/St%C3%A9phane_Demoustier), based on [Laurence Cossé](/source/Laurence_Coss%C3%A9)'s 2016 novel ''La Grande Arche''.Jean-Baptiste Morain, [https://www.lesinrocks.com/cinema/cannes-2025-linconnu-de-la-grande-arche-le-portrait-tendre-dun-homme-obstine-665259-17-05-2025/ "'L'Inconnu de la Grande Arche' : le portrait tendre d'un homme obstiné"]. ''[Les Inrockuptibles](/source/Les_Inrockuptibles)'', 17 May 2025.Matthew Joseph Jenner, [https://icsfilm.org/festivals/cannes/2025-cannes/cannes-2025-review-linconnu-de-la-grande-arche-stephane-demoustier/ "Cannes 2025 review: L'inconnu de la Grande Arche (Stéphane Demoustier)"]. ''International Cinephile Society'', 18 May 2025. It stars [Claes Bang](/source/Claes_Bang) as [Johan Otto von Spreckelsen](/source/Johan_Otto_von_Spreckelsen), the Danish architect who won the 1983 competition for the design of the [Grande Arche](/source/Grande_Arche) in Paris despite being virtually unknown.Jordan Mintzer, [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-great-arch-review-claes-bang-stephane-demoustier-1236215860/ "'The Great Arch' Review: Claes Bang Captivates as an Unknown Danish Architect Battling French Bureaucrats to Build His Monumental Work"]. ''[The Hollywood Reporter](/source/The_Hollywood_Reporter)'', 16 May 2025. The cast also includes [Sidse Babett Knudsen](/source/Sidse_Babett_Knudsen), [Xavier Dolan](/source/Xavier_Dolan), [Swann Arlaud](/source/Swann_Arlaud) and [Michel Fau](/source/Michel_Fau).{{Cite web |date=2025-06-09 |title=Cannes 2025 Review: Biopic THE GREAT ARCH, Measured Study of Vision and Compromise |url=https://screenanarchy.com/2025/06/cannes-2025-review-the-great-arch.html |access-date=2025-12-14 |website=ScreenAnarchy}} ''The Great Arch'' had its world premiere at the [Un Certain Regard](/source/Un_Certain_Regard) section of the [2025 Cannes Film Festival](/source/2025_Cannes_Film_Festival) on 16 May. It was theatrically released in France on 5 November by [Le Pacte](/source/Le_Pacte). == Cast == * [Claes Bang](/source/Claes_Bang) as [Johan Otto von Spreckelsen](/source/Johan_Otto_von_Spreckelsen) * [Sidse Babett Knudsen](/source/Sidse_Babett_Knudsen) as von Spreckelsen's wife Liv * [Xavier Dolan](/source/Xavier_Dolan) as Jean-Louis Subilon * [Swann Arlaud](/source/Swann_Arlaud) as [Paul Andreu](/source/Paul_Andreu) * [Michel Fau](/source/Michel_Fau) as [François Mitterrand](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois_Mitterrand) ==Production== Bang was cast in the lead role despite not speaking French, as von Spreckelsen himself was not a French speaker, and carefully rehearsed the script to ensure that he would be able to perform it.Melanie Goodfellow, [https://deadline.com/2025/05/claes-bang-interview-the-great-arch-cannes-festival-1236394325/ "Claes Bang On Stéphane Demoustier's French-Language Cannes Film 'The Great Arch': 'The Really Weird Thing Is I Don't Speak A Word Of French.'"]. ''[Deadline Hollywood](/source/Deadline_Hollywood)'', 17 May 2025. ==Distribution== The film premiered in the [Un Certain Regard](/source/Un_Certain_Regard) stream at the [2025 Cannes Film Festival](/source/2025_Cannes_Film_Festival).Samuel Douhaire, [https://www.telerama.fr/cinema/cannes-2025-l-inconnu-de-la-grande-arche-une-reconstitution-palpitante-au-casting-impeccable-7025672.php "Cannes 2025 : "L'Inconnu de la Grande Arche", une reconstitution palpitante au casting impeccable"]. ''[Télérama](/source/T%C3%A9l%C3%A9rama)'', 16 May 2025. It is slated for commercial release in France in November 2025.[https://www.defense-92.fr/cinema/linconnu-de-la-grande-arche-decouvrez-la-bande-annonce-du-film-qui-sortira-en-novembre-84499 "L'inconnu de la Grande Arche : découvrez la bande-annonce du film qui sortira en novembre"]. ''Défense 92'', 31 July 2025. ==Critical response== Jordan Mintzer of ''[The Hollywood Reporter](/source/The_Hollywood_Reporter)'' wrote that "Demoustier's depiction of the long — it took seven years from start to finish — and sordid affair behind The Great Arch's construction is a tale of lost illusions, with von Spreckelsen as a misguided genius who won the architectural lottery and wound up paying a hefty price for it. There are some clever bits of humor throughout the movie, especially involving all the shenanigans of the French, but the Dane's story ends on a decidedly dark note." For ''Cineuropa'', Fabien Lemercier wrote that "Skilfully navigating the paradoxical dimension of his subject, tracing the path of an individual with a very human radicalism (particularly attached to hand-drawing) in the midst of a number of fairly specific professional twists and turns (regularity of joints, fixing points, foundations, support, glued glass, nitrate staining of Carrara marble, experiments, search for solutions, etc.), Stéphane Demoustier succeeds in expressing the most sensitive nuances for an uninformed audience using a patina of comedy that does not spare the French presidential royalty and its procession of senior civil servants. It's a "marriage of the dull and the shiny" that gives the film its seductive balance, its zest and its charm."Fabien Lemercier, [https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/477546/ "Review: The Great Arch"]. ''Cineuropa'', 16 May 2025. ==Accolades== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" ! scope="col" | Award ! scope="col" | Date of ceremony ! scope="col" | Category ! scope="col" | Recipient(s) ! scope="col" | Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Ref heading}} |- ! scope="row" | [Cannes Film Festival](/source/Cannes_Film_Festival) | [16 May 2025](/source/2025_Cannes_Film_Festival) | [Un Certain Regard](/source/Un_Certain_Regard) | [Stéphane Demoustier](/source/St%C3%A9phane_Demoustier) | {{Nominated}} | |- ! scope="row" rowspan="4"| [Lumière Awards](/source/Lumi%C3%A8re_Awards) | rowspan="4" | [18 January 2026](/source/31st_Lumi%C3%A8re_Awards) | [Best Film](/source/Lumi%C3%A8re_Award_for_Best_Film) | ''The Great Arch'' | {{nom}} | align="center" rowspan="4"| {{Cite web |last=Goodfellow |first=Melanie |date=2025-12-12 |title=Lumière Awards: François Ozon’s ‘The Stranger’ Leads Nominations; Jodie Foster Up For Best Actress & Natalie Portman Animation Also In Running |url=https://deadline.com/2025/12/lumiere-awards-francois-ozon-the-stranger-nominations-1236646794/ |access-date=2025-12-12 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}} |- | [Best Director](/source/Lumi%C3%A8re_Award_for_Best_Director) | Stéphane Demoustier | {{nom}} |- | [Best Actor](/source/Lumi%C3%A8re_Award_for_Best_Actor) | [Claes Bang](/source/Claes_Bang) | {{nom}} |- | [Best Screenplay](/source/Lumi%C3%A8re_Award_for_Best_Screenplay) | Stéphane Demoustier | {{won}} |} ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *{{IMDb title|32398150}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Arch, The}} Category:2025 films Category:2025 drama films Category:French biographical drama films Category:French historical drama films Category:French-language drama films Category:Films shot in Paris Category:Films set in Paris Category:2025 French films Category:Films about architects Category:2025 French-language films Category:Films directed by Stéphane Demoustier --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Great Arch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Arch) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Arch?action=history)). 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