Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe stands at Place Charles de Gaulle at the western end of the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The monument was commissioned by Napoleon I in 1806 and completed in 1836, and it honours those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Beneath the arch is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and around it is one of Paris’s most famous traffic circles, where avenues radiate out from the monument. On screen, Arc de Triomphe is often used as a simple Paris landmark, but it becomes a stronger film location when the monument, the roundabout or the Champs-Élysées approach is used directly in the scene.

Arc de Triomphe has appeared in films and series including The Day of the Jackal (1973), Ronin (1998), National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007), Taken (2008), Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) and Blindspot (2018). The location is often used as a Paris landmark, but these productions connect it more directly to movement through the city, surveillance, pursuit or public political space.

In The Day of the Jackal (1973), Arc de Triomphe is one of the key Paris locations connected to the Jackal’s assassination plan. Around the middle of the film, the Jackal surveys the area around the monument while looking for the right place to carry out the murder. The location returns near the end of the film, when the public ceremony and military parade are centred around Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées. Police are seen closing off the area, and the parade passes through the arch with soldiers, tanks and military vehicles. The parade material was filmed during a real 14 July parade in Paris, with the production working inside the police barriers while many spectators were unaware that a film was being shot.

In The Bourne Identity (1988), Arc de Triomphe appears in the Paris section of the television miniseries. The monument is used as part of the story’s movement through the city, where Jason Bourne’s search for his identity unfolds across several recognisable Paris locations.

In Ronin (1998), Arc de Triomphe appears during the Paris car-chase material. The film is known for its practical vehicle sequences, and the monument’s surrounding road network forms part of the chase geography through the city. The traffic circle and the broad avenues around Arc de Triomphe fit the film’s use of Paris as a real, fast-moving urban environment rather than just a scenic backdrop.

In National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007), Arc de Triomphe appears during the Paris section of the treasure-hunt story. The monument is tied to the clue-hunting material around the city, placing the American adventure plot inside one of Paris’s most recognisable historic landmarks.

In Taken (2008), Arc de Triomphe appears as part of Bryan Mills’ search through Paris after his daughter is kidnapped. The monument is used within the film’s Paris geography, where recognisable streets and landmarks are connected to surveillance, pursuit and the criminal network he is trying to track down.

In Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018), Arc de Triomphe is used during the Paris motorcycle chase. Ethan Hunt rides the wrong way around the traffic circle while pursuing and being pursued through the city. The sequence was filmed early on a Sunday morning, when the production was given limited access to the area around the monument. The scene makes direct use of the roundabout, traffic flow and the monument’s central position, turning Arc de Triomphe into one of the most recognisable action locations in the film.

In Blindspot (2018), Arc de Triomphe appears in “My Art Project”, episode 2 of season 4. Zapata walks past the monument on her way to meet Burke, using Arc de Triomphe as part of the episode’s Paris setting. The scene uses the landmark directly in the character’s movement through the city rather than only as a distant establishing image.

---