The French revolution
The French Revolution (original title: La Révolution française ) is a two-part, monumental fiction film conceived as a historical drama , which dramaturgically prepares and chronologically traces the first five years of the great French Revolution between 1789 and 1794 . It was jointly produced under the direction of Alexandre Mnouchkine by some state-sponsored media outlets from France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Great Britain and Canada.
The first part (“La Révolution française: les Années lumière”, in the German version: “The French Revolution: Years of Hope”) was directed by Robert Enrico , the second part (“La Révolution française: les Années terribles”, in Germany : "The French Revolution: Years of Anger") Richard T. Heffron wrote the script.
The film was completed in 1989 on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the French Revolution. Despite an enormous budget (with a cost of around 50 million US dollars, it was considered to be the most expensive film project in Europe to date) and an international cast with well-known character actors up to the supporting roles, the work received little attention from the audience and was from an economic point of view unsuccessful.
After various fictional films in film history that deal with episodes, partial aspects or individual biographies of the revolutionary era, this film, with a total duration of almost six hours, is the longest fictional film that deals with the French Revolution itself and that takes place over several years as a historical process overlooked context.
content
The film depicts the chronological sequence of the first five years of this revolution in essentially factual detail with a view to the formative actors of the historical events . In the central plot, these events extend from the convening of the Estates General in August 1788 for the following year by King Louis XVI, who came under increasing political and economic pressure . until the execution of Maximilien de Robespierre , the most politically powerful protagonist of the revolution at the end of his lifetime, at the end of July 1794 (for the division and structuring of the historical highlights of the film plot in between, see the following section on the German version ).
With numerous mass scenes (demonstrations, marches, tumults , skirmishes, battles, etc.) and a historical ambience true to the original ( mask , costumes , scenery ), the film tries to illustrate the atmosphere of the time. He also provides relatively concise character portrayals of the protagonists based on the staging of political speeches and debates as well as dialogues that sympathize with personal relationships and conflicts - up to and including scenes in which the private preferences, strengths and human weaknesses of the central political actors are worked out.
Although above all others Camille Desmoulins (played by François Cluzet ) as a popular figure illustrates moralizing representations of historical figures in terms of a polarized "good and evil" - simplification avoided. In an overview, the producers of the film tried from the retrospective distance of two centuries for historically understood empathy , both towards the revolutionaries in their different political shades and towards their opponents and enemies, which were also differently nuanced .
With all the interweaving of the events at different locations in France (even if mostly concentrated on the political centers of the action, in the first quarter of the film the Palace of Versailles , then increasingly the French capital Paris ) and with interlocking narrative strands, the dramaturgy of the framework is essentially based on the gradually changing personal and political relationship between Robespierre and his childhood friend Camille Desmoulins. Both of them, popular spokesmen for the revolution from the start, initially work together, but in the further course of events they become estranged due to their attitude towards historical developments and the resulting political decisions in the course of the First Coalition War and after the first successes of the French revolutionary army. Desmoulins approaches the positions of Dantons , who for his part initially worked closely with Robespierre until, after the proclamation of the republic, he visibly distanced himself from the escalation of the reign of terror advocated by Robespierre in the name of revolutionary " virtue ". Both Danton and Desmoulins, in their return to the values of the constitution, inspired by the declaration of human and civil rights , are subject to Robespierre's radicalized ideas and are executed shortly before the latter himself becomes a victim of his own politics and also dies under the guillotine .
After the portrayal of Robespierre's execution, the film ends in a contemplative scene in which the bereaved relatives of Dantons light candles in a church to commemorate the father of the family. This scene is accompanied by a quotation spoken from the off in the voice of Danton (or that of his actor Klaus Maria Brandauer ). This is one of the merits of the revolution worthy The extract from Danton's defense speech before him sentencing to death Revolutionary Tribunal , which he himself had founded with; Expressing, so to speak, the quintessence and the lasting historical significance of the French Revolution. In the German dubbed version this quote is:
- “ We put an end to the tyranny of privilege. We have put an end to the age-old evils, those rights of rule and powers to which no one was entitled. We have put an end to the sole claim of wealth and birth to all decisions of our state, our churches, our army. We have cleaned every vein and artery of this magnificent body of the State of France. We have declared that the simplest man is equal to the greatest in the country. We took our liberty and gave it to our slaves. We leave the world to build on the hope we have given birth. That counts more than a victory in a battle, more than all the swords and cannons of all these gleaming cavalry of Europe. It is an inspiration to the visions of all people everywhere; a breath of freedom that can no longer be denied. We have not devoted our lives to this hope for nothing. "
Four-part structure in the German version
For Germany, The French Revolution was conceived for television from the beginning and was broadcast in four parts of 90 minutes each.
- 1st part - Years of Hope I
- After an introductory opening credits with a scene from the memories of Robespierre's youth (in which, as a pupil of the elite boarding school “ Louis-le-Grand ” under humiliating circumstances in 1774, he gave an address of homage to the newly crowned King Louis XVI in Latin ), this part contains the events of the years 1788/89: From the dramatically sketched out immediate social and political circumstances of the prehistory of the revolution (state debt and financial crisis, decadence and excesses of the royal court versus the social hardship of the people) to the convening of the Estates General and the ball house oath initiated implementation of a national assembly independent of the monarchy , the conquest of the Bastille by the people, the declaration of human and civil rights up to the siege of Versailles by the revolutionary women of Paris in October 1789.
- Part 2 - Years of Hope II
- Contains the decisive events from the end of 1789 to August 1792: From the move of the royal family from Versailles to the Tuileries Palace in Paris, the proclamation of the French constitution of 1791 , the failed escape of the royal family , the Lafayette massacre on the Marsfeld , the beginning of the First Coalition War , up to the storming of the Tuileries Palace and the deposition of the king.
- 3rd part - Years of Wrath I.
- Contains the events of the period from August 1792 to October 1793: From the imprisonment of the royal family to the September massacres in 1792, the first victory of the French revolutionary army at the Valmy cannonade , the proclamation of the First French Republic , the trial of the former king (the " Citizen Louis Capet "), his execution, the beginning of the Jacobean reign of terror with the suppression and execution of the leading Girondists , the murder of Marat by Charlotte Corday , up to the trial of the former wife of the king, the" widow Capet "or Marie Antoinette .
- 4th part - Years of Wrath II
- Contains the events of the period from October 1793 to July 1794: From the execution of Marie Antoinette to the escalation of the intra-Jacobin conflict between Dantonists and Robespierrists (see subsection in 'French Revolution' ), the trial of Danton , his and Desmoulin's execution, to Thermidorian Putsch and the guillotination of Saint-Just and Robespierre .
reception
The lexicon of international films says about the film:
“An opulently designed sheet of pictures that strives for historical accuracy and factual loyalty and tries to make the spokesmen of the revolution transparent as private persons. The ambitious project with an extremely prominent cast is reinforced in the individual episodes by guest appearances by top-class European film and television actors. "
Nominations for film awards
Even if the film has not yet received a prestigious film award , it was nominated for corresponding awards. The following nominations were made for La Révolution française :
- For the French César film award in 1990 in the category "Best Costume Design" ( Meilleurs costumes )
- Also in 1990 for the national television award Gemini Awards in Canada, where the film was broadcast as a multi-part on television, as in Germany, in the category "Best Miniseries" ( Best Dramatic Mini-Series )
Web links
- The French Revolution in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Detailed synopsis and criticism / interpretation of the film with selected photos from the scene on follow-me-now.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. Alexandre Mnouchkine. In: The Times, April 10, 1993
- ↑ The French Revolution. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Film award nominations for La révolution française according to www.imdb.com