Danton (1983)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Danton |
| Original title | Danton |
| Country of production | France , Poland , Germany |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 1983 |
| length | 136 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Andrzej Wajda |
| script | Jean-Claude Carrière |
| production |
Margaret Ménégoz , Barbara Pec-Slesicka |
| music | Jean Prodromidès |
| camera | Igor Luther |
| cut | Halina Prugar-Ketling |
| occupation | |
| |
Danton is a French period film by Polish director Andrzej Wajda from 1983.
action
The film takes place during the French Revolution in France in 1794 during the reign of terror of the welfare committee under Robespierre .
The popular revolutionary Georges Danton had already withdrawn from politics and was more inclined to the finer things in life in the country than Robespierre, his friend from the early days of the revolution, and his Jacobins terrified the people of France . People who are even remotely suspected of being opponents of the revolution and the republic are sentenced to death and guillotined en masse . Danton returns to Paris and decides with his friend, the journalist Camille Desmoulins , to face Robespierre's terror.
Danton invites Robespierre to dinner at a hotel. The virtuous Robespierre refuses to eat the bon vivant Danton. In an interview, Danton explains his view of the reign of terror. They finally part as enemies. Robespierre also pays Desmoulins a visit to get him back on his side. But even this refuses. Welfare Committee member Saint Just prepares a report on the misconduct of Danton and his supporters, whereupon the Dantonists are arrested. In court, Danton used the opportunity to present his view of Robespierre's policies, whereupon the Dantonists were excluded from the trial. All are eventually sentenced to death and die on the guillotine.
After the execution, Robespierre torments himself with febrile seizures in bed, as he has often done recently, and sees his own end before him, which will overtake him three months later, as predicted by Danton. The film ends with a boy who recites human rights to the feverish Robespierre. In one of the first scenes in the film, the boy had to learn the text while being beaten.
background
The film is based on the Polish play The Danton Case by Stanisława Przybyszewska from 1929. Andrzej Wajda directed this play as early as 1975 at the Teatr Powszechny in Warsaw. The production was a great success and stayed on the theater's repertoire for five years. Wajda struggled to make films in wartime Poland in the early 1980s, but brought his key collaborators and actors to France to make the film.
Allan Starski took care of the equipment , besides Pszoniak as Robespierre and Bogusław Linda as Saint Just, other well-known actors such as Marek Kondrat , Andrzej Seweryn and Jerzy Trela played in smaller roles. Screenwriter Carrière received support in editing the Polish play from Agnieszka Holland , who had already worked several times on scripts with Wajda. The historical costumes were designed by Yvonne Sassinot de Nesle .
In a scene that alludes to the Stalinist image forgery , Robespierre is the model of the painter Jacques-Louis David when he is interrupted by the chief prosecutor of the Revolutionary Tribunal. Robespierre discovered on David's presentation of Ballhaus oath freshly painted head of Fabre d'Églantine who must answer together with Danton before the Tribunal, and asks David to remove it. The American cultural historian Robert Darnton pointed out that Wajda invented the scene because Fabre d'Églantine was not a member of the Estates General in 1789 and was therefore not present at the ball house oath.
Reviews
"Photographed discreetly with clear echoes of contemporary history in Poland and staged in a way that is exciting for such a philosophical topic," said the lexicon of international film .
Awards
- César - Best Director
- BAFTA Award - Best Foreign Film
- Louis Delluc Prize - Best French Film of the Year
- Polish Film Festival - Critic Award
synchronization
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Danton | Gérard Depardieu | Manfred Lehmann |
| Robespierre | Wojciech Pszoniak | Hans-Michael Rehberg |
| Camille Desmoulins | Patrice Chereau | Gerd Böckmann |
| Lacroix | Roland Blanche | Horst Sachtleben |
| Westermann | Jacques Villeret | Michael Habeck |
literature
- Martin Miersch: Revolution and Film: Danton by Andrzej Wajda . In: Astrid Erll, Stephanie Wodianka (ed.): Film and cultural memory. Plurimedial constellations . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2008, ISBN 978-3-11-020443-8 , pp. 171–203.
- Janina Falkowska: The Political Films of Andrzej Wajda: Dialogism in Man of Marble , Man of Iron , and Danton. Berghahn Books, Providence, 1996.
- Metin Gümrükcü: Danton . In: Filmstellen VSETH & VSU (ed.): Science Fiction - Andrzej Wajda. Documentation 1990. Association of Students at the University of VSU, Zurich 1990, pp. 72–74.
Web links
- Danton in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official website of Andrzej Wajda
- Danton on filmpolski.pl; with photos
Individual evidence
- ↑ Robert Darnton: Robespierre - the East. in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of November 12, 1994, p. 27
- ↑ Danton. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Danton. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on August 2, 2018 .