La Révolution française (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2010)

La Révolution française

Directed by	Robert Enrico, Richard T. Heffron
Screenplay by	David Ambrose, Daniel Boulanger
Music by	Georges Delerue
Release date(s)	1989
Running time	360 min
Country	France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom andCanada
Language	French, English

La Révolution française is a two-part film, co-produced by France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Canada. The first part, titled La Révolution française : les Années lumière was directed by Robert Enrico. The second part, La Révolution française : les Années terribles, was directed by Richard T. Heffron. The full movie runs at 360 minutes, but the edited-for-television version is slightly longer.

The film was produced in 1989 for the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. It purports to tell a faithful and neutral story of the Revolution, from the calling of the Estates-General to the death of Maximilien de Robespierre. The film was high-budgeted and boasted an international cast. It was shot in French and English.

[hide]

[edit]Cast

Klaus Maria Brandauer : Georges Danton†
Andrzej Seweryn : Maximilien Francois Marie Isidore de Robespierre†
Jean-François Balmer : King Louis XVI†
Jane Seymour : Queen Marie-Antoinette†
Peter Ustinov† : Honoré de Mirabeau†
François Cluzet : Camille Desmoulins†
Marianne Basler : Gabrielle Danton†
Marie Bunel : Lucile Desmoulins†
Vittorio Mezzogiorno† : Jean-Paul Marat†
Claudia Cardinale : Madame de Polignac
Sam Neill : Lafayette
Georges Corraface : Jacques Hébert†
Christopher Thompson : Louis de Saint-Just†
Raymond Gérôme : Jacques Necker
Christopher Lee : Charles Henri Sanson
Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu : Charlotte Corday†
Jean-François Stévenin : Louis Legendre
Marc de Jonge : Santerre
Michel Duchaussoy : Jean Sylvain Bailly†
Henri Serre : M. de Launay†
Serge Dupire : Billaud-Varenne
Jean Bouise : Maurice Duplay
Dominique Pinon : Jean-Baptiste Drouet
Gabrielle Lazure : Princess Marie-Louise de Savoie-Carignan†
Jean-Pierre Laurent : François Hanriot†
Yves-Marie Maurin : François Alexandre Frédéric de La Rochefoucauld, Duke of La Rochefoucauld
Hanns Zischler : Goethe
Michel Galabru : Abbot Jean-Sifrein Maury
Massimo Girotti : The Pope's envoy
François-Éric Gendron : Bertrand Barère
Georges Corraface : Jacques-René Hébert†
Edgar Givry : Jean-Baptiste Cléry
Michel Melki : Jacques Alexis Thuriot de la Rozière
Samy Naceri

[edit]Reception

The film was generally considered rather historically accurate. Among the few departures from the historical facts, the executioner Charles-Henri Sanson was shown executing both Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. The elder Sanson actually only executed the King, while his son executed the Queen. Some critics pointed, however, that the film suffered from its neutrality, which resulted in a lack of point of view and in some incoherences. The first part, which dealt with a rather complex historical subject, was also criticized for its disjointed pacing. The second part was considered more gripping and dramatic. Jean-François Balmer received great praise for his portrayal of a rather sympathetic Louis XVI and Andrzej Seweryn was considered very convincing as Robespierre.

The film was not a box office success in France, as the celebrations for the Revolution's bicentennial were not attracting much audience.