La Révolution française (film)

La Révolution française is a two-part 1989 film, co-produced by France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Canada for the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. The first part, titled La Révolution française: les Années lumière (The French Revolution: Years of Hope) was directed by Robert Enrico. The second part, La Révolution française: les Années terribles (The French Revolution: Years of Rage), was directed by Richard T. Heffron. The full film runs at 360 minutes, but the edited-for-television version is slightly longer.

La Révolution française
Release posters for Part I and Part II.
Directed by
Screenplay by
Music byGeorges Delerue
Cinematography
  • François Catonné
  • Bernard Zitzermann
Edited by
  • Patricia Nény
  • Annie Baronnet
Release date
1989
Running time
360 min
Country
  • France
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • United Kingdom
  • Canada
Language
  • French
  • English
  • German
Budget300 million francs
Box office$4.8 million[1]

The film 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 had a large budget (300 million francs)[2] and boasted an international cast. It was shot in French, German, and English.

Cast

Production

Production for La Révolution française took three years, and cost around 50 million in US dollars with the extensive support of the French government, making it at the time the most expensive film production in France.[3]

Reception

The film was generally considered 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 executed only Louis XVI; it was his son who executed Marie-Antoinette.

Some critics pointed, however, that the film suffered from its neutrality, which resulted in a lack of point of view and in some incoherence. The first part, which dealt with a 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.

See also

References
  1. http://www.jpbox-office.com/fichfilm.php?id=5543
  2. Hugo Frey (30 July 2014). Nationalism and the Cinema in France: Political Mythologies and Film Events, 1945-1995. Berghahn Books. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-78238-366-6.
  3. Mikelbank, Peter (July 30, 1989). "La Revolution Franglaise?". The Washington Post. La Ferté-Alais, France: WP Company LLC. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
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