Summary
November 1793. The one-time national hero and leading light of the French Revolution,
Georges Danton, returns to Paris after a self-imposed exile in the country. He is
vociferously opposed to the reign of terror that Robespierre and the Committee for Public
Safety have initiated in an attempt to quash any opposition to the new Republic.
But whilst Danton’s outspoken criticism of Robespierre and his stooges strikes a chord
with the unwashed masses, he makes himself very unpopular with the state officials.
Accused of inciting anti-republican activities, Danton and his supporters are rounded
up and set before a tribunal, who have no intention of sparing their lives…
Review
Danton is a joint Franco-Polish film from the distinguished Polish film director
Andrzej Wajda. The film was made in France after Wajda’s studio in Poland was closed
down by the Polish authorities in response to the director’s sympathies for the new trade
union movement, ‘Solidarity’. These political developments clearly had a profound
impact on Wajda, to the extent that his film Danton says as much about the power
struggles in contemporary Poland as it does about the French Revolution.
The film is based on the real-life story of Georges Danton (1759-1794), who played an
important role in the revolution and who was guillotined by the state, along with many
former heroes of the revolution, during Robespierre’s insane purge of the 1790s.
The focus of the film is the intense political struggle between the idealists who forged
the Revolution and the Nation State that claims to represent the good of the people but
which has become completely corrupt and tyrannical in its attempt to justify itself.
The film achieves this sense of conflict through the spoken word, not through physical
violence – with the final showdown being the frenzied verbal joust between Danton and
the state prosecutors. It is an approach which works well to some extent but, for
a film of this length, with such a narrow subject, the end result appears very theatrical
and stilted. The fact that the dubbing is exceptionally poor does not help,
robbing the confrontations between Danton and Robespierre of conviction. Another
possible blemish is the film’s ending, which milks the horror of the guillotine executions
a tad too much for a serious period drama.
Despite these faults, the film has some commendable plus points. There is an impressive
performance from Gérard Depardieu, who rants and raves like a man possessed in
some scenes, whilst displaying great subtlety and cunning in others. His co-star,
the Polish actor Wojciech Pszoniak, is equally as impressive, conveying the vulnerability
and internal torment of the so-called tyrant Robespierre. In addition, the sets
and costumes are top-notch for a quality drama, with some genuinely eye-opening crowd
scenes.
As a piece of theatre about the French Revolution or as a comment on the political strife
in Poland of the early 1980s, the film works quite well. However, as a modern piece
of cinema, it is over-long, ponderous and generally leaves a great deal to be desired.
© James Travers 2000
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