Danton deeply affected me. I have seen it many times now, and each time is as powerful as the first. It is one of those rarest of creatures: a film that succeeds simultaneously as a work of art and a political essay. There is nothing ponderous or pedantic about it, as with many political films (the recently released Cradle Will Rock comes to mind), nor is it shallow as with most artistic works that try to make political statements. It poses very immediate questions about freedom and democracy, while painting very vivid portraits of Danton and Robespierre, both of whom are brilliantly acted and perfectly cast. Not that Danton is an historical documentary. Far from it, it is not really trying to portray history at all. It is not so much about the Revolution as it is about revolution, or about Danton and Robespierre as it is about how leaders, no matter how brilliant or well-meaning, are eminently human, flawed, and powerless against the hard limitations of human society. Robespierre is portrayed as the elevated idealist, trapped in a hopeless dilemma, and ultimately becoming the very thing he most despised. Danton is the down-to-earth realist, the man of the people, yet he grossly overestimates his influence and the power of the people and ends up paying for it with his life. One reviewer complained that Danton is ahistorical, that it reflects more of the director's own experience in Poland than historical research. This is quite so, and quite intentionally so. There is no doubt that we are meant to draw immediate parallels between France and modern day Easter Europe (the Communists have studied the French Revolution avidly for years), which is precisely why it was banned there. It is art, not a documentary the director is speaking to the soul as well as the intellect.
This is an account of the last week of life of Danton. The filming, the costumes and the small parphenalia of everyday life that can be seen in the movie are all rich in authentic detail.
The dialogue were it is historically known is virtual quotation. Where it is not known it is in character. Knowing a fair amount about this time period I could find nothing really to quibble with as far as the accuracy of anything portrayed...in fact I was constantly surprized at the attention to every little detail (and I mean down to the accuracy of the price of bread posted on a placard visible behind the crowd scene.)
This movie is a must have for anyone interested in the politics of the time period...I also recommend La Nuit de Varrene which does not seem to be available with Harvey Keitel as Thomas Paine...it is fictional and the premise is a public coach on the sam route and behind Louis XVI as he is fleeing Paris. The coach has a cross section of people. Retif de La Bretonne, a Lady in Waiting, a rich Industrialist, young Jocobin, etc...who debate the revolution in the carriage. It is excellent for understanding the revolution as seen from a variety of points of view...I dont undertstand why these excellent movies are not put on DVD and made more widely available.It is a really fantastic movie. One of Wajda's best and one of Depardieu's best. The movie is set in post-Revolution France, in which two groups, one headed by Danton (Depardieu) and one by Robespierre (Wodjciech Pszoniak) who also give a great performance.
The movie is a metaphor for how the persuit of power can make a once idealistic movement into the same dictatorship it has overthrown. It is something that has been repeated all throughout history.
Robespierre, one of the leaders of the revolution has become the leader of France once the Revolution has ended. Danton, another of the Revolution's leaders, still, is a very popular figure and has a lot of power.
Robespierre has started to round up and execute any opposition. Danton decides to return to the public spectrum to challenge Robespierre's tyrannical rule and bring rights to the people.
Danton makes a moving argument, but in the end he, himself, is captured and executed. The movie ends with Robespierre being named dictator for life.
The acting in superb, especially from Depardieu who gives a powerhouse performance as the extremely charismatic Danton, courageous until the end.
The movie is a story of a great tragedy. It is one of the greatest historical movies of all time, in my opinion.
It is a crime that it hasn't been released on DVD.
Read Best Reviews of Danton (1982) (1983) Here
Wajda's Danton is based on Stanislawa Przybyszewska's The Danton Case though the poor woman would be rolling over in her very cold and miserable grave to see what Wajda has done to her brilliant Robespierrist drama. Dantonist though it is, and sometimes glaringly anachronistic in its parallels between Walesa's Poland and Danton's France, Wajda's film is edgy, vibrant and memorable. It captures the surreal and nightmarish quality of Paris in the spring of 1794. The tragedy of radical social change is poignantly portrayed. The acting, especially that of Depardieu--who doesn't precisely suit the role, and Pszoniak, who does marvellously,--is altogether very good. Try saying to yourself, Robespierre is *not* Stalin or Jaruzelski.Want Danton (1982) (1983) Discount?
A dark somber film about a dark somber period in the world's history. The complexity and uncertainty of Danton is elucidated within this magnificent Polish-French production. The tone of the movie is ominous and the acting is dramatic in the tradition of the English stage. The music is superb and elevates the drama in practically every scene.This performance is one of Depardieu's finest. Interestingly, however, it is the character of Robespierre who receives the most favorable treatment. How do we normally see him? As a monster and a villan, but here he is humanized. Robespierre the man is rightly depicted as being out-of-touch with the masses and remaining unshakeably fixated upon utopian ideals that no man is capable of meeting. Had he comprehended this, France would have been spared much blood and misery. Had Danton been less absorbed and more decisive, perhaps there would have been some mitagation of the great terror. To me, this film would warrant ten stars on a ten point scale.
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