Danton

Jean-Claude Carriere went on to write many more films after the death of Luis Bunuel. A couple of them, The Tin Drum and The Return of Martin Guerre, I saw in initial release, but right now they are not available from Netflix. One film I missed, but I wanted to see, was Danton, directed by Andrzej Wajda.

The film is set in the dark days following the French Revolution, in what is today known as the "Reign of Terror," when revolutionaries became as tyrannical as those they displaced. The guillotine gets a heavy workout, as government groups known as "The Committees," headed by Maximilien Robespierre, clamp down on dissent, including newspapers.

Georges Danton, a hero of the revolution, maintains that freedom means freedom, and that The Committees have to go. Robespierre's cabal urges Danton to be arrested and executed, but Robespierre hesitates, thinking he is too popular with the people. Finally, though, after an internal struggle, Danton is arrested and put on trial, but it is a sham, as he is allowed no witnesses and journalists are allowed to take no notes.

Though this is a play about the French, it is heavily Polish. The release date, 1983, tells us that this was when the Solidarity movement was struggling against the Soviet Union. Also, in a casting curiosity, Danton and his followers are played by French actors (with Gerard Depardieu as Danton) and Robespierre's followers by Polish actors (with Robespierre played by Wojchiech Pszoniak). The acting is uniformly brilliant. Psznoniak plays Robespierre not as a cardboard villain but a conflicted man, believing in the revolution but succumbing to fear. He is a stiff man, accused of being a virgin by Danton, and not a lot of laughs.

Depardieu gets his chance late in the film, when he speaks himself hoarse at his trial. His Danton is something of a rock star, in stark contrast with Robespierre, a hero who is not averse to thinking of himself that way.

Beware, this film is extremely talky (it was based on a play) but I found it to be thrilling. It moves very fast and if full of ideas. Danton is both exciting and nourishing.