Sunday, November 9, 2:00 pm in Greene Hall, room 239
Danton (1983, 136 minutes, French with English subtitles)
Danton is a joint Franco-Polish film from the distinguished Polish film director Andrzej Wajda. 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 1790’s. 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 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. (frenchfilmsite.com).
Presented by Prof. Véronique McNelly, Dept. of Romance Languages