Old Stories: Danton and Robespierre
1983's Most Surprising Film Collaboration
Only the most sober and vigorous person attempts to understand the history of the French Revolution; and by the time they’re done, the poor, withered devils are buying cheap whiskey by the half gallon.
Be assured that I have no interest at all to try and pick apart the French Revolution, or even examine the details of two of its well known figures. I just want to talk about a film that’s well worth watching for the light it sheds on our own times, and also how it was a precursor for the fall of the Soviet Union.
The film, from 1983, is titled simply Danton. The first amazing detail is that it was collaboration between official French and Polish film institutes, both groups linked to their national government. For the French, Francois Mitterrand, the President of France, a Socialist, was eager to see the result, especially since he served during the 200th anniversary of the Revolution. But when he saw the final cut he was upset, by all accounts, since the film provided no cover for his politics, to the contrary.
That the Poles also participated in the production was even more remarkable. The Gdansk shipyards had been the focus of large strikes in both 1970 and 1980, the latter spread to the whole of Polish society. At the moment the film was released there was a hiatus in the strikes, but as we all should remember the strikes started again later in the 80’s and eventually the Poles threw off the yoke of Soviet Communism and became, little by little, a representative democracy.
But before we delve into the politics of the film, let’s take a moment to describe the film’s characters, action and its meaning. The key characters are Danton, of course, and Robespierre. Danton was a country lawyer whose oratory lifted him up the hierarchy during the revolution until he held very high posts; likewise Robespierre, who, in truth, was more accomplished than Danton. Both were energetic proponents and subsequently members of the Committee of Public Safety, a body convened to support and defend the revolution, which it did by starting the Reign of Terror in which over 17000 men and women were put to the guillotine, including eventually both Danton, first, and then Robespierre (there must have been a divine hand at work at times).
The film opens with the haunting scene of Danton’s carriage passing a checkpoint to re-enter Paris and then, as it drives around a square, Danton looks out the window and sees the guillotine scaffold. He knows what’s coming, but forges ahead anyway.
The action pivots on Robespierre’s attack on the very popular Danton who has called for an end to the terror, while Danton was away from Paris. Danton’s ally Camille Desmoulins publishes a defense of Danton in his newspaper. Robespierre orders the print shop destroyed - he is a man who brooks no dissent. Danton’s allies warn him that Robespierre and the Committee will soon arrest him and he’ll be beheaded. But Danton has had enough of the terror, the blood and death, and refused to take action to unseat Robespierre in a coup.
The key scene in the movie is a meeting that takes place between Robespierre and Danton in the private room of a restaurant. The film portrays the nervous Danton of a lesser social strata than Robespierre, who comes off as an aristocrat; in fact, an ascetic aristocrat, a man without appetites. The meeting does not go well. Danton pleads for an end to the terror and a return to the humble beginnings of the revolution, a better life for the masses of France. He rails against the stern ideology that’s developed among the revolutionary vanguard, like a competition of the most radical to push to the extremes and the guillotine every goal of the revolution. Robespierre states the unequivocal objectives of the revolution that allow no compromise, and wants the popular Danton to rescind his criticisms of Robespierre and the Committee which have unleashed a popular movement against him and his allies. Danton refuses.
The rest of the movie involves the machinations of the Committee to arrest, try, convict and behead Danton and his allies, including Desmoulins. Of course they succeed with every dirty trick imaginable. The final scenes are quite horrible; Danton goes to the guillotine on April 5, 1794, and, if it’s any solace, Robespierre follows on 28th of July.
The film was obviously a back of the hand to leftist movements, like the Bolsheviks and their acolytes in Eastern Europe, and their odd, utopian need to push the envelope past all norms, all ideals, all standards of conduct in order to ‘win’, to achieve the objectives of their revolution. How the French Revolution that started with “a chicken in every pot,’ devolved to the perfectly named Committee of Public Safety and its terror campaign is a spectacular story that we should learn from, if we knew about it. But of course it’s been put away into the dustbin of history, along with many other great movements of recent vintage; Lenin’s and Stalin’s purges, Mao’s Cultural Revolution, Pol Pot’s Killing Fields. Hitler, we hear about madman Hitler until we’re blue in the face, as if he is the only mass murderer of history. It’s understandable in a way; it’s a deeply sad moment when you realize there is actually something worse in the world than fascism.
Danton’s defense at his trial starts at 1:27:10 if you want to skip ahead. Gerard Depardieu is pretty good as Danton and the scene give you the sense of how fragile the revolution was in the face of man’s ego and vanity:
One other scene in the movie must have hit home with those who knew the situation in Poland and the other countries behind the Iron Curtain. Danton says in his last defense:
[Translated] You want to murder me without leaving any trace You won't let reporters take notes The clerks sit idle with their arms folded They too have been given orders to write nothing Am I to vanish into thin air?
A well know tactic in communist countries was to remove people from history, even fellow revolutionaries from photos, when they ran afoul eventually of leadership. as they all must. Average citizens were also not only sent to gulags, but had any trace of their existence burned. Obviously more extreme than our current cancellation campaigns, but perhaps not as effective.
Interestingly, all the actors playing allies of Danton were French, and all the actors playing allies of Robespierre were Poles. Perhaps this was just a quick way to write up a film contract, but I like to think it was a purposeful arrangement; that the Poles wanted to make sure the audience understood that the leadership of Poland at the time was as authoritarian and heedless of human life as Robespierre. But I speculate.
Thank you! I'll give a watch. There was a viral moment a few months ago about how often men think of the Roman Empire. I think of the French Revolution more than Rome. Much more applicable.
And I thought I was familiar with the French revolution but don't remember the name Danton.