La commune (Paris, 1871) (2000)

Director:

Peter Watkins

Writers:

Agathe Bluysen, Peter Watkins

Stars:

Eliane Annie Adalto, Pierre Barbieux, Bernard Bombeau

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Eliane Annie Adalto	...	Laundress
Pierre Barbieux	...	Child in Cour Popincourt
Bernard Bombeau	...	Baker
Maylis Bouffartigue	...	Marie-Louise Théron
Geneviève Capy	...	Doctor's wife
Anne Carlier	...	Laundress
Véronique Couzon	...	Marie-Louise Beauger
Piotr Daskiewicz	...	Polish Officer
Nicole Defer	...	Owner of dressmaking workshop & laundry
Patrick Dell'Isola	...	Emile Léonard Morterol
Jürgen Ellinghaus	...	Versailles Army Officer
Caroline Esnard-Benoit	...	Baker's wife
Roland Fontaine	...	Child in Cour Popincourt
Przermyslaw Galkiewicz	...	Polish Officer
Jean-Michel Gallois	...	Concièrge

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

french soldier | blood | communism | consumerism | government | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

7 November 2007 (France)

Also Known As:

I kommouna

Company Credits

Production Co:

13 Productions, La Sept-Arte, Le Musée d'Orsay

Technical Specs

Runtime:

345 min 220 min (theatrical)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in The Universal Clock: The Resistance of Peter Watkins (2001)

User Reviews

"La Commune" is a brilliant nearly 6-hour long must-see docudrama.

Peter Watkins' nearly 6-hour long docudrama, "La Commune (Paris, 1871)," is a surprisingly passionate and fast-moving lesson in history. It is also a brilliant demonstration of how history is shaped, and re-shaped, by the tellers of the tale.

Using the "You Are There" approach of earlier radio and TV days, Watkins has a male and female news team from "Commune TV" wandering through the poorest district of Paris inviting people to express their grievances against the state to the camera.

While the people bitterly suffer because of the government's inept defeat at the hands of the Germans during the Franco-Prussian War, their anger inspires solidarity for them throughout Paris, and although they briefly rise up and seize power, they are brutally put down in the end.

Ironically, during the course of their uprising, a TV monitor in the background features happy-talk "Versailles TV" news anchors, who continually vilify the Communards and rationalize the government's brutal acts of supression.

"La Commune" is a must-see for students of history, and a must-see for students of the media.