La commune (Paris, 1871) (2000)

Director:

Peter Watkins

Writers:

Agathe Bluysen (writer)
Peter Watkins (writer)

Release Date:

7 November 2007 (France)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot Keywords:

Censorship | Barricade | Anachronism | Exile | Revolution

Awards:

1 win

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
Caroline Esnard-Benoit	...	Baker's wife
Roland Fontaine	...	Child in Cour Popincourt
Przermyslaw Galkiewicz	...	Polish Officer
Jean-Michel Gallois	...	Concièrge
Joachim Gatti	...	Joachim Rivière
Jean Giacinti	...	Adolphe Thiers
Virginie Guibbaud	...	Léontine Rombert
Armelle Hounkanin	...	Françoise Boidard
Catherine Humbert	...	Marguerite Lachaise, cantinière of 66th Battalion, National Guard
Steve Kreisler	...	Wickham Hoffmann (US Attaché)
Lucette Labreuil	...	Owner of Café Watrin
Michel Labreuil	...	Proprietor of Café Watrin
Rémy Le Champion	...	Policeman
Jean Legal	...	Doctor
Elisabeth Lemaitre	...	Pawnbroker
Gaston Lepage	...	Child in Cour Popincourt
Manon Lepage	...	Child in Cour Popincourt
Micheline Letourneur	...	Laundress
Béatrice Mandelbrot	...	Laundress
Elsy Mandelbrot	...	Convent school pupil
Leila Mandelbrot	...	Child in Cour Popincourt
Tilly Mandelbrot	...	Child in Cour Popincourt
Samy Nogaro	...	Émile Théron
Laurent Parisi	...	Policeman
Aurélia Petit	...	Blanche Capellier
Flora Pierre	...	Laundress (as M B 'Flora' Pierre)
Marek Przbyla	...	Polish Officer
Prune Sauvageot	...	Child in Cour Popincourt
Pascal Schiltz	...	Sailor
Dirk Sikorski	...	Anatole Cordier, 66ème
Zinedine Vergnaud	...	Child in Cour Popincourt
Gérard Watkins	...	Gérard Bourlet
Philippe Welsh	...	Le père

Runtime:

345 min | Germany:300 min | 220 min (theatrical version)

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

13 Productions

Movie Connections:

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

a mind game which makes you feel completely emotionally involved in it

I must admit, the first thing that caught my attention in the programme of Arsenal Movie Theatre was the length of the film - 345 min. I was intrigued and looked it up on the internet, starting with imdb, and became even more intrigued. So I saw the movie yesterday.

And I didn't regret it at all. (Although I had to struggle through German subtitles for the shorter German version of 300 min. The announced full one with English subtitles was stuck somewhere in Paris.)

It is probably one of the most unusual movies I've ever seen. It is even not really a movie, at least in the standard understanding of it (let alone the length of the thing). It is obviously a mind game, but a mind game so fine and intellectual, as well as passionate, thrilling and challenging, that it somehow makes you feel deeply involved in it emotionally, not forgetting for a single moment that it is a game and the whole idea is completely absurd.

Indeed, what can be more absurd than watching "breaking news" about Paris Commune of 1871, like we were all watching tv on 9.11 or when the war in Iraq was about to begin. "Versailles TV", "Commune TV". Journalists asking "What do you feel now? What hopes do you have now for the future of The Commune?". But all staged, actors sometimes telling the camera about the roles they are playing. Or discussing whether The Commune could have had future, or Russian revolution was successful despite Kronstadt uprising.

The shocking thing is that it feels real. Even though you perfectly understand that it can't. He's using the media and our perception of the media (which makes us question to what an extent can our senses be manipulated) as a frame for all the events happening and in a way alters our perception of history and of history happening now.

I'm still digesting the movie, it raises a lot of question and makes you think a lot. But I'm happy to know that Arsenal is planning Peter Watkins's retrospective. So Berliners will have a unique chance to see his other works. Which I'm looking forward to.