La commune (Paris, 1871) (2000)

Director:

Peter Watkins

Writers:

Peter Watkins
Agathe Bluysen

Release Date:

7 November 2007 (France)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot Keywords:

Communard | Prussian | Firing Squad | 19th Century | Brutality

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
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
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

Directed by
Peter Watkins

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Agathe Bluysen
Peter Watkins

Cinematography by
Odd-Geir Sæther

Film Editing by
Agathe Bluysen
Olivier Ferrari		(theatrical version)
Patrick Watkins
Peter Watkins

Production Design by
Patrice Le Turcq

Production Management
Philippe Welsh	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Vanessa Djian	....	second assistant director
Romuald Weber	....	assistant director

Art Department
Jean-Noël Vincensini	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Benoît Iwanesco	....	boom operator
Jean-François Priester	....	sound
Sébastien Savine	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Bertrand Etienne	....	assistant camera

Other crew
Julius Berg	....	production assistant
Julien Thévenot	....	production assistant

Production Companies

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

Distributors

• Carousel Films (2011) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Shellac Distribution (2007) (France) (theatrical)
• First Run Features (2003) (USA) (subtitled)
• ID Distribution (????-????)
• Icarus Films (2003-) (USA) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

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 Detailed History and Commentary

Once again, the National Gallery of Art film program has brought us another film we are unlikely to see at any other theater. This is an uneven but ultimately fascinating look at a relatively unknown period in French history, the 1871 Communard revolution in Paris right after the Franco-Prussian War. The filmmaker uses non-professional actors who were also allowed to be co-producers and to write their own lines to some extent. It is shot in black and white and on Beta Digital tape. The film technique reminds me of an old TV program from the 1950s' called "You Are There" in which today's media looks back on history and even interviews the participants in the historical drama.

The film is very slow going which gives the viewer a total feeling of both being there right in the action on a day to day basis while looking down on it from afar. We live the everyday life of the people in Paris during this short period of 2 1/2 months. At some points, the actors stop the action and comment on their involvement in the making of the very film they are in. Also, they and the filmmaker comment on globalization and peoples' rights in today's world. History is brought forth into our present time and we see that all events in human history are more alike than they are different.

This film is not for the average movie-goer. It is for a small audience of patient students of history and politics. It fascinated me but also tried that patience quite often. I would recommend not attempting to view this film without being well rested. It is in two parts of three hours each. Frankly, the filmmaker could have cut this down and still had a powerful history lesson for all of us.