Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10738 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-03-13
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: French, Polish
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 130 minutes

Synopsis
A dramatic metaphor for the revolutionary events unfolding in his native Poland, Andrzej Wajda's adaptation of Stanislawa Przybyszewska's play is a brilliant account of the struggle of the two leaders of the French Revolution to control the country's future. Gerard Depardieu stars as Danton, who has retired to his country estate after having been supplanted as head of the Committee for Public Safety by Robespierre (Wojciech Psoniak). But with the commencement of the Reign of Terror, Danton returns to Paris in November 1793 in the hope that he can stem the tide of bloodshed unleashed by his former ally. Confident that his rhetorical skills and the high esteem in which he is held by the French people will cause them to rise up against the brutal ruling regime, Danton is stunned to find them pauperised by the recent war with Austria and cowed by the ubiquity of Robespierre's minions. Behind closed doors, Danton's attempts to act as a mediator between warring factions are met with cold indifference by the rigidly obsessive Robespierre. Anchored by exceptional performances by Depardieu and Psoniak and featuring exceptional photography and art direction, Wajda's coruscating epic is a masterpiece of reimagined history.

Customer Reviews

The revolution is like saturn....
At last on DVD! A brilliant film - French revolutionaries portrayed, not as bloodthirsty loons, but human beings struggling to keep a tiger by the tail, torn between personal loyalties and an increasingly desperate political situation. Made at the time of Poland's Solidarity movement, it also has contemporary resonance. Oh, and it looks fantastic, too! One quibble - there is no subtitle-free option on the DVD for those of us with OK French (yes - in reference to the other review here - it did help my O-Level, 20 years ago!). One of my top 5 films of all time - GET IT!!

"Show them my head - it's worth it!"
Seen almost a quarter of a century on, Andrzej Wajda's Danton seems very much a film of its time. What once seemed so urgent and relevant to the political turmoil in Poland in the 80s now plays like a rather dreary and drawn out history lesson about the last days of the post-Revolutionary Terror in France as Danton and Robespierre/Walesa and Jaruzelski try to win the soul of France/Poland and bring compassion/political order to the country. A Franco-Polish co-production, the multinational cast results in some awkward dubbing into French and variable performance styles (although Patrice Chereau does once again demonstrate that he's a much better actor than a director) and the atrocious scoring doesn't help either. But it's not a total loss. Once Danton's fate is sealed, Gerard Depardieu dominates, kicking some life into the film in his trial scenes and getting a great last line - "Show them my head. It's worth it."

Second Sight's widescreen UK DVD has no extras.

Tremendous and Tragic
I have a soft spot for Wajda's films but this one beats them all. The knife-edge politics, the ulcer-inducing decision making and the ultimate question... did he simply misjudge the situation or did his arrogance drag him down? What makes this film particularly poignant is that it is contemporary with the events taking place in Poland; Solidarity and martial law. Wajda cleverly casts Polish actors as the coldly focussed Robespierre party and Frenchmen as the over-idealistic and headstrong followers of Danton. The chemistry works. One lovely touch is that Wajda casts Franciszek Starowieyski, a great contemporary Polish artist and designer in the role of Jacques Louis David, the great painter of the Revolution. This is a must see film.