“Un peuple et son roi” came out on wednesday, and here’s a lil review as I know some peeps were interested in this movie.
The movie (first part of a 2 parts movie) covers the revolution from 1789 to the death of king Louis XVI.
Contrary to many pieces about the French Revolution, it doesn’t actually revolve around the major figures of that time, or the great political fights. The director (Pierre Schoeller) chose instead to show all these events through the daily lives of the commoners. The main character of this movie is indeed the people of Paris.
I think it’s an interesting take, as you get to see a new point of view on the subject, how the fall of the Bastille, the massacre of the Champs de Mars, the king’s flight to Varennes and such meddled with people’s lives and ideas. For example, there was a really moving sequence in which the Bastille is being torn appart, and the cheers in the street is suddenly reduced to a distant background noise in the room of a woman who has just lost her child.
There is also a lot of symbolism, especially with the sun and fire, and some strange dream/otherwordly sequences through the movie.
The historical accuracy is really good, as the director worked with a lot of French, Italian and American historians. The events, outfits, hairstyles, even the songs people sang (actual revolutionary songs), the photography, everything is on point.
The acting is really great too (for those who may not know, the movie was filled to the brim with A-list French actors), and I want to give a special round of applause to Laurent Lafitte (Louis XVI) , Denis Lavant (Marat) and Adèle Haenel (Françoise), who were perfect.
Definitely a good watch, and I can’t wait to see the sequel! I hope a lot of you guys will see it!
Also, as I said, the director was here for a meet and greet ans we had some questions!
@fantasiavii: why he thought it was important to tell this story now? :
He said that in this previous movie (La Raison d’Etat), he showed how politicians were so far away from the people they were supposed to represent. This idea stayed with him, and he started to look if there was a time when politicians were, instead, very close, very linked to the people, and that’s why he started to explore the Revolution.
The movie was pretty neutral about him, as with all the rest of the “big ones”. As I said, the main character here is the people. For example, Camille has just one line. We get to see Robespierre delivering 2 speeches, the first one at his debut, getting talked over and bashed, and a second one 3 years later, now a powerful and respected orator, in a silent room. We also see him starring eerily at the public when he isn’t speaking and writing alone in his bedroom. But I feel like he is going to be much more prominent in the next movie. He doesn’t appear as a bad man, nor an especially good man. Just a man, in the end.
For the rest of our beloved deputies: Danton and Camille both have little screen time, Marat is ON FIRE, Saint-Just (pronouced “Saint-Ju”, kill me) is very strong willed, but also not portrayed in a bad light, and you also see Pétion, Barnave and Momoro.
Two recent drawings I made, one for Inktober and one is a artistic freedom commission based on a piece of lyrics from Snow Patrol: ‘’Show me a garden that bursts into life"
For me it stands for heartache and healing, but as for most pieces I create, it’s different everytime I look at it and that’s the way I like it 🙂
Ejakkulate 