The Film French Revolution - Essay Example

Client’s Information The French Revolution: The History Channel Puts Humanity into History In the film produced for the History Channel titled The French Revolution: Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite -A New Republic is Born in Blood, the production creates a story that holds the viewer’s interest while creating an exciting tale of violence and intrigue. The story begins at the end of the tale as the viewer is introduced to the man whose death will influence the end of a period of time in which bloodshed is used in a twist of irony as a way to maintain political freedoms. Maximillien de Robespierre sits in a chair, his jaw anchored by a piece of cloth and his attire unkempt, his hair disheveled. As he is introduced, his presence evokes an image of the fallen, a prevalent theme throughout the French Revolution. As the story of the French Revolution is told by historians and enhanced by paintings, illustrations, and live action recreations of the events, The French Revolution: Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite -A New Republic is Born in Blood, creates a film experience that breaths life into the historical figures of the French Revolution. While the causes of the French Revolution can be linked across many theoretical and philosophical constructs, the main cause was created from an economic crisis. As in most cases, the people were motivated to act because of a lack of stability which caused a 1 Client’s Last Name 2 lack of food. Of the many reasons that can motivate people into action, the one that denies them the basic needs of survival will most often inspire the quickest movement toward a radicalization. The film describes the events that surround the impending crisis that is setting up France for a time when flour, a staple of bread making which is a food staple for the French, prices would skyrocket, creating a circumstance where a loaf of bread becomes worth a month’s salary [1]. By using live action recreations and illustrations from the time period, a connection can be made by the audience to the impact of starvation on a people who is not properly represented or supported. Mention is made of Marie Antoinette’s “most famous line she never said . . . Let them eat cake” [2]. The line was a commentary on the feelings of the French people to their queen, and while the film mentions that she never said such a thing, it is made clear that her excesses are what led this line to be associated with her. The film displays a series of examples of the excesses in which she indulged, including illustrations of overly exaggerated hairstyles that could stand several feet tall. In the midst of a country that was choking on famine, Marie was indulging her boredom with extravagance. However, the film does inject some humanity into the portrayals of Marie and Louis. Although it is well known that Louis and Marie did not conceive, nor consummate their marriage for many years which caused her to suffer under the disapproval of all sections of her nation, it is not as often discussed about the affliction 1. The French Revolution: Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite -A New Republic is Born in Blood. Dir. Doug Schultz. The History Channel. 2005. 2. The French Revolution. 2 Client’s Last Name 3 that prevented Louis from desiring this consummation. According to the film, Louis had the condition of phimosis, causing pain during sexual intercourse, a condition which was eventually surgically corrected, allowing for procreation to occur later in the marriage ” [3]. While the film deals with the excesses in which the couple indulged, many of the more lascivious episodes in Marie’s life are not discussed and a sense of sympathy is evident by the historians. While most histories focus on Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, this film relates biographical information on most of the key figures of the period. The end of Maximillien de Robespierre introduces the story of the French Revolution as a symbol for the hundreds of thousands of victims who will find their death as collateral damage to the Revolution. As the viewer watches him sit in agony with a bandage wrapped over his jaw and scissors approaching his hair, a feeling of sympathy for him is evoked. His story will begin at the beginning of the story of the reign of Marie and Louis, as he is given the opportunity to do a recitation for the King and Queen while still in his youth. He had also been given the opportunity to be before Louis as a student [4]. As the story progresses, Robespierre is used as a mirror for the impending Revolution, his voice becoming the voice of the new philosophy. Written histories do not necessarily portray this aspect of his presence in France. In Noble, the presence of Robespierre is not discussed until his appearance after the death of Jean Paul Marat, at the 3. The French Revolution: Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite -A New Republic is Born in Blood. Dir. Doug Schultz. The History Channel. 2005. 4. The French Revolution. 3 hands of Charlotte Corday. According to Noble, it is shortly after that when Robespierre joins the Committee for Public Safety and calls for “Terror” - the systematic repression of internal enemies” [5]. However, the film discusses his apparent beliefs and his public conduct before this time. Robespierre was not a man who was in favor of execution, but by the time he calls for control using this concept of ‘Terror’, he has decided that execution is the only way to maintain control over the newly formed government. Perry also does not mention Robespierre until the ‘Reign of Terror‘. Perry says of Robespierre’s support of this method of control that ““It was not because they were bloodthirsty or power mad that many Jacobins, including Robespierre, supported the use of terror. Rather, they were idealists who believed that terror was necessary to rescue the Republic and the Revolution from destruction” [6]. The film gives a portrayal of Robespierre before this time, revealing a man who came from a poor background, achieved in school, and went on to influence many of the philosophies of the Revolution. His participation in discussion in salons concerning Enlightened thought created a background from which he could speak out against the oppressive class system [7]. The concept of Enlightened philosophy is not greatly expanded upon within the film. However, this philosophy was the gateway to the French Revolution. According to Perry, “The Enlightenment thinkers were not themselves revolutionaries. However, by subjecting the institutions and values of the Old Regime to critical scrutiny and by 5. Thomas F. Noble, X. Western Civilization: Beyond Boundaries : Chapters 12-30. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008, p. 599. 6. Marvin Perry, Joseph R. Peden, and Theodore H. Von Laue. Sources of the Western Tradition: From the Renaissance to the Present. 7th Ed. Vol. 11. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006, p. 114. 7. The French Revolution. 4 Client’s Last Name 5 offering the hope that society could be reformed, the philosophies created the intellectual preconditions for revolution” [8]. Eventually, the concept of Reason that was at the heart of the Enlightenment would reach a level that can only be described as unreasonable, as churches were “rededicated as ‘temples of reason’. Believing that outright atheism left people with no basis for personal or national morality”[9]. The film relates an episode from Robespierre of a celebration that he plans in which he appears in a toga, giving the effect that he might become the new ‘god’ of the people. According to the film, this is the beginning of the end for Robespierre [10] and is an event that is not mentioned in Perry or Noble. The participation in the French Revolution by Jean Paul Marat is given a great deal of attention within the film. Marat incited passions of violence through his writings and was seen as a staunch patriot to the revolutionary cause, publishing his work in the newspaper, “The Friend of the People”. The film creates a personalization of Marat when it reveals a skin condition which confines him to a bathtub for therapeutic purposes. His story is continued through Charlotte Corday who blames him for the extreme violence that has taken over her nation and believes that the end of Marat will end the violence. She takes a small stiletto to his home on the pretense of giving him a list of subversives. Charlotte killed him in his bath, allowing him to become martyred of him, and for her to 8. Perry, 101. 9. Noble, 600. 10. The French Revolution. 5 Client’s Last Name 6 be guillotined for her effort. According to the film, Marat was revered in a manner that brought him close to deification. The film allowed for the viewing of both a live reenactment of his death and a showing of the famous painting of Marat in his bath after being murdered by Corday. The painting is a masterful work of Jacques-Louis David [11]. By using these personal biographical moments in history to tell the story of the French Revolution, the film is able to tell a story that would not fit in a few chapters of a history book. While many of the details of how the revolution was inspired by worldwide events were eliminated, the personalization of the key players created a story that had a deeper emotional content. As the end of the film brings the viewer back to the fate of Robespierre, the original evocation of sympathy has now been changed. The biographical details that are relayed by the interviewed historians and the narrator has changed his position within the Revolution. While his original nature and intent appears to have been honorable and with an intent of goodness, the way in which he sought to keep control allowed many thousands of people to find their end at the hands of the guillotine. The detail of his jaw being destroyed by a self-inflicted gunshot gives a sense of poetic justice as his voice had been the voice of violence and terror [12]. The story of the revolution is told with the impact of a thriller as the viewer is engaged in the stories of the people and horrified by the extreme violence and outrageous death toll. 11. Noble, 599. 10, The French Revolution 6 Client’s Last Name 7 Works Cited Noble, Thomas F. X. Western Civilization: Beyond Boundaries : Chapters 12-30. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. Perry, Marvin, Joseph R. Peden, and Theodore H. Von Laue. Sources of the Western Tradition: From the Renaissance to the Present. 7th Ed. Vol. 11. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. The French Revolution: Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite -A New Republic is Born in Blood. Dir. Doug Schultz. The History Channel. 2005. 7 Read More