Danton (1983 film)
| Danton | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Andrzej Wajda |
| Produced by | Margaret Ménégoz |
| Written by |
Jean-Claude Carrière collaboration with Andrzej Wajda Agnieszka Holland Bolesław Michałek Jacek Gąsiorowski |
| Starring |
Gérard Depardieu Wojciech Pszoniak Anne Alvaro |
| Music by | Jean Prodromidès |
| Cinematography | Igor Luther |
| Edited by | Halina Prugar-Ketling |
| Distributed by | Gaumont |
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Release date
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Running time
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136 minutes |
| Country | France Poland West Germany |
| Language | French |
| Box office | $10.4 million |
Danton (French pronunciation: [dɑ̃tɔ̃]) is a 1983 French language film depicting the last months of Georges Danton, one of the leaders of the French Revolution. It is an adaptation of the Polish play "The Danton Case" by Stanisława Przybyszewska.
The film stars Gérard Depardieu in the title role with Anne Alvaro as Éléonore Duplay. It was directed by the Polish director Andrzej Wajda and was an international co-production between companies in France, Poland and West Germany. All supporters of Danton (with the exception of Bourdon) are played by French actors, while Robespierre's allies are played by Poles. The film draws parallels between the Reign of Terror after the French Revolution and the situation in contemporary Poland, in which the Solidarity movement was struggling against the oppression of the Soviet-backed Polish government. The film had 1,392,779 admissions in France.
The film begins in the spring of 1794, when the Reign of Terror was in full swing. On the borders of Paris, any vehicles entering Paris, including the carriage of Danton, who has just ridden in, are being searched. Robespierre, meanwhile, is sick in his bed. His landlady's daughter, Éléonore Duplay, attempts to comfort him, but is unable to. Her nephew, whom she is taking care of, is meanwhile being made to memorize lines from the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Back in the streets of Paris, starving lines of people, waiting for bread, discuss the possible reasons for the lack of it. Whether or not it is an enemy plot, the people do know that they are hungry, and that hunger leads to revolt. Once the bread store actually opens, and they finally begin to receive their bread, they are distracted by their other source of faith and hope in life: Danton. As Robespierre is watching, Danton is swarmed by a mob of supporters and fans, who all cry out for help. Robespierre, in his flat, is visited by Heron, the chief of the secret police, and instructs him to destroy the print shop of Camille Desmoulins, who is publishing pro-Dantonist circulars.
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