French Revolution and Napoleon: The best movies
The best movies and tv series/stand-alones about the French Revolution and Napoleon, in the irrelevant estimation of theNeoplatonist. In alphabetical order...
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- DirectorRobert EnricoRichard T. HeffronStarsKlaus Maria BrandauerJane SeymourFrançois CluzetA chronicle of the French Revolution from the calling of the Etats General in 1789 until the end of the Jacobin Terror in 1794.I put this first because the IMDb keeps on blanking out the picture for my 'proper' alphabetical first. Never mind: this is my favorite anyway. The movie is a pretty accurate drama carrying us from the meeting of the Estates-General to the fall of Robespierre. Good acting all round. Despite the French title here, my version is in English (no dubbing - straight English).
- DirectorAlan ClarkeStarsNorman RodwayIan RichardsonMichael PenningtonThe story of Georges Danton, a leader of the French Revolution, who created the office of the Revolutionary Tribunal as a strong arm for the Revolutionary Government. Within months he knew this power was a terrible mistake and fought to have it ended with tragic consequences.Poetic take on its subject, with Ian Richardson doing a fine Robespierre - his opening speech is electrifying.
- DirectorAndrew NockStarsDale DyeMatthew DeLaMaterVictor Davis HansonHow Napoleon won his greatest battle at Austerlitz against the Russian and the Austrian empires in 1805.See the episode "Napoleon's Greatest Victory", obviously...
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsGérard DepardieuWojciech PszoniakAnne AlvaroIn 1793, as the Terror begins in France, Georges Danton, a champion-of-the-people, returns to clash against Maximilien Robespierre and his extremist party.Brilliant re-creation of a whole era, summed up in the arrest and trial of Georges Danton, hero of the Paris crowd, at the instigation of his one-time comrade Robespierre.
- DirectorDoug ShultzStarsEdward HerrmannGeorge IvascuRodica LazarDocumentary about the bloody beginning, bloodier middle and unceremonious end of the French Revolution, an event that ended in blood the reign of kings in France and laid the foundation for a new - republican - system of government.Fairly good narration of the key events.
- DirectorNick MurphyStarsRob BrydonRichard McCabeTom BurkeThe little known story of how Napoleon Bonaparte first emerged from obscurity and entered the national consciousness. A life and death struggle both on and off off the battlefield.Grittily realistic and unromantic.
- DirectorDoug ShultzStarsVasile MuraruPhilippe NevoDorin AndoneBy exploring the astonishing and dramatic course of Napoleon's 100 Days - the period during which Napoleon escaped from exile and marched on Paris to conquer Europe once again - the film opens an essential window revealing the inside story of modern history's greatest conqueror.
- DirectorÉric RohmerStarsLucy RussellJean-Claude DreyfusAlain LiboltDuring the French Revolution, a Scottish aristocrat and her former lover, the Duke of Orleans, find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.Another atmospheric re-creation, with great acting, and a unique visual style: the background scenery of towns and countryside recede into what looks like paintings.
- StarsDavid McCulloughDocumentary about the rise and fall of one of the greatest military geniuses of modern times from his Corsican childhood to final exile in St. Helena.Grand documentary.
- StarsChristian ClavierIsabella RosselliniGérard DepardieuA masterful soldier, tactician, and statesmen, Napoleon Bonaparte, with courage and love for his country, rises from an unpaid general consumed with ambition to the most powerful man in Europe. But his life ends with a fall and exile.Clavier makes an impressive Napoleon.
- StarsIan HolmBillie WhitelawPeter BowlesA dramatized account of Napoleon's love life and his many women. From first love, marriage, and betrayal with Josephine, liaisons with actresses, his love for the beautiful patriotic Marie Walewska and his second marriage to Austrian Marie-Louise, all the time seeking an heir, and building an empire. There are nine fifty-minute episodes.Ian Holm is a fine Napoleon.
- DirectorPeter Spry-LevertonStarsBob Brier
- DirectorCarl HindmarchStarsStephen HoganVasile AlbinetDavid AndressIn 1794, French revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre produced the world's first defense of "state terror" - claiming that the road to virtue lay through political violence. This film combines drama, archive and documentary interviews to examine Robespierre's year in charge of the Committee Of Public Safety - the powerful state machine at the heart of Revolutionary France. Contesting Robespierre's legacy is Slavoj Zizek, who argues that terror in the cause of virtue is justifiable, and Simon Schama, who believes the road from Robespierre ran straight to the gulag and the 20th-century concentration camp. The drama, based on original sources, follows the life-and-death politics of the Committee during "Year Two" of the new Republic. It was a year which gave birth to key features of modern age: the thought crime; the belief that calculated acts of violence can perfect humanity; the notion that the interests of "mankind" can be placed above those of "man"; the use of policemen to enforce morals; and the use of denunciation as a political tool.Documentary illustrated by acted-out scenes.