Twilightfa Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

bkoganbing Georges Danton is given a full blown and full blooded portrayal in the film Danton by Gerard Depardieu. Danton is a joint French/Polish production and it's interesting to see the French Revolution portrayed by someone other than in the English speaking world which is always so heavily influenced by the work of Thomas Carlyle and the Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.I don't want to write anything like a mini-Carlyle so I won't give you a whole history of the French Revolution. Let's say that as this film opens what is commonly referred to as the Terror is in full swing as the Revolution gorges itself on blood for real or imagined slights. The two guys responsible for bringing it to where it is in 1794 are Georges Danton and Maximilien Robespierre.Robespierre is at the height of his power now and like most tyrants in the making confuses his own political survival with the principles for which the cause he espouses was started. As his rivals and potential rivals keep being denounced and keep going to the guillotine, there is only one man whose voice can make a difference, Robespierre's former colleague Georges Danton.These guys are as opposite in character as you can get. Danton is a lusty and hard living man who takes his earthly pleasures in great quantity and that's how Gerard Depardieu plays him. Polish actor Wojcieck Pszoniak plays Robespierre one of the creepiest human beings to attain power in any country in history. Cold-blooded and aesthetic he's merciless in his drive for total control of France and sees himself on some divine mission. Kind of like Osama Bin Laden.Danton would be surprised at how the film shows him going almost Christlike to his eventual doom. I'm sure that's not how he saw himself, still Depardieu and Pszoniak are remarkable in their work.Danton the film if not accurate history is an interesting interpretation of some very important history.

eric-1501 Many American pea-brains who worship and support the political half-truths of hucksters like Michael Moore would do well to sit through this movie more than once and see how hypnotic manipulators can scare, intimidate and lie to an underinformed public and get the people they fear or loathe killed, spindled and mutilated. Robespierre in this fine epic kills the opposition by remote control, all in a fit of self-righteous devotion to his principles. We get the impression that Robes felt it quite justifiable to snip off his opponent's heads, even as he sent his minions out to trump up false and misleading charges against the State. Today, the captains of our rotting media institutions are much more sensitive that Robes...they merely murder your character with innuendo and false charges laid down without foundation or sources. Witness Dan Rather's attempts to assassinate W's character on the eve of the 2004 election, or the constant drumbeat that the 2000 election was stolen, although constitutional scholars continue to scoff at such irresponsible drivel.

stanistreet Cinema, at its best is entertainment. If one is to question every aspect with which one finds room for disagreement,and much of recorded history is based on contemporary opinions - often biased - then one should leave the cinema, because their prejudices will always spoil their enjoyment. When I spotted an airplane flying overhead in a film dated 33BC I was amused. The background scenery in "Casablanca" is absurdly fake. So, do I set up a moan & say that the film failed to convince? Fiona, relax and enjoy some excellent acting. Wajda's decision to cast the protagonists as French & Polish was inspired. one was immediately aware of which side each of the main characters was representing. No need to dwell on the authenticity of the wigs. This is powerful cinema. If there is a political message which is still relevant today - have a dinner party - a Château d'Yquem with the foie-gras; a Puligny Montrachet with the entree; some Polish Vodka sorbets and perhaps a 1961 Château Lafite-Rothschild with the beef - and discuss the political aspects of Danton until you drop with fatigue. Danton would surely have agreed?

fredda_ruth Dalton- by Andrzej Wajda 1982 Wajda's `Dalton' is a superb movie in the great tradition and grand manner of a sweeping, dramatic historical epic. Danton, played with the perfect amount of bravura and zeal by Gerard Dieperdeu, is a one of the great pillars of the French revolution- he is fervently idolized, and as the leader of a huge publication, his power among the masses is immense and strong.He and his small band of intellectual fellow propagandists start criticizing the government- a fledgling one headed by Robiespierre (of the Revolutionary Committee) The latter cries foul, and is unwilling to slacken his desperate leash on the country through terror and force. The people are starving and scared, and faced with those who "have nothing to lose but their chains" (to quote appropriately from Marx), the Committee gets downright nasty.The film is a monumental narrative of the clash between these two mighty and principled men, culminating in the beheading of one of them. (of course you already know who the unlucky guy is if you know your world history). Underneath all the braggadocio and hedonism, Danton's indomitable will becomes awesome and meaningful. A less artistic director could have turned him into a caricature.Like Dostoevky, the director confronts the viewer with the tragic grandeur of humanity- but in this case, the tragedy of the "historical process" and necessity for revolution.Do we really attain true freedom, democracy and "liberty, fraternity, equality" when the people are starving and the leaders are using scare tactics? When do you justify a revolution and when do you call it mindless? Do revolutions and does great historical epochs happen by necessity or by the whims, caprices and action of A Few Good Men like Danton and Robiespierre, Bonaparte, etc. These are among the questions this urgently controlled movie bombarded me after firmly engaging my emotions and intellect.Indeed, the director pulls no punches but takes some well-aimed, unerring swipes at our old-fashioned ideas about politics. The story is set in the 1790s, but its message still boomerangs to this very day. Wajda presents us with a subject that could degenerate into propaganda but instead is shaped into great art- one that is done with great narrative force and in the heart's blood.