La Marseillaise
Year
: 1938
Director
: Jean Renoir
Summary
: A news-reel like movie about early part of the Frensh Revolution, shown from the eyes of individual people, citizens of Marseille, counts in German exile and, of course the king Louis XVI, showing their own small problems.
Chronicle of some of the events
that ~ · ntributed to the fall of the monarchy
PALACE OF VERSAILLES 14 JULY 1789
Slope annsl
Forward, marchl
Slope annsl
About tuml
Forward, marchl
By the leftl
Haltl
Slope annsl
Forward, marchl
Slope annsl
About tuml
Forward, marchl
I wish to speak to His Majesty.
Who is the gentleman-in-waiting?
Monsieur de Guéméné.
Announ ~= the Duke
de la Rochefou ~= uld-Lian ~ · urt.
Good evening, Guéméné.
l·Gndly infonn His Majesty that I am here.
I should wam you, Duke,
todays hunt was a lively one.
His Majesty is sleeping
like Hercules after his Iabours.
Pray, make haste, my dear Guéméné.
- Is it serious, then?
- I believe so.
His Majesty is awake. You may go in.
Ah, my dear La Rochefou ~= uld.
You're in luck.
I was avvoken by a pang of hunger.
It must be the hunting.
We were chasing a ten-pointed stag.
Theyre getting rare.
Pi ~= rd, put the small table on the bed.
Guéméné, my good man,
pour me a glass of wine.
My dear Duke,
pass me the chicken that Pi ~= rd placed
out of my reach last night.
Pi ~= rd thinks that because I am l·Gng
I must have long anns.
But you're mistaken, Pi ~= rd.
Thank you.
What is it?
Sire, the Parisians have taken the Bastille.
Is it a rebellion?
No, sire, iI's a revolution.
AVILLAGE IN PROVENCE JUNE 1790
lsawyou.
Please, your honour,
pardon a poor wretch.
I was wrong to shoot your pigeons
but they were eating my crop
and iI's my only livelihood.
You, therel
Come here. You ~= n be mywitnesses.
I didn't see anything.
No one asked your opinion.
Do as you're told.
Take him away.
TII6 •-= r = OIIAIIEIOIS ROUX,
otherwise known as Chamois,
accused of plundering.
This is not your first offen ~ =.
Last year my men ~= ught you
~· llecting twigs on the hillside at Roueraie.
Luckily for you,
it was on land owned by Monsieur Giraud,
mayor of this village, present here today.
His reprehensible weakness
has saved you from the galleys.
Count, a man is master of his own domain.
This is a flagrant ~= ¤ = this time.
The pigeon belongs to me
and there are witnesses.
I didn't see anything.
As squire of this village, I have inherited
the right to mete out justi ~ .
lt's a fairly thanldess prerogative
but I nsider it my duty
to excercise it unflinchingly.
We are first and foremost
here to serve His Majesty.
Myfriend, your ~= ¤ =
is beyond myjurisdiction.
I am going to have to defer it
to the bailivvick.
Come, ~· me, ~· me, sir.
These bailivvick judges have no more heart
than the mountain rocks,
no more sense than an old ~· · king pot.
With them it's the galleys for sure.
The galleys for a pigeon.
Do you think that's fair?
The pigeon has nothing to do with it.
It symbolises the order
it is my duty to defend.
It seems a pretty meagre symbol to me.
On it's been plucked,
there'll be nothing to it.
Let them kill our pigeons
and soon theyll be buming our castles.
So you admit that it is your fortune
and your feudal titles you are defending,
rather than His Majestys laws.
l'm defending them both.
lf you destroy the feudal order
which assures your rights,
that will be the end of our social stmcture
based on a respect
for natural and divine order.
An order of which you too
are a beneficiary.
A very small beneficiary.
But l've heard it all before.
You'd have me believe
that ifyour privileges disappear,
mine will too,
and that if I want to preserve
my modest wealth
I have to be an advocate
for the injusti ~= you live by.
In other words, that both our ~= uses,
that of the great squire
who owns half the land here
and that of poor Giraud,
fonner petty ofli ~ = r
on His Majestys vessels,
are interdependent.
I'd rather lose all my possessions and...
l've been ~= ught.
Do with me what you will.
What are you talking about?
Are you mad?
- Are you building a firepla ?
- Yes.
But your firepla ~= is all wrong.
You're not telling me
how to make a firepla =, are you?
l'm a mason by trade, and a good one.
So good that my ~· lleagues
~= Il me 'Hawk".
What's wrong with my firepla ~ = ?
The wind's blowing from the west.
You're in the open here, not in town.
The wind matters.
Here. l've got a good one.
Who's this?
l've no idea. Who are you?
- What about you?
- We're from Marseilles.
- Are you fleeing the l·Gng's justi ~=
- Not the IGng's, the aristocrats'.
- Me too.
- We haven't done anything wrong.
We're patriots. These days in Nlarseilles
that's enough to put you in prison.
I killed a pigeon.
That's enough to send you to the galleys.
Do you know the area?
Yes, I was bom in Cadolive,
behind that hill there.
The parish priest is an old friend.
He brings us food when he ~= n.
- Have you got a leather belt?
- I have.
It was a gift from my mother.
Here.
That will make a good sling
for the blackbirds.
lt's the season for it.
-Haveayougotapi ofstring?
-Whatfor?
Snares for the rabbits.
There are plenty around here.
You strike me as quite a hunter.
I know. The Count thinks so too.
- What's your name?
- Jean-Joseph Bomier.
l'm Anatole Roux.
But round here they ~= Il me Chamois.
- What about you?
- My name's Amaud.
Honore Amaud.
l'm a customs ofli ~ = r in Marseilles.
- Will you stay with us?
- I'd be happy to.
Very happy to.
But we'lI have to redo this firepla =.
What are you like?
This is the life.
You want a blackbird, you take the sling
and you've got your blackbird.
You want a hare,
you put a bit of string in the woods
and you've got your hare.
lt's all about understanding
and observing nature's mysteries.
But that's the most fascinating thing there is.
lt's a simple life.
Why don't we shy here forever?
What about your mother?
Don't you want to see her again?
Of urselwanttosee heragain.
But it makes me sick to think how I wasted
myyouth ~· ped up in that house.
It was like living in a cupboard.
l've made up my mind. l'm shying here.
What about women?
l'm too old to ~= re but you're still young.
We uld bring a pretty young thing here.
Between us we uld easilyfeed her
and she uld help out with the ~· king.
You'd end up
beating the hell out of each other.
One of you would want
to keep her all to yourself.
I njustseeit.
lfwe had everything we needed here -
bread, salt, brandy, women,
not to mention ~~· -
this pla would be like a town.
Better to go to Nhrseilles
and clean up there,
get rid of the aristocrats
and good-for-nothings
and profrt from our parents' Iabours.
- Friends.
- lt's Pagetl
So this is how you keep watchl
There's no need to keep watch.
No one ~· mes here.
What have you brought us?
All that a poor parish priest ~= n afford -
bread, cheese, toba .
lt's good bread.
We should thank your God
that you're a friend of Amaud's.
He doesn't do all this out of friendship.
No, I do it because
l've had enough of going hungry too.
Our pIight...
would incite pity in the stone path
trod by our wom-out shoes.
Tum your rabbit. lt's getting bumt.
Leave me alone.
Who's ~· king it, me or you?
Now he fancies himself as a ~· · k.
There's no telling him.
For a year now l've had
no window panes in my vi ~= rage.
Meanwhile the Bishop is living in a pala
and keeps mistresses.
As a servant of Christ,
he should be ashamed of such debauchery.
He's a boy of 22. lt's woeful.
But a noble boy, not a ~· mmon boy.
When we father a child,
we pass on the ~· lour of our hair
or the shape of our nose.
But when a nobleman makes love,
without further ado,
he gives birth to all manner of hlents -
politi ~= I, milihry, ecclesiasti ~= I.
The kid finds himself knowing everything
without ever having Ieamt anything.
We small parish priests are like sergeants,
and like our ~· unterparts in the anny
we have given up all hope
ofever becoming ofli rs.
I was widowed young,
all my children are dead and l'm glad.
lf ordinary folk had any sense,
they wouldn't have any more children.
Your rabbit looks ~· ked now.
You're right.
‘ P¤¤eu
- on.
Have you seen the smoke?
There, behind that clearing.
That's Bigeor's castle buming.
That smoke there is ~· ming
from my bishop's brother's castle.
Children, the time has ~· me
for you to leave the mounhin.
We need you.
All the same, I'd like to see the look
on the ~=»¤ of those squires.
lf someone were to bum my house down,
I wouldn't be happy.
lfyou got ten years in the galleys,
would you be happy?
Instead of civilising us,
our masters have hught us bad habits.
Their barbaric behaviour
has made us barbaric too.
Theyre reaping what theyve sown.
Theyre like vennin.
lt's not their fault. God made them like that.
lt's in their nature to do hann.
But now that we have strengthened
our defen ~ = , we'lI get rid of them.
Now I regret that my children are dead.
You young people are going to
make a new life for yourselves.
Goodbye, my friends.
Whatever you do, don't retreat.
Goodbye, Chamois.
Goodbye, my friend.
Farewell, Chamois.
I'Il never forget what you've hught me.
Here, give me that.
You'Il have guns in the town.
MARSEILLES OCTOBER 1790
Amaud, Young Citizens.
- Bomier, where's your ~= rd?
-Why do I need a rd? Don't you know us?
I shouldn't let you through.
Why all this bureaucracy?
You don't need a ~= rd to shrt a revolution.
You and your ~· lleagues,
the writers and scholars,
have invented all this red hpe
to make you feel imporhnt.
My friend, you ~= n't create order
out of disorder.
Come on.
Citizen Moreille was athcked in the streets
and the mayor of Nhrseilles does nothing.
Yes, we want order in our streets.
Reactionaries must respect the law.
And the rich must pay their hxes.
We dockers of Nhrseilles,
disciplined workers
and opponents of violen ~ =,
we stopped the mob from ransacking
fanner RebufI'et's house.
We ~· ndemn the cowardly athcks
and disturban ~=»: ofthe ~=
by reactionaries showing their vexation
at the peopIe's victory.
He's rightl They should all be hanged.
That's why we give you
our wholehearted support.
I now ~= Il upon Citizen Moissan to speak.
Moissan will sum up the situation for us.
To sum up -
while the French
are witnessing the wonderful sight
of l·Gng and Nation united
in their desire for the ~· mmon good,
a handful of troublemakers
are ~ · mpromising the work of the revolution.
We see them behind shop ~· unters,
where they work to raise the cost of living.
We see them in govemment,
plotting against measures
that meet with this ~· untrYs approval.
We see them in the anny.
Here in Nhrseilles, the forts at Notre-Dame
de la Garde, Saint-Jean and Saint-Ni ~· las
are in the hands ofofli rs who refuse to
respond to the l·Gng's and deputies' wishes.
Under cover of ~= nnons tumed on the town,
troublemakers are chasing out the patriots.
Power to the patriotsl
By agreement with the new town ~· uncil,
as citizens of Nhrseilles,
members of the civic guard,
of clubs and patriotic groups,
we have decided to seize these forts
and pla ~= them
under authorities that we have elected.
In books, you read about
wonderful sunrises.
That's because
writers are still in bed at that time of day.
More often than not, sunrise is ~· Id
and grey and the ~· Iours are miserable.
I know what l'm saying, l'm a painter.
- What do you paint? Portraits?
- No.
I paint ancient heroes -
Romans, Sparhns.
- What?
- Patriotsl
l've given up painting the aristocrats'
shepherds and shepherdesses.
Javel, Ardisson,
time to go.
Come on.
- All right, Diogene?
- Fine.
Good.
Let's go.
You in there, open up.
- What do you want?
- We're bringing wine.
- Wine? Where from?
- Ravel.
It's a gift from the town ~· uncil
to the fort's garrison.
I'Il ~· me down. Go round to the main gate.
Come on.
Let's go.
Go in.
Unload your barrel in this ~· mer.
- Why not further on?
- That's none of your business.
- Careful, gently.
- OK.
- You're being very ~= reful with this barrel.
- Say...
~= n't you see it's an old barrel?
It's not good to shake it up
and disturb the wine.
You seem like strange fellows.
Go on, be offwith you now.
Go on, go away.
You're not very generous.
After the work we've done,
you might at least offer us a drink.
Begone, I say. I have my orders.
- Go on.
- At least shake my hand, ~· mrade.
Hey, what are you doing?
The Nation has ~· me to seize the fort.
l·GndIy hand over your rifles to my ~· mrades.
There, that's the spirit.
Javel, hke his gun.
Can't you see
he doesn't know what to do with it?
- Ardisson, guard the door.
- Don't wony.
Come here, you two. Give him your rifle.
Guard the prisoners.
Watch they don't =»¤ ~= pe. Theyre fierce.
Don't make a sound.
This is the barrack room.
Helpl Brigandsl
We're being athcked by brigandsl
Don't be afraid, ~· mrades.
We don't wish you any hann.
Watch outl Watch outl
Angle bayonetsl
No unnecessary bloodshed.
Give yourself up, citizen sergeant.
It's for the best.
- How many are out there?
- At least 2,000.
2,000? In that ~= ¤ , give up your weapons.
Amaudl
l've found the keeper of the keys.
Can I fetch Cuculiere?
Yes, go.
- Comill
- Well, I neverl
My lleague, it's good to see you.
I didn't know you were in the anny.
We used to be lleagues.
We both ~· me from Aubagne.
- What are you doing here?
- Can't you see? l'm keeping watch.
- Who put you there?
- I did.
It was my own initiative to mount guard.
- Do you have a leader?
- Yes, he's ~= lled Amaud.
He's inside.
There's toba ~ ~ · over there.
Who's that?
That's the Nhrquis de Saint-Laurent,
~· mmander-in-chief of all NhrseiIles' forts.
He's a d ~= fellow.
- Here.
- Thanks.
How do you do, Nhrquis?
l've seen some strange sights
in the urse of my long ~= reer,
but l've never seen anything quite like this.
- How many prisoners are there?
- 22.
- Politi ~= prisoners?
- All of them.
And no lettres de chetl
Are you Monsieur Amaud?
Citizen Amaud.
Ah. l'm ~ · mmander-in-chief
of the forts of Nhrseilles.
l'm a ~ ~ · unhble for them
to His Nhjesty the IGng.
l'm asking you to lay down your anns
and to leave with your troop.
Cuculierel
Oh, Bomier.
But what's wrong?
My eyes hurt.
In this dungeon everyone gets sore eyes.
The fort's doctor says
there's nothing to be done.
There's damp dripping down the walls.
What are you doing here?
- We've just seized the fort.
- Well, I neverl
That's great news.
Yes, that really is good news.
Hows Amaud?
Don't you wony about Amaud.
He's in better shape than you.
Come on, Iet's go.
Long live the Nationl
You justify what I ~· nsider
to be acts of rebellion
with words I do not undershnd.
The Nation, the citizens.
What do you mean by that?
The Nation is the brotherly union
of all Frenchmen.
It's you, it's me.
It's passers-by in the streets.
It's that fishennan in his boat.
And the citizens are the people
who make up the Nation.
I have nothing to do with these people.
This is a new religion that I ~= nnot adopt.
I only know how to serve the IGng.
Or rather what you suppose
serving the l·Gng to mean.
When a king is the prisoner
of his unmly subjects
and ~= n no longer mle freely,
his loyal servants have no option
but to suppose.
I have a question.
What do you intend to do with me?
To bid you a good joumey to the frontier,
and a happy shy in Gennany,
and to never see you again.
Guests are requested
to payoneweek in advan
Nhdame, I find that song very moving.
It reminds me of our Proven ~ .
You must excuse me.
Singing it brings tears to my eyes.
Nhdame de Saint-Laurent,
the time for regrets is past.
- You'Il see your Fran ~= again.
- When.
In three weeks, monsieur.
At last.
What about you, Monsieur de Boishue?
Will you fight with your ~· mpany
or will you be appointed
to the General Shff?
l've asked to serve in the ranks.
What worries me
is that my shoes are shrting
to gape insolently.
But never mind. I'Il go barefoot,
if necessary, to serve the IGng.
My dear Boishue,
your shoes will hold out until Paris.
This expedition will be a mere stroll.
I ~= n see it now, His Highness
the Count d'Artois arriving in the city,
sitting nonchalantly between Nhdemoiselle
de Poupry and Nhdame de Lage.
The gates are opened to him
and the popula kneels
and presents him with the keys.
Delivered at last,
the people lovingly cheer
the white flag and the fteur-de-Iys.
Even ifthere is a battle,
the revolutionaries won't hold out.
You ~= n't wage war with an anny
of bblers, weavers and lawyers.
You're forgetting something,
my dear friends.
What's that, my dear Saint-Laurent?
We haven't defeated the French yet
and theyll fight every inch of the way.
Really?
In Rosbach during the Seven Years' War,
did they fight every inch of the way
against the Pmssians?
You know the quatrain
about Nhrshal de Soubise?
Holding up a lantem, Soubise said,
'I've looked everywhere.
Where the devil is my anny?
'It was here yesterday moming.
Has it been ~= ptured or have I mislaid it?'
Today these Pmssians are on our side
and we are led by the Duke of Bmnswick,
the triumphant victor
of that same Seven Years' War.
I simply love the Pmssians.
Sin ~= the blessed day
I teamed they were with us,
I sing their praises at every opportunity.
And I had the pleasure and the honour
of meeting His Nhjesty
the l·Gng of Pmssia at Pillnitz.
Perhaps I have told you before.
Yesl
Now there is a man,
a real Achilles,
an Agamemnon.
He weighs at least 200 pounds.
On seeing him,
even the most short-sighted Ja bin
would have to ncede
that all men are not equal.
Long live Pmssia and the Pmssiansl
l'm afraid I don't share your enthusiasm,
madame.
Having so boldly declared ourselves
champions of the Catholic faith,
it seems rather obscene
for us to team up with these hereti »¤.
It's a marriage of a ~= rp and a rabbit.
Ifwe are rabbits,
let us not be ungrateful rabbits.
Let us give thanks to the generous ~= rp
who is, after all, saving us from shrvation.
OI. t|tSB...
Of ~· urse this hotel is not Versailles.
But without these hereti »¤ ,
we'd be sleeping in the gutter,
and let us not forget that it is thanks to them
that we will be retuming to Fran ~ =.
That is precisely what irks me.
When we emigrated two years ago,
everything was good and pure.
There was no question
of us soliciting help from abroad.
Rightly or wrongly,
we wanted to uphold the ideas
we nsidered essential
to our ~· untrys greatness.
But we wanted
to champion those ideas ourselves,
not to wash our dirty linen in public.
Ifyou invite the neighbours in on washday,
there's a chan ~=
theyll make off with a few items.
My dear boy, a drowning man
naffordtogiveawayhiswatch
to whoever pulls him out of the water.
At the very most,
your scmples apply to the little men,
the peasants, the craftsmen,
who live ~· nfined to their ~· mer of the land.
They ~= n have no breadth of vision.
They only ever travel
as far as the neighbouring village,
and when they get married,
it is to the daughter of some I ~= I crony.
Their children and grandchildren
will never experien ~= any other life.
It's undershndable
that those people revel in the word 'nation'.
Do you want me to tell you
what their nation ~· nsists of?
It is the merging of the rabble
with people of quality.
I know another definition
of this word 'nation'.
I Ieamt it in Nhrseilles
from the man who drove me
out of the fort I ~· mmanded there.
His name was Amaud.
He seemed d ~ = nt enough
and yet he was a patriot.
lfthere are many revolutionaries like him,
they ~· uld make our lives difticult.
Monsieur de Faugerolles,
Monsieur de Saint-Laurent,
PNY. *=t= ¤ = your histori ~= discussions
immediately.
We need you to settle a differen
of opinion of the utmost imporhn ~ =.
Come.
At Versailles,
in the third figure of the gavotte,
does one look right on tuming right, or left?
But it's quite simple. Look.
lt's unbelievable. l've forgotten.
- What about you, my dear Saint-Laurent.
- l'm afraid l'm no expert.
Why not ask Boishue,
fonner pillar of the Trianon?
Excellent idea. Monsieur Boishue.
lt's quite simple.
You must keep looking
your partner in the eyes
while looking over your shoulder.
VALENCIENNES APRIL 1792
Who goes there?
Forgive me, citizen.
I thought it was the Austrians.
The Austrians are not far away.
- Where are you from?
- Grands Mottes on the road to Mons.
Snipers were firing at the Austrians.
They set fire to the village
and arrested all the men.
They took my husband and hanged him.
Is it tme there are Frenchmen with them?
lt is, the aristocrats, the Koblenz anny.
lt'sadisgra .
Citizen, won't you rest with your child?
We've lit a fire.
How ~= n you light fires and rest while
they hang my husband and bum my house?
There's no one protecting us in this war.
What is the Nation's anny doing?
They say the Austrians are laughing
their heads off at the way you cleared off.
- Did you hear that?
- Yes.
- She's right.
- Yes.
-Isyourcrow ~··
-No.
- lt's dry as an old sans-culotte.
- lt's an old crow.
We're lucky to have found it.
Ifwe had to rely on La Fayette's rations...
Those aristocrats would have us shrve
while they betray their ~· untry.
And de Rochambeau.
Do you know him? De Rochambeau?
The general? I haven't had the pleasure.
I don't know him.
But I know Nhrat.
He ~= me to Rouen on and I spoke to him.
When we Parisians arrived in Toumai,
De Rochambeau
gathered us in the urtyard.
We'd me from Douai, we'd been walking
all day and we were not a pretty sight.
We hadn't shaved sin ~= leaving Paris
so our beards were something else.
We looked like Wandering Jews.
Anyway, de Rochambeau,
he ~= me out of his salon,
wiping his mouth with his napkin.
Naturally he'd just stuffed his belly.
He had a good long look at us.
and he took his time,
behaving as ifwe had full bellies too.
And he said to us,
with a scom that I'Il never forget,
'\Nhat do you want me to do with you?
You're too smaIl.'
Small? Smalll
- How hll are you?
- Nearly five foot.
- You're a fine man.
- l'm the hllest in my trade.
- What do you do?
- l'm a house painter in Batignolles village.
Near Paris. What about you?
l'm a ~· · per from Damehl near Rouen.
You know, what these men reproach us for
is being volunteers, wearing blue coats,
and tmsting those who mn our regiments,
the National Assembly, Robespierre, Nhrat.
In a word, for being patriots.
Nearly all the ofti ~ = rs are aristocrats.
To my mind, anyone with a handle
to his name is a traitor.
lf only these gentlemen ~· uld be ~· ntent
with fighting openly for the other side.
But while they scom the Nation,
they don't scom the money the Assembly
is stupid enough to pay them.
'I get paid, I betray,'
that's their motto.
What's this?
lt's the hussars and theyre going east.
- To give themselves up to the Austrians.
- Do you think so?
lt wouldn't be the first time.
Remember the Bercheny regiment,
only last Tuesday.
How much are the Austrians paying you,
per man and per horse?
Judasl
Look here, you bashrd.
I'Il soon shut you up.
Clear off or we'lI shoot.
The more horses we shoot,
the fewer you'lI be selling to the Austriansl
We've no time to lose.
Well, old friend,
ifthings don't change soon
between the Austrians and Paris,
there'll only be the two of us left.
Citizens, my name is Louise Vauclair.
l'm a fishmonger down at the docks
andlpaymyhxes.
l've metotell you
that on 28 April last year,
near a town in the north ~= lled Mons,
my lover, Antoine Givodan...
Old Tonil He's my lleague.
- Shut upl Go on, citizen.
- Sit down.
My lover, Antoine Givodan,
volunteer from 1791,
sergeant in the 49th infantry regiment,
was killed by the Austrians.
Citizen Antoine Bezombe,
cavalryman in the Sth dragoons regiment
brought me the news
when he retumed to Nhrseilles wounded.
He told me my lover had been killed
while fleeing from the enemy.
Citizens, perhaps
some of you here knew him.
Ifyou did, you would know
that Antoine Givodan was afraid of nothing
and that if he fled,
it's because he was betrayed.
- I knew Antoine Givodan.
- Me too.
- Be quiet, my friend.
- Hand on heart.
And what's more I still owe him two crowns
that he lent me at the fair.
Citizens...
l've ~· me to ask
ifwe are to ~· ntinue sending our men
to be killed in a war where
their greatest enemy is not in front of them
but behind them.
Well said.
Down with the Austrian Committee.
Enough.
l'm not hlking about the aristocratic traitors
who ~= It for our untrys defeat,
sin ~= this defeat will restore their privileges.
l'm hlking about the IGng,
l'm hlking about the Queen,
l'm hlking about the Assembly.
His Nhjesty Mr Veto is a traitor
because he's a man of straw.
Mrs Veto is a traitor
because she's Austrian,
because she's arrogant,
because she hates Fran ~ .
She believes that the annies
of her nephew the Austrian Emperor
will serve to reinshte her absolute authority.
She forgets that the people
~= nnot be led like a husband...
and that we women are here.
And the Assembly is betraying us
because it is afraid.
These gentlemen want a revolution all right,
but one that is to their advanhge.
When the advanhge passes to the people,
they rein in and cry anarchy.
Citizens...
just one word.
Is it a woman's pla
to ~· me to this tribunal
and say such things?
Yesl
I mainhin that
a woman's pla is in the home.
And your pla is in the galleys.
Get him out. Leavel
There's hlk of sending
a bathlion from Nhrseilles to the north.
They are to pass through Paris
before going to the frontier.
But there's been so much hlk
that we've become mistmstful.
What we want is some ~ = rtitude,
the assuran ~= that our men,
before going to ~= the Austrian guns,
will have dealt with those criminal leaders...
those criminal leaders
who pla ~= their own self-interest
before the safeguard of their ~· untry.
Ifwe don't get that assuran ~ =,
we'lI go and shnd
in the path of our volunteers.
Theyll have to stop
0I' 'IIBHIPIG 0V6I' US.
But I think theyll stop.
l've spoken.
Down with the anarchistsl
Down with Robespierrel
Long live Robespierrel
Your Robespierre
shows neither eloquen ~= nor dignity.
In fact, he's a republi ~= n.
Robespierre? No eloquen ~= No dignity?
Just you wait and see, ~· mrade.
SIIGII + = I
Citizens...
are you slaves or free men?
Nhy I remind you to respect this pla ,
this club for friends of the ~ · nstitution,
this free tribunal
where Ja bin tradition demands
that everyone has the right
to have his or her say.
I ~= It on Citizen Moissan to speak.
Citizens,
let me explain why the town of Nhrseilles
has decided to send a bathlion
of volunteers to the north.
This bathlion, just like other federates
leaving from every mer of Fran ,
will represent the will of the Nation
before the l·Gng and the Assembly.
The town of Nhrseilles
will ask of each volunteer
that he go first to Paris
to link up with the platoons of patriots
and the authorities from other departments
and to shy in the ~= pihl until
the patriotic ministers have been recalled.
Harsh measures
against refractory priests,
against agents of foreign powers,
against speculators.
And other opponents of the revolution.
Only on ~= these measures
have been implemented
and the safety of the Nation is assured
will our federates proceed to the frontier
to fight our foreign enemy.
The foreign enemy to the galleysl
To respond to the accusations
of our adversaries,
who will not fail to portray us
in the blackest light possible,
the town of Nhrseilles has decided to only
allow into their bathlions those citizens
who ~= n prove their worth.
Our volunteers will have to prove
that they have no criminal record
and that they have the means
to feed their family in their absen ~ =.
Theyll have to pledge
that they have no debts.
This expedition must not be an excuse
for any man to shirk his responsibilities.
They will have to have served
either in the anny
or in the National Guard
or a civic fonnation.
Citizens,
the first enlistment register is now open.
Heroes of the south,
saviours of the north,
your untry is lling you.
Come on, me on, me onl
String up the aristocracyl
Come on, me on, me onl
We'lI hang all the aristocratsl
Bomier, what are you waiting for?
Bomier, aren't you ming?
- No.
- What do you mean? Aren't you going?
- No.
- You're letting us go to Paris alone?
You're not going alone.
There are 500 of you.
- lt's your mother.
- Is it that business with Nhrie?
Maybe.
I don't get it, Jean-Joseph Bomier,
fellow mrade,
one of the liberators of this town.
You had great plans to leave.
You dreamt only of the sacrifi ~=»:
you'd make for your ~· untry.
Now the time to act has ~· me,
you're deserting us.
You were so scomful
of the l·Gng's weakness for his wife,
but you're just the same as him.
You're sacrificing
your honour and dignity for a woman.
Farewell, Bomier.
lt's as if my brother had just died.
HERE WE ARE PROUD
TO SPEAK FRENCH
The Mouté boy is going, Aunt.
Going where?
To Paris. All the young men of Nhrseilles
are going to Paris.
Yes, I know.
- Are you not eating?
- No.
We've made tomatoes
the way you like them.
l'm not hungry. Aren't you eating?
I'Il eat after you.
You're the head of the family,
the man of the house.
What would your poor father say
if he saw a woman at the hble with you?
Those old customs don't apply any more.
Sit down, please.
No, at my age you ~= n't change your ways.
Why aren't you eating?
You're going to Paris
and you're afraid to tell us.
No, l'm not going.
l'm glad to see you're being sensible.
Where would all this unrest get you?
All these battles against men who are
stronger, richer and better anned than you?
You'd have no hope of winning.
Believe me,
there will always be rich and poor.
Your friends will never change that.
But sin ~= you're not leaving,
why won't you eat?
- Is there something else?
- Yes.
Is it that creature?
- What's wrong with Clémen ~ = ?
- You must be blind.
Tmst men to go looking elsewhere
for what's on their doorstep.
What's she done to you, that woman?
Has she left again?
Yes, but I don't ~= re.
And she's hken your money.
She didn't hke it, I gave it to her,
to buy a shop with.
And now I have debts.
And I n't leave because
the bathlion won't hke people with debts.
And my best friends, Amaud, Cuculiere,
Gamier, Moissan, Ardisson,
the best this town has to offer,
boys who are like brothers to me,
theyre all going and l'm shying.
Theyll be right in the thick of things in Paris
because great things
are going to happen there.
And meanwhile I'Il be shying here,
eating my heart out,
looking out over these rooftops,
this street, that ~· mer of sea out there,
all so familiar
I don't even noti ~= them any more.
Listen, it's simple.
Write to your uncle in Cassis.
Sin ~= he's looking after
our eshte as well as his,
ask him to sell the vineyard.
He's got money,
perhaps he ~= n buy it himself.
You're the head of the family,
you ~= n do what you like.
Thank you, Mother.
l'm going to enrol straight away.
I must be quick. There are so many of us
and theyre only hking 500.
Auntl
Please, close the window.
- Do you meet the ~· nditions?
- Yes.
Do you swear
that you have no debts or obligations?
- Give me that penl
- How are you, Bomier?
Well, I neverl l've ~· me to enrol.
There's a queue, ~· mrade.
SIIGII + = I
SIIGII + = .
- P°P¤rs_
- Horo-
Why have you not enlisted yet?
I got held up.
Me too. I was in Avignon.
Thetown uncil mmissioned me
to paint Bnrtus killing that traitor Caesar.
Move forward.
There are 1,500 citizens from Avignon
dressed as Romans in the painting
and theyre all perfectly recognisable.
I think we'lI just make it.
Theyve already got over 450.
lfthey didn't make it so difficult, they ~· uld
have sent more than 5,000 men to Paris.
Move forward.
- What's going on in there?
- I don't know.
A banquet in honour
of the Montpellier delegates.
Apparently their bathlion is ready to leave.
Pity we're not leaving with them.
l've heard that near Tarascon
there's an anny of 50,000 aristocrats
anned to the hilt and led by priests.
- Priests?
- Yes, refractory priests.
Are there really 50,000 of them?
At least.
We're moving.
Don't close the door.
Let's hear what theyre saying.
- Who's singing?
- lt's Mireur from Montpellier.
- What's he singing?
- I don't know.
Move forward.
- Farewell, Bomier.
- Farewell, Javel.
NexL
Jean-Joseph Bomier.
- Do you have your papers?
- Yes, here.
Can you give your word
that you have no debts
and your family ~= n survive without you?
I swear on the Nation.
Amaudl
- You're herel
- Cuculiere, l'm glad to see you.
I knew you'd me.
Your signature, citizen.
What are you waiting for?
I liked Mireur's song
but it wasn't quite right.
Right hand down, Bomier.
What does it mean?
"l'o anns, citizens. Fonn your bathlionsl'
Yet they make it so difficult
for citizens who want to fonn a bathlion
just because theyre poor or have debts.
Enough of that hlk. You'Il hlk tomorrow.
Well, I don't know.
lt's a strange revolution
where only those who pay hxes
~= n serve their untry.
Give the revolution a chan ~ =.
lt's in its infancy.
lt's the rich who shrted it,
but the poor will finish it, you'lI see.
- When?
- l've no idea. We may not live to see it.
Where does Mireur's song ~· me from?
He heard a choir of workers
from Montpellier singing it.
They took it from a Jewish pedlar
who'd heard it in Strasbourg.
lt's the Rhine Annys marching song.
Who wrote it?
The Rhine Anny or the Jewish pedlar?
Neither. lt was a man ~= Iled...
Des Isles or De L'Isle,
an offi ~ = r in the Engineers.
- Where's he from?
- I don't know.
He's definitely not from the south.
There's something northem about this song.
Something brash which I don't like.
What do you like?
but I think a mposer
should follow the mles of hannony.
Your mles of hannony
are for the aristocrats.
Well, I for one
was bowled over by that song.
lt's as if it echoes my own thoughts.
I don't know what you see in it.
lt's a passing fad that everyone
will have forgotten in a fortnight.
To anns, citizensl
Fonn your bathlionsl
Let us march, let us marchl
Nhy impure blood
Soak our fieIds' furrovvsl
Sacred patriotic love
Lead and support our avenging anns
Liberty, cherished liberty
Fight back with your defenders
Fight back with your defendersl
Under our flags, let victory
Huny to your manly tone
So that your enemies, in their last breath
See your triumph and our gloryl
- You're singing?
- Only because everyone else is.
Fall inl
Fall inl
Attentionl
- Do you undershnd?
- Yes.
All right, Iet's try it.
Two, three...
What does this band of slaves...
This hordel
Band, horde ....
What's the differen ~=
OK, ready. One, two, three...
What does this horde of slaves
Traitors, and plodding kings want?
Plotting, garlic headl
Plodding, plotting...
This song is full of unpronoun ~=»= ble words.
I give up.
Caphin, I am the most senior priest
in the town.
I will be praying
for the success of your enterprise.
- See that priest hlking to Moissan?
- Yes.
- He's the vanguard of the reactionary anny.
- You don't say.
His poisonous tongue
is more dangerous than the sirens' song.
Javel?
You're an in ~· rrigible pessimist.
You ~= n't assume that every man
who wears a cassock is a reactionary.
Don't forget what the priests
have done for the revolution.
We load in twelve shges.
A good soldier
loads ~= lmly without losing his head.
Any jerky movements
will result in spilt powder.
Watch. One - hke up your weapon,
left hand at the first barrel band,
right hand on the stock,
foreann against the butt.
Two - open the pan.
Three - hke a ~= rtridge.
Four - tear open the ~= rtridge.
Five - put in just enough powder
to fill the pan.
The force of your shot depends on that.
Anything you spill won't be in the barrel
pushing your bullet out.
Using your thumb and forefinger,
close your ~= rtridge paper.
Six - close the pan.
Seven - weapon to the left.
Eight - ~= rtridge in the barrel.
Nine - hke out the ramrod
in two ~= reful movements.
Ten - ram the rodtvvi
hard down inside the barrel.
Eleven - repla the ramrod.
And twelve - shoulder anns.
See?
Straw.
Roomy boots
with a good handful of straw inside.
That way your feet will be fresh as daisies
when you reach Paris.
What are you saying?
lf only newspapers were cheaper.
There's nothing better.
Stuff and nonsense.
The best thing is ni ~= soft hllow.
The idea is to mb it between your toes.
With that, you'lI fly like the wind.
Amaud, look at the kindling
l've found for the fire, just like in Nhrseilles.
We've got a revolutionary in Monhlvent too.
Just one and it's my nephew.
He had to leave in secret for Paris
because of the reactionary town ~· uncil.
Will you give him two messages from me?
OI. UISB,
but where will I find your nephew?
In Paris, Itold you. He's ~= lled Besson
like me, first name Jules.
You'Il easily recognise him.
He's a hll boy with frecldes.
Right. What are these messages, then?
First, I would like you
to give him these 20 fran »¤.
On you've got rid ofMr Veto,
and before going to do the same
to the Austrians,
I want him to have a blovv-out.
I'Il make sure of it, I promise.
What's the second thing?
I'd like you to teach him the song
your ~· mrades were singing just now.
The Rhine Anny song?
Do you like it that much?
Yes. For us it will always be
the song of the Nhrseillais.
I'Il teach it to him, then, I promise.
The best verse is one a kind schoolmaster
~· mposed in our honour.
'\Ne shall enter the ~= reer
when our elders are no longer there.'
Amaud, do you want some grilled pork?
You should have seen those youngsters
singing the verse he ~· mposed one night.
In front of the temples
of Augustus and Livy.
Pass me some pork, Cuculiere.
Here, Monsieur Livy.
lt was a wonderful sight, my friends.
I'Il do a painting of it and I'Il ~= It it
"l'he Fran ~= of tomorrow
in front of the mins of ancient Rome.'
- What are we waiting for here?
- A ~= nnon has fallen in a ditch.
A ~= nnon in a ditch?
A likely story.
Theyre just trying to reassure us.
- What do you think, then?
- I think we've arrived.
- Where?
- Where the anny of priests is.
We're here, quietly sitting on this stone.
Any minute we'lI see them
emerge from that wood
and fall on us when we least expect it.
A ~= nnon in a ditch? What a jokel
lt must be some ditch.
An aristocratic ditch.
Tmer than you think.
We're in a royalist district.
Theyre happy
to leave the roads in this shte
to prove that
sin ~= they got rid of forced labour,
it's impossible to get around in Fran ~ =.
lt's always the same hctic,
trying to prove to the people
that the decrees of the revolution
dismpt public life.
Amaud, you've tom your breeches.
Pass them over and I'Il mend them.
Then I'Il be a sans-culotte.
Javel ~= n do a painting of it.
Go with Nhssugue.
He's in charge of the vanguard.
YGS, •-= [IIBIII.
The wheels are damaged
but the rest is all right.
Ifwe look after it, it will do us fine.
I wonder what theyll think in Paris
when they hear our song.
Moissan's idea to get us to sing it
as we arrive is rather a risky one.
Riskyl I keep telling you,
this song will unite all Frenchmen.
lt will be like a new federation.
When the Parisians hear
these magnifi ~ = nt verses,
theyll do as everyone else does.
Theyll cheer us and sing along with us.
The frightened queen
will retum to her ~· untry on the Danube...
With the Croatians.
Yes, with the Cratians.
And the l·Gng will withdraw his veto,
recall his patriotic ministers,
and in a fortnight we'lI be eating
sausages and sauerkraut in \Iienna,
•-= pI'I§EI Of AUSIII8.
The Croatians only eat ~= ndles,
you ignoramus.
Say, Bomier, didn't you say
this song was a passing fad
and that it would be forgotten in a fortnight?
I said that? Where and when?
Off the Chateau d'lf,
last time we went out fishing,
Monsieur Bomier.
Precisely, Monsieur Amaud,
I remember very well.
I even told you that this song
was like the echo of my own thoughts.
Say, how long have we been marching for?
- Two days.
- lt feels like a ntury.
At Ieastl
Take heart, be patient. We're almost there.
Who knows, they might have shrted
a ~· unter-revolution up there by now.
Do you think so?
You don't think Robespierre
will be there to wel ~· me us, do you?
More likely the Austrian Emperor
with his anny of Jesuits and janissaries.
And up there in Paris,
there's no =»¤ ~= ping to the mounhins.
Eh, Amaud? Do you remember how good
it was in the mounhins with Chamois?
Forward.
What's happening in Paris?
What's happening?
Where are the Dauphinois?
- l've lost the Dauphinois.
- Citizen.
lt's your head you've lost, more like.
Citizen, vacate this shnd.
lt's reserved for the Breton troops.
So this is equality?
Why do the Bretons have a right
to be on this shnd and I don't?
And why you and not the Bretons?
lf everyone behaved like you,
it would be a shambles.
Are you not ashamed
of hking up the pla of our brothers
who have left their region
to me and save our untry?
HERE LIES THE BASTILLE
This isn't a painting, it's a fresco.
What about me?
- Again.
- lt's only natural, isn't it?
- Good wine, citizen.
- lt's from my vineyard in Argenteuil.
- What about Robespierre?
- lt's simple.
You'Il find him at the Ja bin Club.
We've organised a banquet
in a café on the Champs-Elysées.
Any of your ~· mrades who wish
to hke up our invihtion are wel ~· me.
Your wel ~ · me is heartfelt.
Our whole shff will be there.
I see the sun shines in Paris too.
You ~= n't imagine, citizen,
the extraordinary enthusiasm
we en ~· untered on our way here.
So you had a good joumey?
For mple, in a region lled...
..and sin ~= Nhrseilles
I haven't seen tomatoes...
Is that the Champs-Elysées?
What a strange namel
lt was the name the Ancients had
for the resting pla of the dead.
- Where are the dead, then?
- Look, there they are,
waiting for us in the doowvay of that café.
I don't know iftheyre dead, but
they look like theyre from the next world.
There they are.
Down with the Nhrseillaisl Murderersl
All together...
Come on, me on, me onl
String up the Democratsl
Come on, me on, me onl
We'lI hang all the Democratsl
Those are the aristocrats.
Ignore them. Theyre being provocative.
Above all, Iet's not get disorganised.
Keep ~= Im and orderly.
Sit down, citizens.
Love apples for me.
- What are they?
- Tomatoes, of urse.
Tomatoes?
We want to see the Nhrseillaisl
Theyre in there eating.
String up the Nhrseillaisl
What idiotsl
Come on, me onl
I ~= nnot believe this rabble has me
to lay down the law in Parisl
- Long live the Nationl
- Long live the IGngl
Our beloved Nhrseillaisl
- I don't ~= re, they asked for it.
- He's right. Come on.
Citizen, Iet's get out of here. I'Il =»¤ ~· rt you.
- No, we live too far.
- In the Faubourg Saint-Antoine.
I ~= n't leave you
defen ~ = less and alone in Paris.
lt seems more overrun with brigands
than the woods of Cuges.
Stop, citizen, and I'Il stop too.
Nhy I ask you a question?
Why are we fighting? We're both wearing
the unifonn of the National Guard.
Yes, but you're a republi ~= n
and l'm a partisan of order.
IHIIEIISIIIG •-= r , whydid yOU HIS
to disturb our friendly banquet?
Defend yourself, you miserable anarchist.
Coming, Amaud. We're ~· ming.
We're ~· ming.
And you ~= n tell your master
that if he persists with his veto,
we won't be throwing him into a pond
but into the shark-infested port of Nhrseilles.
Over here, aristocratsl Over herel
- Take your coat back.
- No, l'm not hking it back.
Very well.
- Say, does it often rain like this in Paris?
- Oh, yes.
The umbrella sellers must make a fortune.
- What about Nhrseilles?
- lt never rains in Nhrseilles.
- LGIIS IBIB IIIEI •-= b.
- You're crazy, we ~= n't afford it.
Never mind, allow me.
In Nhrseilles, we're rolling in money.
Shy where you are.
Cabbyl Cabbyl
Open upl
I wonder what sort of bird will hatch
out of this egg. What do you think?
Gentlemen?
Monsieur Leroux?
Sire, I fear it will not be a bird
that hatches out of this egg,
but a dangerous reptile.
What would you know?
Pennit me to remind you of the words
addressed by Monsieur Bmnswick,
generalissimo of the annies
currently invading Fran ~=
in the name of the Austrian Emperor,
the l·Gng of Pmssia,
and more seriously, in our own name -
"l'hose inhabihnts of the towns and villages
'who dare to defend themselves against
His Nhjestys imperial and royal troops...
'..wiIl be punished
~~· rding to the strict mles ofwar
'and their houses
will be demolished or bumt.'
There is something shocking
about seeing our persons
cited in a manifesto
~· nhining such threats
against our subjects.
Nhlicious tongues
will not fail to draw ~· mparisons
which will do nothing
to increase our popularity.
"l'he inhabihnts of the city of Paris, without
=· ·~ = ption, must submit at on ~= to the l6ng.'
Yes, tum over.
'..surrender personally responsible
members of the National Assembly,
'the departments, the districts...'
Everyone, in other words.
'Should Tuileries Pala be hken by force,
'exemplary and unforgethble vengean ~=
will IIB => •=
'by submitting the city of Paris
to milihry mle
'and to devashting tohl subversion.'
Subversion? What a curious word.
But unfortunately
it shtes clearly what it means.
You told me, madame,
IIIEI W6 tIId EIITIIIIIIG
the wording of this literary masterpi= ~=
to Monsieur... Monsieur de Limon,
fonner servant of my brother Proven ~=
and currently an émigré.
To be honest with you, I don't like his style.
And as for those behind him
who are the real authors of this manifesto,
they are recldess men
waving torches close to a barrel of powder.
Do you know them?
Better than you might think.
The question arises -
should we or should we not
pass this manifesto on to the Assembly
and make it public.
Gentlemen, l'm asking you for your advi ~ =.
I summoned you for that purpose.
this manifesto is the work
of your most honest and perceptive friends.
Its publication will bring joy
to all sane people.
Forgive me for referring to my private life,
but yesterday I was with my stockbroker
and naturally we spoke about the war.
He said to me,
'Minister, I'd rather see the Pmssians
~= mping out in Pla Louis XV
'and the currency fall below zero
'than have the audacity of those dismptive
elements en ~ · uraged by their victory.'
Sire, I strongly urge
the publication of this manifesto
which will strike terror
into your subjects' hearts.
Unless it renders them
beside themselves with rage.
This time it will be the very existen ~=
of the monarchy that is at shke.
You're right, Leroux.
The curhin is about to rise
on the last act of the tragedy.
I am inclined to sound the three knocks.
In war, athck is the best fonn ofdefen .
l'm anxious to resolve
this avvkvvard situation -
a king who is a king without being a king,
subjects who are subjects
but who no longer obey,
a war we are forced to wage
against our natural allies,
our own kind,
and where our so-called enemies
are fighting to preserve us.
This perpetual surrender,
these deteshble mpromises
with men we hate
and principles
that we ~· nsider blasphemous.
Bring on this revolt as soon as possible.
Let them athck the pala ~ = .
This time we'lI be ready for them.
Monsieur La Chesnaye said so.
We have munitions
and we ~= n unt on the loyalty
of the Swiss and our gentlemen.
Some of the best neighbourhoods
of Paris are with us.
The revolutionaries may enter the pala ~=
but theyll never leave it alive.
And sin ~= with them, as with us,
it is the most active -
Idare notsaythebest-
who are always out in front,
their extennination will end
this appalling drama.
The only drawback is that
we too are actors in this perfonnan ~= -
obviously a more avvkvvard position
to be in than ifwe were spechtors.
Our dear Austrian ~· usin is sitting pretty.
What does he risk?
Not his head, at any rate.
What a delightful prospect
awaits the young braggart,
arriving in Paris triumphant,
playing the deus ex machina.
What distresses me most about all of this
is that I will have to invite him to the hunt.
Well, it's only natural, isn't it?
He shoots badly.
His late Nhjesty your brother said so,
as did his Minister Kaunitz,
who has always opposed this war.
How ~= n you give creden
to a man who washes his teeth,
in public and every day what's more.
I am sure this strange habit
is => <+ = llent f0I' III6 IIGBIIII.
We wash our hands, why not our teeth?
lf I wasn't so overwhelmed
with problems at the moment,
I wouldn't mind trying this bmshing.
At any rate, my nephew
the Austrian Emperor shoots well.
He shoots badly.
No one knows how to shoot nowadays.
What do we want with these beaters
who set the game up like skittles?
You must feel very little affection for me
to publicly criticise a member of my family.
I beg your forgiveness, however undeserved.
lt's the hunting.
Igotso rriedawaywith it,
I forgot the proprieties
of my tender affection for you.
Gentlemen, have the Bmnswick manifesto
put to the Assembly.
DEBATES AND DECREES
THE REAL COUNTER-REVOLUTION
THE BRUNSWICK MANIFESTO
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
THE FRENCH PATRIOT
Such an insultl The Bmnswick manifesto
awakens the Nationl
Beguilers of the people
will tryto sedu you.
ANTI-MARAT
Decent people wel ~ · me
the Bmnswick manifestol
In a few days
we shall throng to the festivities.
REVOLUTIONS IN PARIS
DEDICATED TO THE NATION
Louis XVI invokes the Constitution.
We too invoke it and demand his deposition.
FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE
FREE AND IMPARTIAL
POLITICAL JOURNAL
BY A GROUP OF PATRIOTS
Edited by Nhrat, Author of
OFFERING TO THE FATHERLAND
Thursday 3 August 1792
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
The Bmnswick manifesto
and the l·Gng's ~~· mpanying letter.
Fran 's resources have long been mn dry
by money-grabbing royals.
The ~· untry has been tumed upside down
by fanati ~= I traitors
and ~ · unter-revolutionary officials,
tom apart by intemal factions
and betrayed by its generals.
lt is circled by 500,000 satellite despots
plotting with Louis XVI
to put us back in our shacldes.
The satellites are the Austrians,
the Pmssians and the priests.
- Their bold leader...
- Is Bmnswick.
No, it's the Count d'Artois.
No, l'm sony,
the invaders' general
is the Duke of Bmnswick,
freemason and secret agent to the Pope.
Have it your way.
Their bold leader,
spurred on by the Tuileries Committee,
~· mmands us to submit to the mercy
of our fonner tyrant and to our shacldes.
My dear ~· mpatriots, shy alert.
Take Louis XVI hoshge,
his wife, his son, his ministers,
your faithless represenhtives.
The Nation seeks redress
from these traitors
who must first be sacrificed
to the public weal.
Then it ~= n hke ~= re of the banishment
of the shameful Capets
and the punishment of all ~· nspirators.
Signed - Friend of the People.
Long live Nhrat, friend of the peoplel
All the same, Capet is a funny name.
You're ~= lled Bomier.
Why shouldn't the l·Gng be ~= lled Capet?
- Javel.
- Amaud, any news?
I ~· me from the Ja bins with Gamier,
Philibert and the other delegates.
- Tell him you'lI sign later.
- Well?
Robespierre and Antoine have been working
nonstop for two days and two nights.
There have been meetings
all day everywhere.
Santerre at Faubourg Saint-Antoine
wantedto march aton .
But Robespierre
is against unplanned actions.
Otherwise we'd be fighting already.
Nhu ~· nseil section went one better.
They proclaimed the l·Gng's deposition,
purely and simply.
So what have we decided?
Yes, what have we decided?
lt's quite simple -
ifthe l·Gng doesn't withdraw his veto
and hke suihble measures
for national defen ~ = ,
we give the Assembly
one week to depose him,
~~· rding to the ~· nstitution.
Who is this 'we'?
I haven't decided anything.
Everyone says 'we' all the time.
Your represenhtives.
The people you elected.
Members of the ntral mmittee
of federates throughout Fran ~ = .
In ~· nsulhtion
with the revolutionary sections of Paris.
What if the Assembly refuses?
Then we athck the pala =.
In milihry tenns,
that's what they ~= It an ultimatum.
Gn1b's up. lt'Il get Id.
What's the msh?
- Pohtoes again?
- And not too much, that's the lot.
lt's all that's left from those baskets
from the foundIings' home.
Whether there's a lot or a little,
l've had enough.
Irefusetoeatroots.
l'm not a pig nor a savage.
Don't you realise this precious tuber
•-¢ IIB +• Ifhd III 20 dIII`6I'6ft‘IW8yS,
each more delicious than the last?
lt provides us with generous quantities
of flour, shrch, medicine
and even an =· ·~ = llent brandy.
Louis XVI himself may not be
a good politician but he is a gounnet
and he only ever eats pohtoes.
Say, Bomier, if you don't want them,
give them to me.
No, I'Il eat them
out of revolutionary discipline.
lfyou'd rather eat something else,
it's simple.
Accept the 30 crowns a day
the Assembly is offering us to leave Paris.
30 shillings a day to betray your ~· untry
after the joumey we've been on?
lt's not enough and
Moissan was right to refuse.
Well, I neverl
So you do sometimes agree
with your leaders, Monsieur Bomier?
lt happens, Monsieur Amaud.
There is a bunch of traitors in that Assembly
who are doing all right for themselves.
We should send them to the galleys.
The Austrian Emperor holds a personal
gmdge and had a hand in those 30 shillings.
That Bn1nswick's no fool.
He no doubt said to him,
'Francois, my friend, with those Nhrseillais
there, you'lI never go back to Paris.'
Is there any salt?
Now the salt hx has been abolished,
you ~= n have as much as you like.
That'lI dol
Today is 3 August.
We're saying one week.
Those who haven't died
of shrvation by 10 August
will have ample opportunity
to make up for it.
- Please sit down, citizen.
- lt's the Nhrseillaisl
The show ~· ntinues with 'l6ng and Nation'.
lt's the IGngl
Long live the Nationl
Nhdame Nation.
Come to my anns so I may embra you.
Monsieur IGng, it is impossible
for me to ~· me into your anns.
The bridge between us is broken
and an abyss separates us.
What is this abyss?
lt's the Bmnswick manifesto.
Jean-Joseph...
So the day after tomorrow
you prepare to athck?
Yes.
And on the 10th, you enter the Tuileries?
Yes.
What are you doing on the 11th?
On the 11th, we leave for the frontier.
And when the war is over,
will you go back
to your mother in Nhrseilles?
No, I'd like to settle in Paris.
l'm a good mason.
So good that my friends ~= It me 'Hawk".
Nhybe in the north
you don't know what a hawk is?
lt's a little wooden gadget, about that big.
We masons mix morhr on it.
- Bomier, were you asleep?
- No, I was dreaming.
You were dreaming?
You seem to dream rather a lot these days.
I don't undershnd you, you know.
You've been urting Louison
for over a week
- I don't dare.
- Poor old man. I feel sony for you.
Don't feel sony for me.
I spend my days in paradise.
- Doing what?
- Looking at her.
Today I was fascinated
by a little fold just behind her ear.
What a pretty little fold it is.
I love it with all my heart.
I didn't see much
of the pantomime, you know.
But I enjoyed it all the same.
Tntly. I had a wonderful time.
Ifwe ever get back from all this,
I'd really like to many her.
But who knows if she'lI have me.
Attention, platoonl
Comrades...
Gamier, delegate to the ~ = ntral ~· mmittee
at the Hotel de \Iille,
sends word that our brothers
in the theatre section
are preparing to give you the signal.
This signal will be a ~= nnon
fired from the Saint-Michel bridge.
Immediately afterwards, the bells of
all the patriotic churches in Paris will ring,
~= lling all revolutionary citizens
and troops to anns.
Along with the forces of the theatre section,
Faubourg Saint-Marceau
and the Breton federates,
we will hke up our positions
in front ofthe pala .
Before we athck, we will wait
for Santene to bring reinforcements
from Faubourg Saint-Antoine,
Montreuil and the l·Gng of Sicily.
We must do all we ~= n
to avoid bloodshed.
For a revolutionary, pea ~= is
a more effective weapon than a gun.
We'lI hlk to the Swiss
and the wretched French
who have been forced
to defend a lost ~= use.
lfthey resist, we'lI do our duty,
sparing them as best we ~= n.
Let us tell ourselves
that whatever our personal fate in this battle,
tomonow the sun will set on a Fran ~=
that has been cleansed of treason
and is ready to fa ~= the foreign invaders.
Parade, restl
I wish I uld see Louison again.
We have two altematives.
We ~= n athck orwe ~= n defend.
We defend.
Those are His Nhjestys orders.
IIIIIIEI •-= r ,I'IISb6SI
toallowthe pala gatesto beforced.
On ~= the rebels are inside,
we'lI order a volley of shots to be fired
which should destroy the majority.
Should some survive,
or should our gunners be won over,
our best men are occupying
all the windows overlooking the ~· urtyard.
Theyre positioned
so as to be able to effect a lethal fire.
With a bit of luck, very few assailants
will =»¤ ~= pe this trap alive.
We must keep reason on our side.
Entering the ~· urtyard will be an admission
of the insubordination of these people.
Escort me to see His Nhjesty.
Nhdame, we are in a good position
but you should be aware that all these men
are hindering our defen ~ =.
You speak out of tum, sir.
I answer for all the men here.
Long live the Queenl
Theyll march in front, behind, in line -
as you wish.
Theyre prepared for every eventuality.
They are tmstworthy men.
Long live the Queenl
Sire, surely you are not eating
under such circumshn ~ = »: ?
Andwhynot?
The stomach is ignorant
of the subtleties of politi »¤ .
I ordered tomatoes.
There has been much hlk of this vegehble
sin ~= the Nhrseillais arrived in Paris.
I wanted to hste them for myself.
Do you want my opinion, madame?
II IS Sfl => II6ft‘I dISII.
We have been missing out.
Sire, will you not review your troops?
lt might be good
to rekindle their enthusiasm.
That is precisely what I was just saying
to these gentlemen.
PI I'd...
Sire, your wig is awry.
Oh. PI I'd.
Pi ~= rd is very upset this moming.
Everything is awry.
Thank you.
I'Il be back.
La Chesnaye, Nhillardoz, de Bachman...
Adjuhnt General Denaix, ~· me with me.
Long live the IGngl
Long live the IGngl
Long live the IGngl
Present annsl
What on earth
is His Nhjesty doing out there?
Long live the Nationl
Down with the IGngl Down with the vetol
Yes, down with the vetol
This way, sire.
- You want to team some mannersl
- Go away and leave us alone.
Or else, good citizens that we are,
we'lI open the gates.
We'lI join the rebels
and tum our guns on the pala =.
Back off or you'lI get a sabre in your belly.
I forbid you to insult my men.
They answer only to me.
Gentlemen.
Long live the Nationl
Port anns.
Please stop rolling about
on the ground, my son.
You're always tolling about on the ~= rpets.
lt's a bad habit and you must break it.
My sister.
Pi ~= rd, this crooked wig is bothering me.
Do try and put it straight.
Sire, the members of the
Department of Paris, through my proxy,
wish to speak to His Nhjesty
alone with his family.
The royal ministers
must remain with His Nhjesty.
lfthe l·Gng wishes it so.
Your Nhjesty has no time to lose. Your only
hope of safety lies with the Assembly.
lt alone ~· mmands the peopIe's respect.
The Department advises you
to proceed there without delay.
Let's go.
PI I'd.
Monsieur Roederer, you have won.
Not I, madame,
but His Nhjestys sound judgement.
Monsieur Roederer,
will you answer for my brother's life?
Yes, madame, with my own.
I will walk directly in front of the IGng.
Are we alone, then?
Is there no action to be hken?
Yes, madame, we are alone.
Action is useless, resishn ~= impossible.
The whole of Paris is marching.
I must ask Your Nhjesty
to dispense with his Court,
iq bg .. H
only by members of the Department
who will sunound the royal family.
Whatever you say.
Monsieur Roederer,
~= n the ministers follow on behind?
Yes, they have their pla ~=
in the National Assembly.
And Nhdame de Tourzel,
my chiIdren's govemess?
Cerhinly, madame.
As for you, ladies, I ~= nnot
authorise you to leave the pala ~ = .
Pennit me to give you
some advi ~= before leaving.
lf the people invade the pala ~ = ,
there will be looters and murderers
hking advanhge of the situation.
Avail yourselves of the protection
afforded by organised revolutionary groups,
Parisian sections
and regional federates alike.
The l·Gng and his family
will now proceed alone to the Assembly,
=»¤ ~· only by ministers
and the Department
and a guard.
l·GndIy make way.
Monsieur de la Chesnaye,
the l·Gng has forsaken us.
What will become of us?
What are we to do?
Gentlemen, you may retum
to the posts assigned to you.
l'm waming you,
if you leave them again, I'Il have you shot.
GentIemen...
We should wel ~· me the l·Gng's departure.
Now we no longer have
to guard their royal persons,
we are free to ~· nclude this affair.
This battle must be the last.
The time has ~· me to ~· nquer or die.
Let's hope we ~· nquer.
So many leaves.
Theyre falling early this year.
What are you waiting for, Nhrseillais?
The deluge?
To the pala ~ = , and death to the tyrantsl
Death to the tyrantsl
He's right. What are we waiting for?
We're stuck here like rows of asparagus.
We're like a bunch of leeks, that's what.
You're very anxious to fight, ~ · mrades.
You forget that the men in there
are the National Guard,
honest citizens of the city of Paris.
- I for one will not be the first to fire.
- You're right.
I hadn't thought. Amaud's right.
lt's tme.
People in there have fathers, mothers,
uncles and children.
Loved ones.
- Are you thinking about Louison?
- Yes, I am.
Comrades, we must hke advanhge
of the situation.
Attention, platoonl
Shoulder annsl
Forward, marchl
Forward, marchl
Come and join us, brothersl
Brother.
We want to avoid bloodshed.
Nhrch with us in the battle of the Nation.
He's right.
Don't defend a lost ~= use.
Embra the peopIe's party.
lt's your party.
lf we listened to you,
we would be dishonoured.
Yes, dishonoured.
Lay down your weapons
and your lives will be saved.
But ifyou fight,
the ~· ~=»¤ will be terrible.
Gentlemen, the time has ~· me
for us to do our duty,
however painful.
Give the order to fire.
Didn't you hear what Amaud said just now?
Come with us.
We're Swiss.
The Swiss never lay down their weapons
as long as they live.
We do not deserve such an affront.
We will not leave our posts
or allow ourselves to be disanned.
In your pla , Iwould leave mypost
and go back to my mounhin
behind Mont Blanc.
I know all about mounhins, you know.
I lived there with Amaud for three months.
I liked it.
Are you hurt?
Go on. Save the munitions.
Theyve hit youl
Go, leave me.
Don't be crazy. l'm not leaving you here.
Iwould have =»¤ ped.
Behind youl
Evacuate the ~· urlyardl
Haltl
Shoulder annsl
Firel
Forwardl
WE ARE PROUD
TO BE CITIZENS
But he's injured.
This way.
Haltl
Shoulder annsl
Firel
Angle your bayonetsl Chargel
I know she'lI ~· me. She's a real patriot.
At the Bastille,
she was loading her father's gun.
- How old is this little one?
- Seven months.
He's a bonny child. Is he in good health?
The poor little chap is teething.
He cries at night.
I know how he feels.
Comrades, I think theyre going to need us.
Don't you wony. You'Il be fine.
Goodbye, brother.
When you go back,
say hello to the mounhins for me.
Louisonl
Bomierl
- What about Bomier?
- He's wounded.
Through there.
Poor Bomier.
He's very low. I think he may be done for.
Don't tell him that.
Take him in your anns,
give him one last moment of pleasure.
l'm not going to the pala =.
l'm not going to the frontier.
I'Il never see Nhrseilles again.
My poor mother.
She'lI be so upset.
Tell my friends
I spent the 20 fran »¤
belonging to the Monhlvent boy,
but I don't regret it.
Far from it.
Haltl
Shoulder annsl
Firel
Angle your bayonetsl
Chargel
To anns, citizensl
Fonn your bathlionsl
- No blindfold.
- Please yourself, citizen.
l'm not a citizen,
l'm Champaud de Rotomberg.
Shoulder annsl
Firel
Move on, citizen.
Look.
LOOTER
Shoulder annsl
Listen, citizens.
The Paris Commune,
as sole represenhtive of the people,
has charged us, the Department of Paris,
to ~· nvey its decision
to suspend execution of the Swiss,
the gentlemen and any others
guilty of firing at the people.
Those guilty will be refened straight away
to a special tribunal
made up of judges and juries
elected by the Paris sections.
What about the l·Gng?
He too will be tried.
At the request of the Paris Commune,
the Assembly has just announced
his provisional deposition
pending the meeting
of a national ~· nvention
elected by all Frenchmen,
inespective of their eshte.
The Paris Commune has declared
the untryto be in peril
and is ready to hke measures
to ensure the safeguard of the ~· untry...
Jesus, l've never
had such ld feet in my life before.
Say, is it far to Valmy?
We're meant to find the 54th infantry there,
fonnerly the Roussillon regiment.
lt must be that mound there,
with the mill on it.
And the Pmssians, where are they?
Behind it, I expect.
- See that gunfire there?
- Yes.
Theyre trying to get to the Chalons road.
What if they hke the Chalons road?
Theyll march on Paris.
That will be the end of our revolution.
Poor Bomier will have died in vain.
No, not in vain.
Even ifthe Pmssian ~= nnons
wipe us out today,
theyll never wipe out
what we've given the world.
Before we ~= me along,
people just shred freedom in the fa =,
like a lover in front of his sweetheart,
forbidden to even speak to her.
And suddenly, thanks to us,
that man ~= n finally hke
his beloved in his anns.
Of urse, she is not yet his mistress.
He has some way to go
before he ~= n win her over.
But now that they know each other,
even ifthey are parted,
sooner or later theyll be reunited.
Javel, what have you got to say?
I say that the 20,000 slaves
and the 50,000 traitors facing us over there,
will never overcome 20 million free men.
Long live liberlyl
At Valmy, the French defeated
the famous Pmssian infantry.
The great Gennan poet Goethe
witnessed their victory
This story will end with his ~· mments.
