FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Kirpianuscus its universal message about price of revolution, about power of a small group, about the way of good intentions, about people's interest as excuse for use the force for preserve the power . it is an amazing portrait of French Revolution. and Danton of Depardieu remains one of his greatest roles. but the axis is the vision of director. because the film is a parable in essence. because it is a film about Communism who represents just an ideological fruit of French Revolution. because Wajda knows the importance of testimony about the evil of a political system. because it is a honest work about illusion and ambition and need to control the power. in same measure, it is not only a manifesto but a beautiful movie who recreates more than atmosphere but the spirit of a fight for power. yes, France of Robespierre is Poland of Jaruzelski . but the science to transform a historical page in a contemporary event's reflection and the case of Poland in universal warning gives force and profound senses to this admirable film.

bandw Before seeing this the sum total of my knowledge of the French Revolution and its aftermath was pretty much what I got from reading, "A Tale of Two Cities." This movie caused me to do a little research, from which I have concluded that you could make a profession of studying the history of the French Revolution. Fortunately, to enjoy this movie you need to know only a small bit of history, and that is that Georges Danton and Maximilien Robespierre were key players in fomenting the revolution, that they both initially singed off on the Reign of Terror (the bloody campaign to dispatch perceived enemies of the new republic), and that Danton came to view the Reign of Terror as potentially dangerous to the life of the Republic while Robespierre did not hold that view.Rather than the sweep of history this movie concentrates on the battle of wills between the popular and charismatic Danton and the somber, precise Robespierre. Once the background is established the movie plays out as a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare. Given his uncompromising political positions, Robespierre, who held power, was forced to bring Danton to trial for treason. But he recognized what this meant--at one point he made the comment, "This Danton affair is a dilemma. If we lose then the revolution is sunk. If we win, it's the same."You will have the option of picking your favorite scene from many good choices. For me the best scene was the meeting between Danton and Robespierre that occurs about half way through. That scene was scripted and staged with such skill and subtlety that I was transfixed by it. The large cast is uniformly good, with Gérard Depardieu as Danton and the Polish actor Wojciech Pszoniak as Robespierre. Depardieu is good, but I felt he was upstaged by Pszoniak's performance of the more complex Robespierre. Pszoniak almost made me root for Robespierre. This is a lavish production with close attention given to period details and costumes.It seems that revolutions are tricky things and can easily lead to results different from the original goals. The seminal document of the Revolution, The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, is all very high minded, but a lot of bad stuff can be justified under the cause of what is best for the public welfare, such as killing off many thousands deemed to be behaving in a manner not in the best interests of the public welfare. Of course the problem with sending people to the Guillotine is who decides. The situation presented in this movie offers a good example of the maxim that violence begets violence.It would be interesting to see what would have come about if Robespierre and Danton could have found common ground. There may be a lesson here for the current United States Congress.

thinker1691 'They are a very intelligent people, the French'. So says author Boris Pasternak, in his novel, Dr. Zhivago. After watching this movie called " Danton " one would tend to agree. A study in French History will illustrate how closely this film comes to duplicating it. The story is taken from the first five years after the nightmarish 1589 revolution in France which consumed the lives of thousands of Aristocrates and their supporters. Danton (Gérard Depardieu) has returned from his countryside estate to meet with his old friend Robespierre (Wojciech Pszoniak). It seems word has reached Danton that the Committee system, or more precisely, the Safety committee, in Paris has become lethal to the very people it's suppose to protect. Despite, their long friendship, differences of political opinion soon make it apparent the deadly revolution with its connection to the Guliotine, will soon destroy their goals, promises and even their lives. The dramatic acting in the movie between the principal actors and their ardent followers, is superb. Indeed, the devious plots, counter plots and murderous intentions of all involved is designed to unearth history from deep within it's bloodiest pages.****

r-c-s Unlike http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098238/ this movie provides no background information. We are shown a snapshot of the fall of Danton, his mock process and execution but, unless one studied the revolution quite extensively, it is difficult to understand where characters come from ( Fouquier-Tinville, Philippeau, Desmoulins, Robespierre... ) and thus to appreciate them for what they are: Danton and Joe Blobb could be the same person to the viewer. For example Robespierre & Desmoulins were close friends since their youth, and this explains how Robespierre acts. Those who know the facts, though, will easily orient themselves and appreciate this good movie with actors delivering solid acting, no useless subplots and good reconstruction of the times. Desmoulins and Danton are the best characters, but all do a good job, even the 'demented' Saint-Just portrayed as sort of psychopath. 'Terreur' was a period of massacres whose importance hasn't been fully documented and that -for the most part- were driven by ambition, greed and the settling of personal disputes, fed to ignorant sans-culottes as the next epochal step against tyranny.