La Marseillaise

1938 [FRENCH]

Action / Drama / History / Music / War

3
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 72% · 9 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 72% · 100 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.0/10 10 1499 1.5K

french revolution 18th century national anthem la marseillaise marseille

Plot summary

A film about the early part of the French Revolution, shown from the eyes of the citizens of Marseille, counts in German exile and, of course, the king Louis XVI, each showing their own small problems.

Director

Jean Renoir Photo
Jean Renoir

Top cast

Édouard Delmont Photo
Édouard Delmont as Anatole Roux dit 'Cabri'
Jaque Catelain Photo
Jaque Catelain as Le capitaine Langlade
Robert Rollis Photo
Robert Rollis
Louis Jouvet Photo
Louis Jouvet as Roederer, le procureur du département
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
1.18 GB
956*720
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 11 min
Seeds ...
2.2 GB
1424*1072
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 11 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by LobotomousMonk 8 / 10

You do the hokey-pokey...and that's what it's all about

La Marseillaise depicts lesser known stories attached to the events in Versailles in 1789 which led to the downfall of the monarchy. Renoir continues with a consistent stylistic system - great depth of field, two-shot closeups, framing of crowds, mobile framing, polyvocal (accents). In fact, aristocrats and citizens receive the same treatment from the camera. The exception is with the King and Queen who receive one-shot closeups, however, this seems more in the service of a dialectic regarding the Brunswick Manifesto than it being about psychological identification. This story is symbolic and likely the symbolism and abstraction is what led to the film not being as popular as was expected. There is also a confusion for the spectator because of Renoir's humanist treatment. Bumpkins are charming, aristocrats are accepting and armies more or less fight together instead of against each other. Renoir often spoke out against violence in film and this might be another disappointment for audiences at the time. Most violence is dissuaded through crafty acts of oration. The brains over brawn theme certainly lacks something of the 'common touch'. The breaking down of the song into parceled quotations reminds of the French New Wave's often lyrical and intellectual modes of expression. There is a monarchist rhetoric that runs through the film regarding order versus anarchy... yet there is little example of anarchy but also no false reprisal by monarchists against citizens. The treatment of war is tepid, but it just goes to show that Renoir was never comfortable representing hardened political positions.
Reviewed by HistoryDTE 8 / 10

Summary of La Marseillaise

Jean Renoir's classic tribute to the glory of the French Revolution, the film captures the personal flavor of the struggle and the philosophical background to the revolutionary upheaval. In a rapid series of vignettes we are introduced to the elegance and nobility of the court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette... the contrasting plight of French peasants governed by laws they cannot understand...the storming of the Bastille in 1789 by an undisciplined mob...the plotting of France's exiled nobility to return to power...the Republican march on Paris...and the capture of the Tuilleries in 1793, ending the revolution. The film follows the adventures of two young patriots who join the Peoples' army in Marseilles. As their battalion begins its long journey north to Paris to join with the Federate army, they adopt as their anthem a song from the Army of the Rhine. This song was soon to be known all over France as "La Marseillaise" and would lead the newly unified nation to victory.
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