New Catallaxy

WolfmanOz at the Movies #28

liberté, égalité, fraternité

Before I begin on my weekly post, I thought I’d let everyone know my YouTube channel was deleted a couple of days ago care of retrospective copyright strikes against a couple of Laurel & Hardy shorts that were uploaded approximately 11 months ago !

I was initially devastated, as 11 months of hard work and success was literally wiped out and I had no recourse to appeal even though I had documented proof that the copyright was OK with the uploads 11 months ago. It appears they can simply change their mind.

The channel had become therapy for me to get my mind off COVID and lockdowns (I started it during Daniel Fucking Andrews last long lockdown in the 2nd half of 2021) and from a base of ground zero it had reached 1,500 subscriptions, 1.3 million views and a daily view rate of 10K+.

Fortunately I had a separate test channel which had over 2/3s of my clips uploaded, so I have decided to give it another ago (albeit this time I won’t be uploading any L&H shorts !). I also maintained a detailed spreadsheet which I used to monitor the performance of the previous channel which I will be using to initially focus on those clips that were most successful previously.

I know a number of Cats had subscribed to my old channel, and if any feel so inclined, I’d appreciate if they could subscribe to the new channel – it’s still called WW Movie Clips.

So enough of woe is me . . .

Today I’m looking at the French Revolution, and to be honest, for such an interesting and momentous episode in human history there have been very few movies that have been successful, IMO, in presenting this in a satisfactory way.

I’m not really referring to such films as A Tale Of Two Cities (1935) which although it’s the best film version of my favourite Dickens novel, it doesn’t really tackle the ideals and politics of the revolution. The same goes for the many versions of The Scarlet Pimpernel.

There was La Révolution Française a 1989 two-part French production that tried to present an even handed version of the events but I found it rather tiresome and it came across as no more than a tedious history lesson.

But for me, one film which was successful in portraying the political machinations and their deadly consequences was Andrzej Wajda’s 1983 film Danton starring Gérard Depardieu in arguably his best film performance as Danton.

The film depicts the last weeks of Georges Danton and his conflict with Robespierre during when the Reign of Terror was at its zenith.

There was some criticism of the film as it appeared to be drawing parallels between what was happening during the Reign of Terror and the situation in Poland with the Solidarity movement and its conflicts with the Soviet-backed Polish government.

Danton superbly presents the way revolutions eat their own, which is dramatically depicted in the following clip:

But the National Committee decrees that anyone who speaks out of turn at the trial will be removed. As the accused, including Danton, are bundled out of court and a verdict of guilty is read.

The consequences of a guilty verdict during the Reign of Terror:

I find this film to be a stark warning of what the ultimate consequences of idealistic revolutions and leftism will be with it’s cynical depiction of power politics, show trials and cold-blooded judicial murder.

Enjoy.

WolfmanOz

20 responses to “WolfmanOz at the Movies #28”

  1. HT Avatar
    HT

    An interesting link to today, that during the French Reign of Terror, it was a committee named “The Committee for Public Safety” that sentenced almost 3,000 Parisians to have their heads cut off.

    Sorry to hear your primary YouTube Channel was deleted Wolf. FWIW, I’ve subscribed to your “new” channel. You do the the whole (I forget his first name :(, the late Bill? ) Collins website recommending old movies. Reckon their would be a wider audience than a few cranky libertarians on the Cat interested…a lot more.

    5
  2. WolfmanOz Avatar
    WolfmanOz

    Thanks for that HT – much appreciated !

    The trick to get a wider audience is simply to crank up views which in turn pushes up the clips in the YouTube algorithms. It’s literally like a snowball going down a hill gathering momentum and size.

    3
  3. GreyRanga Avatar
    GreyRanga

    Depardieu was great. Bertolucci’s 1900 introduced me to Depardieu. Saw everything I could with him in it. Such a versatile actor. He doesn’t disappoint.

    2
  4. Rabz Avatar
    Rabz

    (Danton) appeared to be drawing parallels between what was happening during the Reign of Terror and the situation in Poland with the Solidarity movement and its conflicts with the Soviet-backed Polish government

    Presumably because it was directed by the acclaimed Andrzej Wajda, who was Polish.

    6
  5. calli Avatar
    calli

    liberté, égalité, fraternité

    Except that it wasn’t. But as far as “three word slogans” go, it was a corker. Yet to be outdone by the cynics who seek to rule.

    Anyone who looks forward to a bloody end to the troubles that now beset us should be very, very careful about what they wish for. We may understand how revolutions happen, and always hope that this time it will be different – but they always end up as wholesale murder.

    I was first introduced to Depardieu in “Green Card”, which I loved.

    Sorry about your Youtube troubles, Wolfman. Never put all your eggs (or pearls) in one basket.

    5
  6. WolfmanOz Avatar
    WolfmanOz

    Rabz says:
    July 7, 2022 at 8:56 am
    (Danton) appeared to be drawing parallels between what was happening during the Reign of Terror and the situation in Poland with the Solidarity movement and its conflicts with the Soviet-backed Polish government
    Presumably because it was directed by the acclaimed Andrzej Wajda, who was Polish.

    Of course !

    His war drama trilogy from the 1950s – A Generation, Kanal and Ashes And Diamonds – are all superb films, of which Kanal is a particular favourite of mine.

    2
  7. Old School Conservative Avatar
    Old School Conservative

    Normally I do, as you exhort, “enjoy” your film analysis Wolfman BUT watching the great Depardieu in the trial scene drew too many parallels to 2022.

    8
  8. Bruce of Newcastle Avatar
    Bruce of Newcastle

    The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars used be fine source for many great movies. One of the first movies I saw at the flicks was Waterloo, with those vast sweeping scenes featuring the Soviet Army dressed as French, English and Prussians. Interesting that it was filmed in Ukraine.

    The many sea fillums too were magnificent. It was nice that Peter Weir could do one with Master and Commander, although even that is now nearly 20 years old.

    Nowadays you wouldn’t get a French Revolutionary film up because it is too close to the pet ideology of the day. Likewise no more navy films since the British Empire is now a colonial imperialist running-dog unwoke thing that must never be talked about in positive terms.

    8
  9. WolfmanOz Avatar
    WolfmanOz

    Old School Conservative says:
    July 7, 2022 at 10:18 am
    Normally I do, as you exhort, “enjoy” your film analysis Wolfman BUT watching the great Depardieu in the trial scene drew too many parallels to 2022.

    Amazing to think this is 39 years old and yet this scene, in particular, speaks so much of what is happening today.

    8
  10. johanna Avatar
    johanna

    Said it before but it’s true – Gerard is a genius actor. Comedy, tragedy, history, whatever – he nails it.

    As for the French Revolution fillums, surely you are not being a snob by omitting the Scarlet Pimpernel fillums? OK, they are not historically accurate, but culturally they are significant.

    1
  11. WolfmanOz Avatar
    WolfmanOz

    I never really cared for The Scarlet Pimpernel in any of its many versions whether it be film, TV or even the novel.

    I was more decrying the paucity of films dealing with the ideals and politics of the revolution as I mentioned in the post.

    2
  12. The Beer Whisperer Avatar
    The Beer Whisperer

    An interesting link to today, that during the French Reign of Terror, it was a committee named “The Committee for Public Safety” that sentenced almost 3,000 Parisians to have their heads cut off.

    Safety, now where have i heard that before?

    Safety, like compassion, is a word to justify any evil, for once it is spoken, it cannot be challenged, the exception being to call the use of the term bullshit. Patriotism is no longer the last refuge of the scoundrel, it’s safety.

    4
  13. Louis Litt Avatar
    Louis Litt

    Ah Drepredeau nose
    Ah the horror, the horror

  14. NoFixedAddress Avatar
    NoFixedAddress

    good stuff Wolfman… thank you for your time and efforts.

  15. Mantaray Avatar
    Mantaray

    Bruce of Newcastle. You, and many other New Cats are way too pessimistic, though of course I will admit that feigned despondency and defeatism, does cause a little thrill from time to time. As Nietzsche once wrote: ‘the thought of suicide is a great consolation; by means of which one gets through many a restless night”.

    OK, so since there’s no way a rollicking Horatio Hornblower / Master and Commander movie, nor anything similar ,could ever be made these days, how about telling us why Top Gun II is over the billion US$ mark and still pulling them in by the thousands of cinema-loads.

    Bruce……,do not fall for the Govt and MSM narrative that everyone’s a poove and a drag queen supporter these days. Nor that the wokerati are in the ascendency when 32 loudmouths tell us it is.

    If you ever go to shopping centres do you see A) menswear, womenswear, boyswear, girlswear stores, or B) Transwear stores? As the answer is certainly A, why do you come on this fine blog to tell us the liars of the left are telling us the truth?

    Are you being gaslighted, maybe?

  16. rosie Avatar
    rosie

    Thanks Wolfie, have put Danton on to do list.

    1
  17. pbw Avatar
    pbw

    Try The Hidden Rebellion: A Secret Story of the French Revolution. No Depardieu, unfortunately, but Jean de Florette is currently available on SBS OnDemand.

    1
  18. Woolfe Avatar
    Woolfe

    Love your work! Subscribed

  19. Jannie Avatar
    Jannie

    Wolfman

    I searched “WW Movie Clips” on DuckDuckGo, and top search result was :

    WW Movie Clips – YouTube
    This is an independent non-monetary channel dedicated to movies, with a particular emphasis on films from the 20th century. I am presenting, what, in my view, are the best scenes, moments, lines …

    Then when i clicked on the link I got:

    This page isn’t available. Sorry about that. Try searching for something else. (and a Youtube search bar.)

    I got the same result from a Google search.

    However, when i used the Youtube search bar i got through to your channel. The Trailer has some pretty awesome shorts. I will explore it tonight.

  20. WolfmanOz Avatar
    WolfmanOz

    Hi Janine

    Apologies for the late reply . . . been occupied these last few days with the prep and procedure for a colonoscopy – all clear ! ! !

    Again, one of the downside of the previous channel being deleted is that search engines will still reference the old channel given the number of views/hits it has had i.e. over 1.3M, whereas the new channel has had 10K views in its first week – pretty pleased with that but it pales in comparison.

    Note below the URL for the new channel:
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtcwqoxIWa4cGW9hCESaUMg

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