'A New Republic is Born in Blood'

[pedrolino.livejournal.com]

I first got really into the French Revolution after watching the documentary the History Channel made in 2004 or 2005. I rewatched it recently, and while I was somewhat dismayed that they managed to get through the entire thing without mentioning anybody but Robespierre and Danton more than once, I think it's a pretty good, understandable introduction to the period. Has anyone else seen it? What are your views?

Comments

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

I thought it didn't start out badly, but got progressively worse and worse. That it would be oversimplified was a given, of course, but I felt that it emphasized the wrong events, people, trends, etc.; was extremely repetitive for a less than two-hour documentary; and particularly toward the end devolved into spouting cliché inaccuracies. I have a bit of a rant about it actually, if you're interested: http://estellacat.livejournal.com/28069.html#cutid1

[pedrolino.livejournal.com]

I think all your points are really good ones. It's very much that Tale of Two Cities view of the Revolution, and they really do skip over so many things. But then again, maybe it's just me being such a huge Desmoulins fan that makes me so miffed that his role in the storming of the Bastille was never discussed. ;)

(Out of curiosity, can you recommend a better 'overview' of the Revolution? Because so many I've seen delve so deeply into the various financial issues that it gets very confusing very quickly.)

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

It's not just you; they do skip a lot--more than they should for a 2-hour documentary. If they hadn't skipped so much and put in so much unneeded melodrama they might have had room for more substance though.

(A book, you mean? I have a few I like, but even the best of them tends to dwell a bit on financial issues--particularly at the beginning.

[bettylabamba.livejournal.com]

It was pretty bad on so many levels. (The guy playing Robespierre was really cute, though.) I have the DVD, and the making-of featurette was more exciting. Robespierre subway station! Random magicians with fake guillotine! French guy rubbing his re-enator pants in the dirt! Whoo! Paarty!