Actually, I love the film 'Danton' as a film, as a piece of art. I saw it not too long after it came out, around the same time as seeing another version of the play on stage, and if Wajda's intention was to make me come down on the side of Dionysius and hate Apollo, West against East, then he screwed up - if anything, his Danton can be read as asking for it, more so than the historical record supports (in the film, he's clearly attempting a coup). I find the film mostly very nuanced, though - yes, there are some very heavy-handed scenes, particularly the closing scene (a swipe at Terreur et Vertu?) - but in the main I think enough of the play survives to make me happy. When I lend the DVD to friends I give them a lecture first, and I can be a real pain about it at dinner parties - "well, actually...." and go on about my theories of CIA manipulation of the run up to the bicentenary , but there've been times - specially a few years ago, when I used to be vaguely active in politics, when I've thought, holy cow, this is just like a scene from 'Danton'....
Maybe it's a girl thing? Maybe blokes watch and go, yeah, Danton's getting pissed and fucking whores, what a mensch!