La Commune (Paris, 1871)

La Commune (Paris, 1871)

2000
Drama, War
5h 45m
Using the "You Are There" approach of earlier radio and TV days, Watkins has a male and female news team from "Commune TV" wandering through the poorest district of Paris inviting people to express their grievances against the state to the camera. While the people bitterly suffer because of the government's inept defeat at the hands of the Germans during the Franco-Prussian War, their anger inspires solidarity for them throughout Paris, and although they briefly rise up and seize power, they are brutally put down in the end. (IMDB Comments)
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La Commune (Paris, 1871)

2000
Drama, War
5h 45m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 71.54% from 144 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(144)
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Rated 15 Dec 2010
93
95th
Godard must be jealous of this movie.
Rated 05 Aug 2014
95
94th
Watkins' masterpiece. One of the most surprising, engaging films I have ever seen in my life. I'm ashamed to say I rank it so high because I've just never seen anything like it.
Rated 11 Feb 2018
80
91st
At times too reminiscent of student left meetings, but this highly political film is also a kind of final document of the politics of the 20th century and its relationship to the 19th. Despite the overt critique of television and "the media", a bit more analysis could in fact have taken the film much further, which might have ameliorated some of its weaknesses and increased its relevance today. A double feature with BATTLE OF CHILE, PARTS 1 TO 3 could be fascinating if you have a spare 12 hours.
Rated 02 Dec 2021
92
98th
If anyone else tried to create this film, it would either be a gimmick or a self-indulgent exercise in cleverness. Watkins succeeds because he has a clear purpose in making this film in this ‘revolutionary’ way; it’s a polemic against the oppression of the public by centralised government and the media. It is film as product and process; intended to change the actions of those who watch it, just as it was intended to change the actions of those who made it. A film of hope but also delusion.
Rated 06 Aug 2007
95
98th
History brought to life in a way that encourages the viewer to think. Although at 5 hours and 45 minutes, it can be tedious at times.
Rated 26 Feb 2011
71
37th
All in all, this is pretty interesting stuff, and thankfully is closer to The War Game than Punishment Park. Except for a couple of subpar performances the actors are very good. But it's entirely clear where Watkins' sympathies lie. This is not an unbiased presentation, but one with a definite agenda. Plus, having people spouting doctrine at you for a large part of 6 hours can get really tedious. Most of the time, it's surprisingly engaging, but some of it is very repetitive or long-winded.
Rated 02 Dec 2011
56
12th
#872
Rated 08 Jul 2015
92
97th
Boldly original, unique cinema experience by Peter Watkins. Btw very informative too.
Rated 25 Oct 2015
100
0th
"What kind of revolution really would work? What would a successful communist society really look like?" "I don't think Peter Watkins even knows." http://illusionpodcast.blogspot.com/2015/07/episode-65-peter-watkins-act-3-la.html
Rated 11 Oct 2017
1
0th
Horrible art house, could barely watch 10 minutes. Really hope a decent movie about the commune gets made one day.
Rated 26 Dec 2019
80
92nd
Brave portrait and efficient perspective shaker. Not giving full score because it could have worked better as a mini series.
Rated 12 Mar 2020
77
96th
WWWhat a Innovative and Harmonic movie!!!!!!!! ????? ????? ???????. ?? ???? ? ??? ? ???????? ? ???? ? ????????? ????? ?????? ? ????. ???? ?????? ????? ?? ???????? ??? ? ????? ? ???? ????? ????? ?? ????? ????????? ? ????? ??????? ???
Rated 24 Mar 2020
50
29th
Watkins' last film is an occasionally impressive stab at a magnum opus, but the many time outs to present historical facts onscreen makes it a somewhat dry watch, and with a running time of 345 minutes it outstays its welcome by a considerable margin.
Rated 11 Nov 2021
40
33rd
Edvard Munch worked for some intangible reason but this didn't, just felt like re-enactors spouting discourse as opposed to peering into history.
Rated 05 Jun 2022
40
39th
I like the concept but the execution doesn't hold my interest.
Rated 20 Nov 2022
52
11th
Fascinating conceptually, but I think this was really hurt by its budget, as there are a ton of title cards that explain interesting sounding events that I would have liked to have actually seen, but they probably were too difficult to pull off. At times it resembled a school play to me. The commentary on the media and the framework it's presented in, as a modern day type documentary and modern day type media covering an historical event, is really interesting, though. Has its moments. Too long.

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