Film series: Romance and revolution 22 September – 31 October 2010

By Robert Herbert, curator, film (until June 2017)

Still from Les enfants du paradis(Children of paradise) 1945, photo: courtesy of Potential Films — Still from *Les enfants du paradis /* *Children of paradise* 1945, photo: courtesy of Potential Films

The French Revolution of 1789 was the defining event of the Romantic period. It unsettled the structure of society, all the social codes, and affected thought and feeling. It set the agenda for French culture and politics for the decades to come.

Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825) was the pre-eminent painter of the day and exemplar of Neoclassicism. In the 1780s, in keeping with the cultural climate of the last years of the ancien regime, his cerebral style of history painting veered away from the frivolity of the Rococo toward a new austerity, extolling the virtues of stoicism, masculinity, self-sacrifice and patriotism. David was an unconditional supporter of the French Revolution and befriended Robespierre. Following the uprising he became a Deputy and voted for the execution of Louis XVI. His position as the painter of the Revolution was unchallenged until his imprisonment after Robespierre’s fall from power.

Presenting a cinematic history of France through the late 18th and into the 19th century, the series portrayed the dramatic events and major characters of the French Revolution and subsequent decades, as well as presented smaller figures who flesh out the story. It introduced places, characters, and atmospheres that struck a chord with the works of art in the exhibition.

The series screened at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 22 September to 31 October 2010 in association with the exhibition David to Cezanne: Master drawings from the Prat Collection.

Films

22, 26 September – Beaumarchais, the scoundrel (director Edouard Molinaro, France, 1996, 35mm)
29 September, 3 October – Danton (director Andrzej Wajda, France/ Poland, 1982, 35mm)
6, 10 October – Marie Antoinette (director Sophia Coppola, US, 2006, 35mm)
16, 23 October – Les enfants du paradis / Children of paradise (director Marcel Carne, France, 1945, 35mm)
13, 17 October – Le rideau cramoisi / The crimson curtain (director Alexandre Astruc, France, 1952, 35mm)
20, 24 October – No touchez pas la hache / Don’t touch the axe (director Jacques Rivette, France, 2007, 35mm)
27, 31 October – Le diable boiteau / the devil with a limp (director Sacha Guitry, France, 1948, 35mm)
30 October, 3, 7 November – Les miserables (director Raymond Bernard, France, 1933, 35mm)