Film Review
La Nuit de Varennes continues France's long-standing tradition of quality
period drama into the 1980s and offers a compelling portrait of pre-revolutionary France.
This big budget Franco-Italian production was directed by notable Italian director, Ettore
Scola, and features an all-star cast, with production values that most French film directors
in the 1980s could only dream of.
Unusually, the film keeps its characters and its audience well away from the principal
actors of this period of history and, instead, reflects actual historical events through
the effect these have on lesser characters, from all strata of French society.
When the Kind and Queen do ultimately appear in the film, it is for one brief scene, in
which we glimpse only their lower bodies through the banisters of a staircase -
emphasising the unbridgeable gulf between the ordinary people and an increasingly remote
monarchy. (It is also a cruel in-joke which alludes to the tragically ignoble fate
awaiting the royal couple on their return to Paris.)
For the most part,
La Nuit de Varennes is concerned with the political and social
issues of the day - particularly the role of the monarchy and the pressures that
are propelling France towards bloody revolution. Rather than offering a dry
historical text, the film livens things up by using colourful characters to tell the story
and including comic elements which (although shamelessly anachronistic in places) provide
amusing links to our own time. This allows the film to be relevant to a modern audience
without losing its historical context or sense of authenticity.
Much of the film's dialogue take place in the confined space of a horse-drawn coach
and involves some intelligent debate between two of the great thinkers of the time, Thomas
Payne and Restif de la Bretonne. Their less intellectually minded travelling companions
(including one-time love-machine Casanova, who is looking much the worse for wear), offer
more mundane reflections on the situation. Not surprisingly, the landed gentry are
mainly preoccupied with maintaining the status quo whilst the less privileged and more
liberally minded side with the increasingly restless workers. The film generally
avoids taking sides and seems to give a balanced view of the time, although some of the
later scenes (particularly the dressing of the mannikin with the royal garb) are clearly
intended to direct the sympathies of the audience towards the ill-fated monarch (albeit
with a touch of mocking irony).
This is a film which appeals at many levels and in many different ways. Visually,
the film is a cinematic treat, with well-chosen locations and meticulously constructed
interior sets working together to create a convincing recreation of the period.
The cinematography works well with the narrative flow, contributing to the sense that
France is heading inexorably towards a period of great upheaval. This is most apparent
towards the end of the film where the dramatic night scenes in the town of Varennes show
clearly that change, when it comes, will be far from painless.
The dialogue is also of a high calibre, with some brilliant comic touches brightening
up the serious political observations. Neither comedy nor conventional drama,
La
Nuit de Varennes manages to offer an engaging and nearly authentic depiction of the
period it is set in. Bringing together three historical characters (Thomas Payne,
Restif de la Bretonne and Casanova) is admittedly at least one contrivance too many but
it allows the film to articulate viewpoints which would seem improbable if they came from
the mouths of lesser mortals.
In many ways, this is a film which is rife with indulgences (most of which are easily
overlooked whilst others - such as the occasional asides where historical facts
are filled in - are mildly irritating). Nowhere is this more apparent than
in the casting, which includes some of the biggest names in European cinema (and the fact
that the four lead actors come from four different countries has of course nothing to
do with exploiting the film's marketing opportunities abroad…)
Jean-Louis Barrault gives a sterling performance as the writer, Restif de la Bretonne,
a man of contradictory moral and political views who is ideally placed to lead us through
the film. German-born actress Hanna Schygula and American Harvey Keitel give
convincing performances, as the queen's lady-in-waiting and Tom Payne respectively
(although the latter suffers the ignomy of bad dubbing owing to his presumably somewhat
less-than-perfect French). Most impressive is Italian acting legend Marcello
Mastroianni, giving a remarkable portrayal of an elderly Casanova, who by this stage
is far more preoccupied with his incontinence and desire to hang onto his last few worldly
possessions than scoring any more amorous conquests.
It may be stretching credulity to its limits to believe that Casanova ever ended up in
a carriage with Tom Payne and Restif de la Bretonne, but the mere idea unleashes a cornucopia
of possibilities as to what the three men would have said to one another if such an unlikely
thing were to happen. It may not be historic fact, but it is a beautiful fantasy and makes
a deliciously entertaining historical piece in which the authors clearly had no qualms
about letting poetic licence run amok.
What makes
La Nuit de Varennes such a noteworthy film is that (in spite of the
very noticeable influence from its financial backers), it offers a refreshingly original
variation on the historical film, without slackening on the production values which make
this genre of film so enduringly popular. It gives us what we want (lavish costumes,
plenty of period detail, great acting) and, in addition offers us something else (an imaginative
script, sophisticated comedy and a surreal ending).
© James Travers 2002
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