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The French Revolution (History Channel) 
Actors : George Ivascu, Phillip Levine (II), Rodica Lazar
Director : Doug Shultz
Studio : A&E Home Video
by A&E Home Video
Release Date : 2005-03-29
Publisher : A&E Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780767078894
UPC : 733961718492
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 24 reviews)
List Price : $24.95
Our Price : $12.64
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Description |
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On July 14, 1789, a mob of angry Parisians stormed the Bastille and seized the King's military stores. A decade of idealism, war, murder, and carnage followed, bringing about the end of feudalism and the rise of equality and a new world order. The French Revolution is a definitive feature-length documentary that encapsulates this heady (and often headless) period in Western civilization. With dramatic reenactments, illustrations, and paintings from the era, plus revealing accounts from journals and expert commentary from historians, The French Revolution vividly unfurls in a maelstrom of violence, discontent, and fundamental change. King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Maximilien Robespierre, and Napoleon Bonaparte lead a cast of thousands in this essential program from THE HISTORY CHANNEL®. Narrated by Edward Herrmann (The Aviator, Gilmore Girls), The French Revolution explores the legacy that--now more than ever--stands as both a warning and a guidepost to a new millennium |
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Very good, but missing a few things. |
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I am a graduate student studying for a PhD in History. My dissertation is on the French Revolution, so I know many of the key events that took place during this momentous moment in history. I understand that this video is truly made for 'the masses,' and not for scholars, but there still a few things the History Channel ignores. First and foremost, there is no mention of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. This key document which unfolds into its own episode within the Revolution, and has recently been cited as one of the turning points of the Revolution where 'things started to go bad,' is not even discussed once- neither is the Marquis de Lafayette. The historiography also tends to focus too much on specific people such as Robespierre and Marie Antoinette, who were of course important in terms of the unfolding of events, but other important figures could have been discussed more. All in all it is an informative, well documented production that will most likely leave the viewer feeling much more informed about the event that ushered in the modern era. |
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What I was looking for |
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I bought the French Revolution DVD to replace a worn-out VCR tape of the same program--an excellent move. I am very pleased with my purchase. |
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Superb |
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As usual, this is another superb History Channel production. I used it in my World History classes and it was very well received. |
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French Revolution: Deadly Mixture of Tyranny and Enlightenment |
The French Revolution, a DVD set by The History Channel, will be of interest to a wide audience. Well-done reenactments, paintings, interviews with leading historians, and the narration of Edward Herrmann help viewers get a better appreciation for the French Revolution and its impact on European and world history. The History Channel does a good job in covering the events, including the American Revolution, which led to the overthrow of the French monarchy and the establishment of the New Republic in the 1790s C.E. Furthermore, The History Channel explains well the interactions among the main protagonists of this bloody, chaotic, and transformative period. These protagonists were among others king Louis XVI, his wife Marie Antoinette, Jacques Necker, Maximilien Robespierre, Jean-Paul Marat, George Jacques Danton, Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, and last but not least, Napoléon Bonaparte. To its credit, The History Channel clearly articulates the institutional developments at the apex of France and the vain attempts of the other European powers to nip the French Revolution in the bud. To summarize, this DVD set reflects with conviction on a watershed series of events that like the Industrial and American Revolutions thoroughly changed the course of human history forever.
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IN THE TIME OF THE GREAT FRENCH REVOLUTION |
This year marks the 218th anniversary of the beginning of the Great French Revolution with storming of the Bastille on July 14th 1789. An old Chinese Communist leader, the late Zhou Enlai, was once asked by a reporter to sum up the important lessons of the French Revolution. In reply he answered that it was too early to tell what those lessons might be. Whether that particular story is true or not it does contain one important truth. Militants today at the beginning of the 21st century can still profit from an understanding of the history of the French Revolution.
There are many books that outline the history of that revolution. I have reviewed some of them in this space. Probably the most succinct overview, although it was written over one half century ago, is Professor Georges Lefebvre's study. For those who want a quick visual overview of the main events and political disputes the History Channel production under review has a lot to recommend it. The production covers all the main pre-revolutionary problems confronting France at the time, including its terrible debt problems caused in the main by its support of the American Revolution, to the political, social and, yes, sexual inadequacies of Louis XVI. As has been noted by many commentators on revolution, including myself, one of the prerequisites for revolution is that the old regime can no longer govern in the same way. The personage of Louis XVI seemingly fits that proposition to a tee.
The production goes on to highlight the key events. Obviously, and most visibly, the storming of the Bastille that opened up the cracks in the old monarchial regime. It details the struggle to create a constitutional monarchy through the various legislative assemblies that sought to carry out the reforms necessary to bring France into the modern age short of declaring a republic. And also the attempts, including by Louis himself, by forces of the old regime to return the old monarchy or stop the revolution in its tracks. When those efforts failed and the revolution began in earnest the production details the internal struggle by the revolutionaries, most notably the great fight between the Girondins and Jacobins for power, and the formation of the republic. After the defeat of the Girondins this led to the further fights to `purify' the revolution among the Jacobin forces and the reign of the Robespierre-led Committee of Public Safety that consolidated the gains of the revolution through the `Reign of Terror'. Finally, the downfall and execution of Robespierre in 1794 represented the reaction that most revolutions exhibit when the political possibilities for further leftward revolutionary moves are no longer tenable.
There are many great scenes portrayed here as well. The murder of Marat by Corday. The Festival of the Supreme Being. The oratory of Danton and many more scenes that give one a pretty good general feel for the dynamics of the revolution. Included are `talking head' comments by noted historians of the revolution giving their take on the meaning of various events. This is a plus. The major negative is in the axis of presentation. Almost fatalistically the emergence of Robespierre is intertwined throughout all of the earlier events giving the impression that he was inevitably bound to take power. And, also inevitably, due to the excesses of the `Reign of Terror' to lose it. This may be good documentary presentation form but it is bad history. Revolutions, particularly great revolutions, are few and far between. They are messy affairs at the time and as seen through the historical lens. Nevertheless if the social tensions in society could always, or should always, be resolved in a nice non- violent parliamentary way there would be no revolutions. Damn, where would that leave us as the inheritors of the sans-culottes tradition?
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