A look at 18th-century France, when the depravity of the authorities contributed to social oppression, and the uprisings flared up one after another.
Acting
Noiret's rotting aristocrat, barely holding his wig on.
Direction
Tavernier's debut already this cynical? Unhinged.
Costume
Silk and filth, perfect visual paradox.
Director
Bertrand Tavernier
Philippe Noiret
Philip of Orléans
Jean Rochefort
Abbot Dubois
Jean-Pierre Marielle
The Marquis de Pontcallec
Marina Vlady
The Marchioness of Parabère
Christine Pascal
Emilie
Alfred Adam
François de Neufville, Duke of Villeroy
Jean-Roger Caussimon
The Cardinal
Gérard Desarthe
The Duke of Bourbon
Michel Beaune
Captain La Griolais
Monique Chaumette
Yvonne, governess of Pontcallec
François Dyrek
Montlouis
Jean-Paul Farré
Father Burdo
Nicole Garcia
'La Fillon'
Jacques Hilling
Abbot Gratellard
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Tavernier was only 34 directing this, his debut — he'd later call it 'the film of a young man who hates the powerful.'
The title comes from a 1792 revolutionary song, ironically deployed — the film knows these uprisings fail, and the Terror still awaits.
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