Pretty Good

Best movie ever!

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This French film is much more meaningful to French citizens (who undoubtedly are far more familiar with the history of their country's transition from monarchy to democratic republic than most non-French citizens). I rushed to Wikipedia to read about Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, and this era as soon as I got home from seeing this film. And for those also unfamiliar with it, I recommend potential viewers also read about them and the French transition from monarchy to citizen democracy before seeing this film; I think that'll make it far more meaningful.The scenes were great -- they captured the time and life/era exceedingly well; the actors were interesting and very appropriate. But, in my lacking an extensive enough appreciation of this era and its events, I agree totally with Roger Ebert's review (he gave it 2.5 stars of 4): http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/la-nuit-de-varennes-1983 (2.5 of 4)

Scola's Nuit de Varennes is a wonderfully composed and compact ... well, drama might be a misleading description, unless it's drama of ideologies. The concept itself is nothing short of brilliant: in 1791, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette attempt to flee France and the revolution. They get to the the small town of Varennes, just a few miles shy of the border, where they are arrested and led back to Paris, later to be guillotined. However, we are not in the royal getaway coach, but in the periphery of the historical drama; in the coach following the doomed royals is a strange melange of ideologies, a motley and cosmopolitan crew of aspects of the world that is about to disappear and that which is soon to come. The new ideology is represented by Thomas Paine (Harvey Keitel) and writer Restif (Jean-Louis Barrault), the ancien regime by Countess de la Borde (Hanna Schygulla), carrying with her Louis XVI's royal parade robe. Marcello Mastroianni portrays an eclipsed and impotent Casanova and Daniel Gelin is De Wende, an unscrupulous entrepreneur who is sure to survive both the revolution and the ensuing Napoleonic wars with his fortune intact.The very idea of letting the soul of a historical period be represented by characters that, put together, cover all aspects of the matter, is reminiscent of Blixen's (or Isak Dinesen's) tales, such as "The Deluge of Norderney", "The Dreamers" or "The Heroine". It's expertly done in this beautifully executed film. The scenery, the dialogue and the acting are all masterly. The story loyally refuses to play favorites. The revolution is justified by the sufferings of the people of France, but the children of the revolution - partly represented by a young, hateful and self-righteous student who insults Casanova - have no sense of the noblesse and chivalry they destroy. We clearly sense how the revolution will readily lapse into the mindless brutality of the reign of terror that was shortly to follow. The sympathy that arises across the revolutionary gulf between the royalist Baroness and the modern Thomas Paine is among the most touching things in the film which culminates in Varennes after the collapse of royal power with Schygulla's Baroness kneeling before the royal robes on a dress maker's dummy.

Seemed more like a way to work in as many glib facts about revolutionary France into one movie as possible. Overlong. Most of the puns in the dialogue were neither humorous, linguistically interesting, or even original. Character development is rather pathetic, and I could not care less about anyone in the film.The Revolution may have been prevented had the French in 1789 known of this future pile of cinematic dreck that was to be made. Possibly the only good thing about this movie was having the opportunity to disparage it so in this comment; but, even this opportunity does not erase the horrible stain of this film on my previous opinion of French cinema as being halfway decent. Avoid.

I frankly don't find much value in movie reviews, amateur or professional, so I won't belabor my points. Simply put, this is the smartest film I've ever seen. A coherent plot and intelligent dialog are critical to my movie pleasure, and this one has them. It is so good that it is almost novelistic, which is not to say that it could have been taken from a novel. Some review guide said of this movie that it is "talk, talk, talk." Exactly! The conversations are witty, charming, and often funny. Be advised that this is not akin to the insipid "My Dinner With Andre," with its metaphysical posturing. One must say this carefully about any movie, but there are actually things to learn from this film, though it is far more entertaining than didactic. The acting is mature and magnificent. I doubt that Mastroianni was ever in a better role. Jean-Louis Barrault and Hanna Schygulla are brilliant. This, along with his other excellent films, should have made director Scola one of the titans of modern cinema. Instead it has never made it to DVD and you will be fortunate to ever see it. (Update: It is now available as an all- region Blu-Ray.)