History and Film: Historical Validity and Films on the French Revolution

For this assignment you’ll need to respond to the initial debate prompt then reply to 2 other posts from our discussion board. Please read the rubric attached to know what is expected. The response to the prompt should be about a page long with citations and the reply to other students posts should be around half a page each with citations as well. Please ask me if you have any questions or refer to the rubric for clarity.

Read the article “The French Revolution on Film: American and French Perspectives” by academic historian Casey Harison, The History Teacher 38, no. 3 (May 2005), 299-324.

Then you will need to watch the movie Danton (1993).

Here is a link on youtube to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-b7Rtu-nuk&vl=en

Here is the prompt:

In the article, “The French Revolution on Film: American and French Perspectives,” Casey Harison makes the case that most films about the French Revolution are so hopelessly biased against it that they esseitnally lack historical validity. Read that article (FrenchRevolutionFilm.pdf above) with an eye toward understanding the different ways that filmmakers have created negative or condescending interpretations of the French Revolution in their movies. Then debate whether the movie Danton (created by a Polish filmmaker) fits more comfortably into the pattern of depictions represented by American or French film making.

There are no posts yet on our discussion board. I will add them here or in the comments once students start to post but please respond to the prompt for now.