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La Révolution française (film)

1989 film directed by Robert Enrico and Richard T. Heffron

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 3, 2026
Entity authorityQ912557 ↗
Source-derived summary

La Révolution française is a two-part 1989 historical drama co-produced by France, Germany, Italy and Canada for the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. The full film runs at 360 minutes, but the edited-for-television version is slightly longer. It purports to tell a faithful and neutral story of the Revolution, from the calling of the Estates-General to the fall of Maximilien Robespierre. The film had a large budget (FRF 300 million) and boasted an international cast. It was shot in French, German and English.

Plot

Part I

La Révolution française: les Années lumière (The French Revolution: Years of Hope), directed by Robert Enrico

The first part focuses on the events of the early days of the French Revolution.

The Estates General of 1789 quickly falls apart as many members of the Third Estate swear an oath to continue assembling until they are given more rights. In response, King Louis XVI closes the assembly. In a private lunch following the incident, Marie Antoinette gives Louis a few ideas, such as using force should the people refuse the King's demands. Meanwhile, many orators rouse the people to demand for change.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “La Révolution française (film)” is 1989 film directed by Robert Enrico and Richard T. Heffron. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Révolution, française and film, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1989, 1789—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1989-01-01. For this dossier, Révolution, française and film is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “1989 film directed by Robert Enrico and Richard T. Heffron” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q912557. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1989 and 1789.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “La Révolution française (film)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow La Révolution française (film) primary sources, La Révolution française (film) archive and Révolution research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “La Révolution française (film)”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “La Révolution française (film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.