LA NUIT DE VARENNES Movie Review

This historical dramatic comedy is based on a celebrated chapter in French history, when Louis XVI (Michel Piccoli) and Marie Antoinette (Eleonore Hirt) fled from a Paris in the throes of revolution to Varennes in 1791. On their journey, they meet an unlikely and altogether remarkable group of characters, including Casanova (Marcello Mastroianni), Thomas Paine (Harvey Keitel), and the popular writer Restif de la Bretonne (Jean-Louis Barrault). All the elements are in place for a completely fascinating take on politics, revolution, sex, and power, but the film—despite some engaging and wonderfully witty passages—just never takes off. This is the kind of conceit that needs the goosing of a genuinely inspired script, not merely an adequate one, but writer/director Ettore Scola and his co-author Sergio Amidei seem to feel that the setup is enough to carry the picture. The movie reminded me a bit of the old Steve Allen TV series Meeting of Minds, in which historical figures who couldn't have sat down together sat down together. (Meeting of Minds was more intriguing.) The performances are delightful, particularly those of Mastroianni and the great Barrault (Baptiste in Children of Paradise).The film is cut by about 20 minutes from its original running time, although prints of various lengths have circulated in the U.S.

NEXT STOP … Passione d'Amoré, Danton, Stagecoach (1939)

1982 (R) 133m/C FR IT Marcello Mastroianni, Harvey Keitel, Jean-Louis Barrault, Hanna Schygulla, Jean-Claude Brialy, Michel Piccoli, Jean-Louis Trintignant; D: Ettore Scola; W: Ettore Scola. VHS, LV COL, IME