La Commune

History, politics and media collide in Peter Watkins’ magnificent final film, an engrossing reimagining of the Paris Commune.

  • Director

    Peter Watkins

  • With

    Eliane Annie Adalto, Pierre Barbieux, Bernard Bombeau, Anne Carlier

  • France 2000. 345min + intervals

  • Digital

  • With English subtitles

Watkins’ monumental account of the 1871 Paris Commune stages revolutionary history as if covered by live television, with rival broadcasts interviewing workers, soldiers and citizens. Shot in a disused warehouse and developed collaboratively with its non-professional cast, the film reveals uncomfortable connections between the suppression of the Commune and contemporary inequalities. Hailed as the culmination of Watkins’ life’s work, it is an unmissable work that deserves to be seen on the big screen.

James Bell