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Terror! Robespierre and the French Revolution (2009)

Terror! Robespierre and the French Revolution (2009)

History Documentary
Release Date: 2009, July 11
Directors: Carl Hindmarch
Countries: United Kingdom
Production: BBC
Cast: Slavoj Žižek, George Maguire, Martin Hancock, Ed Stoppard, Stephen Hogan, Brian Pettifer, Colin Jones, Jonny Phillips, Simon Schama, Jan Pearson, David Andress, Marisa Linton

Overview:

In 1794, French revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre produced the world's first defense of "state terror" - claiming that the road to virtue lay through political violence. This film combines drama, archive and documentary interviews to examine Robespierre's year in charge of the Committee Of Public Safety - the powerful state machine at the heart of Revolutionary France. Contesting Robespierre's legacy is Slavoj Zizek, who argues that terror in the cause of virtue is justifiable, and Simon Schama, who believes the road from Robespierre ran straight to the gulag and the 20th-century concentration camp. The drama, based on original sources, follows the life-and-death politics of the Committee during "Year Two" of the new Republic.

Keywords:

18th century docudrama french revolution revolution robespierre