The night of Varennes
Ladies and gentlemen, in this small box I present the new world
with all distances and perspectives inside!
A coin and you will see. It's really nice!
We came directly from Venice by boat
with our musicians
to show you this marvellous invention
enabling you to witness with your own eyes
the major events of history,
whether recent or distant.
Ladies and gentlemen, bring the children too
to see the big machine.
Come on, enter!
Watch for yourself this contraption of the mirror of history!
And admire the good king Louis XVI
with the queen, who walks among her people.
Observe the sumptuous outfit of the queen.
And now, a grand episode!
Those who were present that day can see it again in this magic machine.
Come on! Hello missus.
Look mister,
An important event of two years ago, of 1789.
The capture of La Bastille!
fort of the tyrants, prison of men and of ideas.
Five thousand Parisians
leave their houses the 14th of July,
with their children still sleeping
go out and build a different destiny.
83 deaths,
88 wounded! Poor souls!
Cleaved on this sword,
you may admire the head of the governor of La Bastille!
He's a symbol of the fall of the Ancien Régime,
of the triumph of the Third State.
October 5th, still '89,
10.000 hungry women and some men dressed as women,
go out to Versailles to ask the king bread for their little children.
A six hours walk, look at them in the rain.
And here a beautiful woman arrives,
with a medieval sword.
It's the fascinating Mme. Théroigne de Méricourt,
in love with war, with the revolution,
but above all with men.
Messalina and Jeanne d'Arque,
great lover of battles of love and of war.
The king goes out on the balcony and 10.000 women cry out:
"The king to Paris! The king to Paris!"
To make the king return to Paris.
Marie Antoinette, with her friend Axel von Fersen,
is fearful to go out, because the people shout:
"The whore, to the balcony!"
But look, La Fayette puts her on the balcony
and kisses her hand in front of the people,
which, being of good character, softens up and shouts:
"Long live the Queen!"
And the women take the bakers with them back to Paris,
that is, the presence of their Majesties in Paris guarantees bread for all.
Ask me for an event and I'll hand it to you!
In this magic box I show you the new world
with its distances and perspectives.
A coin and you'll see marvels!
It's not enough to write, print and edit books,
you need to sell them.
My Calendar?
Each day is devoted to a lover of my father.
365 women? - No, many more!
Often there are two the same day, even three!
"February 8. Sister Pinon, of the sisters of Bicêtre
combed me.
She hid her face between my legs and told me:
Enjoy, little one". And she enjoyed it too".
"April 27. Nanette Précy. The first whom I loved completely.
I was 19, she 16. Our first time, we wept."
"May 10. Mathilde Boujard. Known in a brothel.
After enjoying the honeys of pleasure
we discovered she was my daughter Mathilde..."
My name is Agnes, not Mathilde.
We are many sisters. - Scandalous! I am shattered!
Yes, evidently.
There are almost 400. We'll read them the next seizure.
Count these books and take note of the quantity.
I can tell you that, there are 1.230 copies.
I knew your father
from my rounds of gambling dens at night
where he read his stories.
Sometimes, we accompanied him home
to tell us more stories.
My mother said that the majority of those who came
were vagabonds, liars and thieves.
The majority. We belonged to the others.
Thomas Paine. The Rights of Man.
Preface to the French edition.
Your father must have received the assignment to print it.
By Mr. Paine himself.
Do you know the author of The American Revolution?
He wouldn't do that for free. - Surely not.
But he did not charge any advance yet,
for ink nor paper. - Even though, it remains seized.
I don't know if you have the right.. - But I do.
"Seizure of source of gain,
waiting for the debtor to pay his debt".
Then you can wait.
How can he pay the debt if he doesn't have 'sources of gain'?
It's the law.
And, moreover
having had 400 women,
to pay only one pension is already good business.
Indeed. It's the kind of business you don't run any risk of!
Some charity please! Have pity with a doomed one!
I could also ask for alms, my friend,
But let's shake hands and devote ourselves to God.
I'm Nicolas Edmé Restif de la Bretonne. And you?
Carafon. - Carafon! Pleased to meet you.
Uhu!
Uhu. Is that you?
Ah, the beautiful Faustine! What a joy!
I recognized your footsteps.
How is life?
Looks like it want to take a bad turn.
Are you coming to my house?
Sure!
I was in Café Manoury, thought of you, and here I am.
I love your extraordinary knack for lying.
You did not think of me at all. - True.
I happened to pass by, but
when you called me, I started to think of you.
So, will you come up? I'll introduce you to somebody.
No, it's late, I have a lot of work.
That must be urgent,
to renounce a small precious one singing you a lullaby
with little feet in silk green stockings and rose heels.
Rose?
Happiness of sight, ecstasy of the soul,
irrefutable proof of the existence of God!
To have loved is like having planted the sword a thousand times in the water.
Who couldn't but caress those little feet forever,
those finely curved ankles!
He's a great man of literature,
Nicolas Edmé Restif de la Bretonne.
But should I do anything in particular?
Just do what you normally do.
In bed an intellectual is just like a smith, he just talks more.
Hubertine! - I'm late!
What an apparition! You came to honour with your graces...
Ah, my daughter is chambermaid in the Royal Palace,
She's responsible for the queen's soup. No go!
Why did you come only now?
They locked the door to my room.
I was locked in and they only opened up at twelve.
On leaving, they told me the queen had gone at 11:30
She's going to join her husband.
No, it's always the king who joins her, that's not normal.
There was a lot of commotion in the gallery of l'Échelle street.
But the guard to the King's door saw nobody.
What happened in the palace between 11 and 12?
It's an old friend
and the most curious man of Paris.
It's my duty, I'm a writer of the truth.
So, the rumours that go around in Paris
are true? - What rumours?
I heard steps and voices,
but upon leaving everything was quiet.
Lady, not to hurry you, but here are still two little feet...
Now that I'm going to die...
If La Fayette wouldn't have fled abroad,
Like the de Artois or the de Orléans,
means he thinks the same as the king.
Didn't you see a coach leave the Court?
The Court? No.
And via the l'Echelle street? - Not that I remember.
So everything normal, there was no movement at all?
Of what kind?
Well... of the nightly kind.
I don't know... well, maybe.
Good night, corporal.
Are you going alone? - For the moment, yes.
The other packet I'll give to the servant. Wait.
Don't you follow the ladies very closely. - Yes.
Who are you?
An unknown
who couldn't resist to do a favour to such a nice lady.
And how did they find it? - Registering everything.
And you couldn't stop them?
When you want, you know how to handle men.
Judges seek to take something with them, not to consume it 'in situ'.
But it's the only profitable work I have in a whole year!
Poor daughter, the bad luck this father has given you!
Mr. Paine said not to worry, that it's not urgent.
The urgent thing is that he pays me.
When did he tell you this?
Three hours ago.
He's going to Metz, he'll be out for several weeks.
I'll tell you when he comes back.
Several weeks...
Did he give you money?
A little. - Yes?
But for me personally. - Personally? Little seductress!
To Metz he went, you said?
Dad! We need that money for the butcher,
the baker, the grocer.
They'll have to wait with getting rich. I've been waiting for 60 years.
Watch out, watch out!
Who wants strawberries? Strawberries for the trip!
Passengers for Sens, Auxerre, Macon, take your seats!
Hats for sale! Old hats!
Vendel and Paine. Two for Metz. It's the next coach to leave.
Mister Paine? - No, that's my friend.
That man really wants to see you. I had to wake him up upon seeing you.
Thank you.
Good trip. Next.
Mister Du Plantier. One for Montélimar.
Mister Restif! What are you doing here?
Mr. Paine,
my daughter told you about the seizure.
Sadly, carmina non dant panem.
Sure, but I don't have much money on me.
That's not wise when travelling.
I can only give you a couple of duchies.
Here.
But don't worry, we'll settle it all upon my return.
Come, I'll introduce you to Mr. Vendel.
He possesses some land in lower Alsace.
Passengers for Meaux, Châlons, Verdun, Metz, get in!
Watch out.
It's here, milady.
Come on, hurry up!
A bridge 100 metres long without pillars.
Can't sleep when I think of it.
This crowd!
OK, see you soon. - Good trip.
I'll be up there.
I entrust them to you. - Yes, sir.
Careful, with the other one too.
Come on! They're delicate.
I'm sorry, I have to leave.
It was unforeseen, I couldn't make a reservation.
Sorry, we are full.
Up there three of us will fit.
If you have a ticket, that is.
But I can pay the fare to you.
We're running late. Are we going? There's no place for three.
Where are you going? - To Verdun or to Metz, it depends.
Ask over there, if the hand you a ticket...
Thank you, young man. Half a minute and I'll be back.
We travel together. Where are you going?
I don't have the pleasure of knowing you.
Yet, I may be wrong but
I'd say we have met before. - Not very probable, Sir.
And the lady you accompany, I've seen her somewhere before.
Even more unlikely! She doesn't call on people like you.
A German traveller wrote about the kindness of the French.
Surely he wouldn't apply that to you.
A ticket to Metz, I'm in a hurry.
Are we going right now?
Not very comfortable, but I'm used to it.
Only you were missing. We're running late!
I'm coming sir!
What are you waiting for? - Excuse me sir.
I'm a student in Paris.
I'm Emile Delage. And you? - Marie Madeleine.
Hurry up, sir!
Wait for me!
Wait!
I have to go!
Son of a bitch!
A horse!
I have to catch that coach! A horse!
I'll see what I can do. - How much?
Are you sure those duchies were false?
Absolutely sure! My écus are authentic.
Touch it. The coach...
I know him.
An unreliable man, a cheater, a traveller without luggage.
Did you see? I feigned not to know him!
I wouldn't like any claims though.
We are full up and he didn't have a ticket. Nothing to claim.
I don't like flowers.
I didn't imagine your Restif like that.
The author of The perverted peasant has some exquisite postures.
How did you imagine him?
Like a horny and obscene faun?
Of his work, you only know The perverted peasant
and perhaps the peasant's wife, but he's written novels, essays...
Thank you, milady. - You're welcome.
More than a hundred works.
He writes The Parisian Nights day after day.
Abundance doesn't equal quality.
That goes for works of nature and of man.
Sure.
But because of his style many have thought that Restif
was a pseudonym for Beaumarchais or Diderot.
I haven't read them, but in his work there are details so sordid
that they'd merit to be burned in public.
With its author?
Don't be like that, dear!
And you, have you read them? - The books of that man?
No, may God keep me from it!
I have.
And with enormous pleasure.
I found rare inspirations
about the state of man, woman and love among our good people.
Comforting that there are aristocrats who don't despise the people.
Nobody here despises the people,
but to convert him into a hero of literature...
Well, let's read that Restif, right, Mr Baldi?
Seems to be very instructive.
Though I'm pretty well instructed in those matters.
I read something interesting. In a newspaper, I think.
It struck me.
It foretold strange change-overs, events, disorders.
And all has turned out exactly as it foretold.
Rich, stop being hard and insolent.
Be careful, magistrates.
A revolution is in the making, an ill-fated revolution!
The nobility has not understood the people.
The clergy has not managed to keep in touch with it.
Soon this people will fight social inequalities,
and everybody will be converted into citizen.
Listen to the voice of a plebeian woman who lives with the people.
Often the artist perceives what's in the air.
That is, the causes, the responsibilities,
the motives, well, above all the other...
Exactly, I'd like to make your 'artists' more responsible.
All those philosophers, those writers
who discredited the Régime with doubts and irony.
This Beaumarchais, for example.
His Marriage of Figaro is very dangerous for the nobility.
And nevertheless, it is applauded in the Court,
because of coquetry and ignorance.
I have applauded it.
Ignorance is failing to accept the critics who address us.
Wise words, Countess,
if one is disposed to accept the worst when it happens.
I have the impression the worst has already happened.
My God! Stop!
Stop!
Help me.
Are you hurt? Try to stand up.
Give me your hand.
- Nothing broken? - No, nothing.
I'm not a great horseman, sir.
I was as a young man, but many years have passed,
as you can see.
Same here.
I had to take recourse to this poor horse,
because a blasted barber pulled the wool over me.
I have to catch them, him and his Countess.
His flight confirms my suspicions.
Are you OK? Sure?
Don't worry, I've hit myself much more below the head.
I ask you, help me to catch that coach.
I won't manage with my horse.
You'll pass it by. I'll tell you which.
I'd do it, but as you can see my vehicle is almost a 'non-obliger'.
'Non-obliger', a one-seater which frees the traveller
of the obligation to invite those on foot to get in.
Sorry to insist.
I can't offer you money, only my respect,
and possibly that of posterity too.
Don't you thing you're committing yourself a bit excessively?
I'll dedicate one of my Revolutionary Nights to this adventure,
and I'll talk of you, if you allow me.
But I didn't introduce myself, Nicolas Edmé Restif de la Bretonne.
The author of Fanchette's Foot, of The Natural Daughter,
of The Parisian Household, of The Contemporaries?
At your service.
Thank you for not citing The Perverted Peasant.
I read it, appreciated it too.
But I imagine that it's not your favourite.
Like a father who loves his less favourite children most.
And me, with whom do I have the honour?
Knight De Seingalt.
Right away, when I saw the countess get in the coach,
with two packets from the Tuileries,
I deduced that I was following an important person.
My suspicions were well founded.
Are you saying that Louis Capet is not in Paris any more?
He could be travelling down this same road,
but: where to?
Difficult to believe. A coward like him,
who only goes out for the hunt!
Dante said that on meeting Hugh Capet in Purgatory,
"I was the bad vibe that clouds the Christian world
that hardly any good fruit can grow from it".
This Louis, I knew him as a child.
I was a loyal friend of his father, until
What year was that?
Seventeen hundred...
Seventee...
Attention!
The coach! There it is! - Who?
Fasten your seatbelt!
Seatbelt? - Yes, there it is.
You'll see. Fasten tightly!
Let's go! Overtake that coach!
Get it!
What are they doing? They cannot pass us by!
Faster! Faster!
Faster François! Faster!
The horses are bolting!
We'll kill ourselves! Let him past! I want to get off!
Don't you hear me? You're crazy!
Let him pass! - From behind!
I'll throw up. I threw up!
Virginie, my little one!
We are getting close to Meaux.
They'll have to change horses.
We could let them pass by.
Never!
¡Seingalt does not eat nobody's dust,
not even the King's!
Let alone some unknown types!
Give way to Sir de Seingalt And mister de la Bretonne!
Give way to genius!
It's been very amusing!
Meaux stop!
I need nobody! Here! Get out!
Get me my overnight bag. Hurry, let's go!
My overnight bag, hurry up!
Where can we rest? - Here.
Hey my good man, didn't you see
a saloon coach pass by, coming from Paris?
Wait.
At six this morning. They asked for eleven fresh horses right away.
Three saddled ones for the riders,
two for a convertible and six for a saloon coach.
An enormous saloon coach! Never saw something like it.
Don't know how it'll cross the bridge over the Somme-Soude.
In the coach, who were inside? - The curtains were closed.
But I believe it was a Russian grand lady
returning to her country.
A good trip is in the wait for you. Cover yourself, please.
They'd have to leave Paris around midnight.
Strange hour to leave on a trip!
Seems to be an 'incognito' trip.
Meaux! Meaux stop!
Mister Baldi has to make weewee.
Hey, where did you learn driving?
Don't you touch me! - Criminal pig! Nitwit!
So much hurry and you show up only now?
I told you I don't have the honour of knowing you.
Milady, what a trip! Did you get shaken badly?
Mr Paine!
Mr Restif!
Something the matter, Mr Baldi?
You here? - I'd like to tell you what I am doing here.
Last night, in Paris, there was a mysterious departure.
And I think I know who was involved.
If they left at midnight, they should be near Montmirail.
Next Chaintrix, Châlons,
Sainte-Menehould, Clermont...
Are you paying attention?
Verdun and Metz.
It's clear.
They're heading for the Eastern border
to reach protection by the troops of Alsace, Lorraine and the Champagne.
That means 90 battalion and 400 squadrons
of Swiss and German mercenaries.
That is, if
in Clermont they take
the road to Montmédy, here,
at one mile from the border with Luxemburg.
The garrisons of his brother in law are stationed there..
14.000 Austrians ready to march on Paris.
Mr. Paine, if this plan is correct,
it would mean the restoration of the Ancien Régime, right?
And that, the French people will not accept.
You are right.
The people will not give up what it has obtained in these two years.
It would mean civil war.
Marie Madeleine.
Come and take off my veil.
She cannot take it of by herself?
Come with me, milady.
Life is getting more expensive by the day.
And the traders refuse to be paid in instalments!
They're don't even trust the money of their revolution!
Are you going, my Knight? - Is that the lady of the bags?
As a young man, I'd have followed her even without her bags.
If I see the King, I'll tell him to wait for you,
if he wants a great writer to tell about his flight.
Thank you Knight.
And we who produce and create the riches of the country,
we obtained nothing but taxes and contempt.
Go away, I don't like children.
My poor husband always said that 3/4 of our land was planted with taxes.
Yes, but you make up for it by raising prices.
And by recovering the possessions of the clergy.
Strange, this Knight.
It's him alright! I'm sure, it's him!
I've never seen such a tall man.
Do you remember the coronation of the King, 17 years ago?
Of course, it is Giacomo Casanova!
I thought so. You are right milady.
I saw him long ago, at the court of the Cardinal de Rohan.
He had a reputation of gallantry.
- And why didn't you introduce me to him? - Virginie!
Ladies, the coach is ready.
I go outside. - No Mr Restif, I beg you.
No, no... - I insist.
You are very friendly.
Is he a gentleman?
He didn't even learn to travel at his age!
He dedicated himself to other things.
Yes, Giacomo Casanova. A Venetian knight.
I've never heard about him. - Neither did I.
I have to explain
that my name doesn't evoke a lot of emotion in France,
except in those, especially women,
who knew me in person.
Even though "My flight from the Piombi" was already published,
it was only later that I got famous,
'cause of the success of the "Memories of my life",
which I wrote in French,
and which weren't published until after my death,
which happened to me, as you know, in 1798.
Well yes.
I don't know who he is. - Shall we leave?
In Strasbourg he was known as a gambler,
as organizer of lotteries, as creator of fabrics,
as director of theatre groups, as an amateur in occultism...
And of a seer!
But above all as a collector of lovers.
They said that even Madame de Pompadour was enchanted by him.
It seems that there's no woman who can resist your compatriot!
Thank you, missus.
But you Mr Restif, did you travel with him?
Yes, yes, but I assure you that I was able to resist!
I hardly saw him, but surely he was very handsome.
What would be his age? Sixty?
Could be seventy. What does it matter?
Where I'm from they say:
Al juven par l'oc, par el bul al vec.
And what does that mean?
Well, something like
"The young ones for showing off, and the old ones for getting... laid".
I have the idea that in our old Europe
there are many writers who add an irresistible attraction
to the seduction of their words.
I won't dispute Mr Casanova's literary abilities,
but as to his amorous exploits,
I have my reservations.
He is too tall. And I tell you,
The best lovers are always short, it has been proven.
Proven by whom?
The invasion of blood
that gives the male member all of its force
is bigger and more violent
the smaller the body surface it needs to irrigate.
Your words are intolerable. It's inadmissible to talk like that.
It's no coincidence that you'd be the author of The Pornographer.
You'd better not read it.
Your most secret hopes would find themselves frustrated.
Excuse me.
I'd like to sleep a bit.
Change of seat! Come on.
You have no lack of impudence.
Crying shame!
If at least you wouldn't talk...
- Vile as you are! - Virginie...
Seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven.
Eleven horses!
Those are surely the horses they changed in Viels-Maisons
which are returning to Meaux.
They could also make up just one team.
It's normal to see horses in the countryside.
A coach with six or eight horses would go faster than us.
That depends on the weight of the coach.
And it's not easy to find so many fresh horses,
especially this season, when they harvest the hay.
You always find them, don't you?
Sure, but we are a government service.
The horses are there for us on schedule.
Are we going to talk of horses all of this trip?
Thank you. Very friendly.
Look up there!
Etienne, look!
Look there, up there, look!
Relax, François!
Do you need help?
No, thanks. My rider has gone to find a master coachman.
Mr Casanova!
How do you know my name? I'm travelling in disguise!
Your reputation is faster than you,
and I assure you it's not easy.
Sure. So quick that one of our axes broke.
Come with us, at least until the next stop.
Milady, to refuse such...
Thank you.
This invitation is another sign of my decline.
All my belongings are here and I'd hate to leave them unattended.
We'll leave somebody to watch over them.
In that case...
Perhaps your barber could stay.
Well, Mr Jacob?
Lady?
You'll stay here with the coach of Mr Casanova,
and we'll reunite at the next stop or the one after that.
But I remind you...
You know full well...
You'll stay here.
I believe that... Well...
I cannot leave you alone! - Thanks for your trouble, young friend.
Thank you for staying here.
My rider will come soon. Guard my belongings well.
I beg you... - No, I'll be the one to sit on top.
No! I'd only gain the wrath of these charming ladies. I beg you.
Neither would I want to deprive them of your company, Mr Restif.
And they'd gain nothing by the change.
This is a delicate situation.
With two gentlemen that gallant, it couldn't be me who...
Yes yes, of course,
Sure, sure.
Thanks. - I'll seat myself well up there.
After you... - Mr Casanova...
Mr Casanova... - Yes!
The overnight bag that fell over there, is it yours?
I put it there to invite prudence.
Now you put yourself there to prevent accidents.
Marie Madeleine!
You know, when we overtook before, I conked out.
Let's go!
De la Borde... De la Borde...
I knew a De la Borde.
He was first leaseholder of Louis XV and his first chamberlain.
I remember him. - Yes, he was the father of my husband.
Now I understand why he was a sad man.
At the time he didn't know he'd have a daughter in law like you.
You were visitor of the Court of France!
All courts of Europe vied for Mr Casanova.
I never considered that an authentic privilege.
The courts are no gardens of exotic flowers.
How many wrinkled and shrivelled countesses and princesses have I known!
I'm talking about my time, of course.
I see that now the queens have better taste in their companion ladies.
What makes you think I'm a companion lady of Her Majesty?
Yes, come to think of it,
Who said you are?
You underestimate Mr Casanova's divining powers.
They are among the secrets of his success.
Mr Casanova said that at the time of Louis XV
the old Count de La Borde did not know you yet.
So, you married the young Count
after the marriage of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
And Mr Casanova, because of your enchanting accent,
has put it in his head that you are Austrian, like Marie Antoinette.
And, admiring your fascinating figure,
he deduced that you have the same age as Marie Antoinette
and hence that you've been play friends in Austria,
and that, when the Queen was converted,
she had you come to her in Paris,
as a companion lady. Why not?
And me? What will you surmise about me, Mr Casanova?
You're Italian. Bolognesa, specifically.
You have a strong temperament, and your husband...
Husband? But what if I'm an artist!
That's got nothing to do with art, a husband!
It's that he has a hot snapper for a wife,
and he thought up the excuse of a process in Metz,
to attend my concert.
- You dedicate yourself to music? - I'm a lyrical singer.
And you hate my friend, the tenor Baldi. Right?
How would you know that?
I heard you call your dog.
If you'd appreciate Baldi, you wouldn't call it like that.
Devilish He guesses everything!
Monsieur Baldi, he knows all about us!
He reads our mind like an open book.
Mr Casanova conjectures about those who interest him.
About me, he guesses nothing.
I was simply respecting your mourning.
When a widow is inconsolable, she's zealous of her pain.
If she's consolable, in public she will hide the fact that she's available.
And if she's already been comforted, she doesn't want it to be known.
Whatever the case, she doesn't want to reveal her secret.
I produce wine in the Champagne.
A tranquilizing activity!
Gentlemen, I thank you.
It's an honour for me, who wasn't so luck with the women,
to attend these lectures in seduction. How to treat them,
how to get their attention...
Well, how to question them.
Sorry if I cover myself,
but it's only to take off my hat to both of you.
I believe that this gentleman is making a fool of us.
Being one of the richest men in France, he can permit himself.
For me, that is not important.
One day in Frankfurt, I've beaten the banker Salomon de Rothschild.
Could be that's why I'm absolutely poor now.
Well I could have fought all of Europe's bankers.
No, gentlemen, you are mistaken.
Honestly. You have such a rich past that you look down on the present.
That's why you didn't notice how these three ladies are looking at you.
Didn't you pay attention to their looks?
Who knows? Could be that I'll attend in this coach,
between two stops, you thousandth conquest,
Mr de la Bretonne...
or Mr Casanova.
What nonsense!
Why not satisfy Mr Vendel?
Though the situation doesn't favour it, with six inside the coach,
four more than necessary,
but surely you have been in more desperate situations,
and come out breezily.
I remember, Mr Restif,
having read really risky adventures by you,
with the husband snoring on the side, in the same bed.
No! - Yes!
In a confessional, and in the cloister of a convent.
And in a river barge, in the top of a tree, in a stable...
With the daughter, while she spinned for her blind mother.
You won't be discouraged by a coach, I would say!
Having read my work, you know I don't dedicate myself
to women who travel by coach.
So how would you do it Mr Knight, to instruct Mr de Vendel?
I don't find this game amusing.
To make love in a coach, and might be we have done it,
or in the most secret bed, it's the same.
The important thing is...
That there is...
That in the love there is...
That there is...
That there is... what?
Mystery!
Finally it arrived.
Did you notice how loaded they travel?
They'll have to take it easy on the slope.
I bet they'll come and ask us for help.
No doubt!
The driver's stepping down already.
The slope is steep. We'll have to walk on foot.
Could be I do nothing. This horrible sleeping foot!
Hey, Gilbert! You work too much!
You'll fall asleep!
Which opera are you singing in Metz?
The announce says Dido abandoned Don Giovanni.
Don Giovanni?
I attended its première, en Prague, four years ago.
Mozart played the clavinet.
Some days before, Da Ponte had to leave
and asked me to replace him in the repetitions.
And with Mozart, who speaks Italian perfectly,
we adapted some verses of the aria of the catalogue.
You surely know them.
Bigger furnaces, more machines, and the workers more dependent.
Yes. And people who manipulate them.
Those of the Franciscan club take advantage to incite the workers.
First the smiths, the hatters,
the typesetters, the carpenters, and now the tenant farmers.
In Paris, they had a meeting in the Strike Plaza.
There you have it. Instead of working, they strike!
I've seen this:
a worker who interrupts his job without any notice.
The most terrifying spectacle I ever saw!
Terrifying!
Excuse an amateur bothering an artist.
I beg you! You are a countertenor. Leporello is a baritone.
Leporello is as big as Sancho Panza.
He has all the defects and ire of the servant who is envious of his squire.
There's a moment in which he sings
"I want to become a gentleman and serve no longer".
The impossible dream of all servants.
I gather you don't agree with what happened in France since 1789?
Perhaps some won't like it, but no.
I don't agree, because it has marred all beauty..
Because the waggoners and the servants
feel authorized to be impertinent and insolent.
Because I adore
my beautiful and sweet France of old,
where all was light and harmony,
where it was a pleasure to live, even being a foreigner.
Dignity was respected.
Dignity is the first thing that gets lost.
You decide to have the people as sovereign.
That's the most brutal, the most tyrannical of sovereigns.
That's enough! I forbid you to talk like that!
I'm talking to you, Mr Casanova, or Mrs Casanova!
Well, I thank you.
You just demonstrated that I was right.
In the old France,
nobody would have stopped me from speaking out
with such insolence.
Listen young man, you should only forbid acts harmful to society.
Words can be harmful!
Perhaps, but to prohibit them is always a step in the direction of tyranny.
He's handsome, but what a character!
In Bologna we call him 'ball breaker'.
The girl is charming too.
A bit dark maybe?
If God made them dark, it'll be for a reason.
Watch out!
Shit!
I hope you'll get a good spanking!
I say, these roads are dangerous!
Nature has its demands.
Good idea.
Blast that bladder!
To reach this age and pee continuously
and with such difficulty.
Mr Restif, we are always punished there where we have sinned.
Sure thing!
If it were only that zone...
The eyes, the hands,
the feet... it all gets weaker!
I don't suffer of gout, but i do of the kidneys!
How lucky! Me from both gout and kidneys!
Don't know whether you noticed, but I'm a bit deaf.
What did you say?
Hey you, help us! We need to block those wheels!
Put those stones, quick!
And the other too!
Push! Harder!
Mr Baldi, I'm here!
From Florange!
And my other little animals up there!
My poor Mr Baldi!
Were you afraid?
What have you done, all on your own?
Oh, a sanitary stop?
A lunch in the grass just consumed,
and not by ordinary people.
This bottle comes from the royal cellars.
Of course.
It's true, you are clairvoyant.
No. I'm just an observer, although my sight isn't what it used to be.
I happened to drink this wine at the King's table.
Do you know?
I've seen you when I was 15.
Really?
Can I tell you a secret? - Yes.
You were my first love.
You met me too soon, and I met you too late.
Well yes...
Our companions are waiting.
With a man like you they might think
that we went here to have an amorous conversation.
For me it was, lady.
Antirevolutionaries have kidnapped the king.
All good citizens will help to return him to the National Assembly.
Was signed: La Fayette.
Orders are also given
to detain the coach and its six horses in which the King and his family travel.
Six horses? - In which the King and his family travel.
"I, commander Bayon,
of the 7th battalion of the 2nd division of the National Guard,
sent to pursue him by the City of Paris,
at the first stop, after six hours of travel,
I send citizen...
Gabriel Vallet, Excellency.
Gabriel Vallet
to the council of Châlons,
with the order to carry out
the mentioned mission
and to inform the remaining counties until the borders".
If you take more than one hour, I'll accuse you of high treason!
Leave right away!
Did you hear?
Order to detain the King and his family!
No! They cannot detain the King!
At this very time he is facing a thousand hussars!
You knew that, milady?
I didn't know, countess, but last night I imagined it.
The King is fleeing by this very route?
Mr Baldi will catch up with him.
What do you think of this news?
A King who embarks on a flight,
is less of a King with every passing minute.
Are you the boss? - At your orders.
On the throne or in flight, a king never took my appetite.
There, by the fire.
I've seen him too, but it wasn't him!
He didn't wear the red robe! - Sure it was him!
Look, here you have him!
Just like this!
The best of fruits, partridges of the vintage,
blocks of foie gras, carp with sorrels,
cheeses, dessert of the chef, wines...
Bring me everything!
They say there were six persons inside the coach.
Three ladies, one very pretty, two girls and a servant.
Yes. That would be Madame de Tourzel, the nanny of the children in France.
Mme Elisabeth, the sister of the King.
The pretty lady is Marie Antoinette.
And the heir is dressed up as a girl.
And the royal daughter, his little sister.
And the supervisor with the coat and a round hat.
Was that the King, with a coat?
What's so strange about that?
A king wouldn't flee with his crown and ermine robe.
Might attract a bit of attention!
His Majesty is not fleeing.
He will join his allies.
It's for the good of France.
The pride of the kings which plunges humanity into confusion.
If we are submerged in confusion it's the fault of the new government.
The government of disorder. - I adore disorder!
Virginie!
No government is good,
but the worst of all
are those of the aristocracy and the monarchy.
Those are the two most deceitful tyrannies against mankind.
For instance,
take the Royal Beast of England, my beloved George III.
In search of subjects to wring out completely
so that he can maintain a life of luxury. But in America...
And in Paris? What's happening?
The city is in upheaval.
And how did you discover that they took the road to Metz
to reach the troops of the count De Bouillet at the border?
By logic.
The partridges of the vintage. - Very well.
Do you always eat so much? - Yes, milady.
Even when I was indulging in other pleasures.
And in France, it's even much worse.
4000 families of favourites,
of princes of the blood, of the sword or of the church,
who detest each other,
and who vegetate in the court, immersed in vice and abuses.
Hey mister,
you seem very well informed about what happens at the court.
But could it be that you don't know that those 4000 families
contribute to royal expenses
and to an endless series of charitable works.
That's right, lady!
The people don't want charity.
Their rights will do.
Rights that should correspond to duties!
And their duty is to respect their King, who is king by divine right.
I'm afraid the aristocrats were the first to neglect that duty.
They flee abroad, forgetting about the King.
I don't share your ideas!
Don't get excited, sweetheart!
And about that famous 'divine right',
where did the aristocrats obtain that 'divine right'?
Do they have a direct access to God that the people don't have?
No, it's just a way to pass the office from fathers to sons
only to find out later that after a lion, a donkey ascends the throne.
Enjoy your meal, sir, on this day full of mystery.
Right, milady?
Will you take something, sir?
I'd like to, but I have the habit of fasting.
I have nothing against revolutions.
They can be good,
but those who make them not always are.
For you, the good are only those who don't rise up.
For us, the magistrates...
For you...
the magistrates...
Are you happy that the have escaped?
They rightfully accuse La Fayette to be on the side of the King.
And with the great whore!
Rubbish! Don't talk like that!
Who are you to stop me from it? - He can stop you from nothing.
But your own dignity can, believe me!
Aline, clear up!
I'm sorry, magistrate! Your cheese!
He has a liver that size...
What a trip!
Thanks, Armand.
They are everywhere!
I bring you your belongings, Mr Casanova.
All in good order!
Well done, my little friend.
Would you like some, milady?
No, thank you. - So much the better.
Princess, give me a kiss. A kiss!
What does it cost you? A kiss!
Give me one!
A kiss... come here!
Princess, your King has fled, I saw him.
And he told me, "Take that slut!"
What a nice neck!
A nice neck for my brother in law. He is hangman in Paris!
What do you want?
Would you like a kiss too?
Are you OK, countess? It's over.
You offended me even more than that piece of disgrace!
What happened, lady? Your hair is all ruffled up!
Who did that to you? Marie Madeleine, quick!
What's going on? - Nothing that concerns you, mister.
How insolent!
¡Marie Madeleine, quick! Help the lady!
Don't touch that!
The spirits are troubled.
Today everything is possible.
Milady, would you be so kind
to say goodbye for me
to our turbulent company?
Mr Casanova,
I find no solace!
My life is like a desert!
And seeing you took my breath away!
You just made your conquest number 1000!
I beg you, don't decline!
Today everything is possible!
You said so yourself!
Make my happiness come true!
Commit a folly. Take me away!
We'll go to my house, in the Champagne!
Or wherever you like!
I beg you, Giacomo!
Dear lady, what you call a folly
might have been the purest
wisdom some time ago, but at 66 years
one acquires another kind of wisdom,
that doesn't bring happiness, but which avoids...
but which avoids disappointments.
What did you say? Yes! I thank you for your double proposal.
Believe me,
I am the only one can lament.
It's not this old man who left you without breath,
but his name,
his reputation,
his past.
Things that today
no longer exist.
Anyway, thank you.
I'm happy to have met the great Restif.
And I'll remember the knight of Seingalt profoundly.
Your horse is dead.
Its heart stopped,
but they can prepare you another.
Hey you!
I sprinted for 40 leagues at 6 leagues per hour.
And there's room in your coach.
You ask me so kindly...
These are the travel companions my new wisdom prefers.
Thanks for your help, my young friend.
I'll remember you.
And I'll remember you, Mr Casanova.
How sad we didn't know each other as youngsters!
Sure... why not? After all
don't decline anything because of principles.
My gout! - No, you're very swift!
Greet your pretty patroness for me. - I will.
Sir, to who should I turn?
The best of fruits, the partridges,
the desserts, the cheeses, the wines. Who pays for them?
I will, if you shout "Long live dignity!"
Long live dignity! - Bravo!
Here, good man.
Take this.
A cheque signed by the count Waldstein,
the last descendant of the great Waldstein!
"By means of this writing, I recognize
the obligation to pay, between now and 6 months
the debt taken on...
Let's go. - Good trip!
...for an amount of francs,
put the sum in question in the white space,
in favour of Mr,
put here the name of the creditor.
Signed and approved
by the knight of Seingalt."
Romeuf, major-domo general of La Fayette.
Did a captain of the National Guard pass by here?
He just left, right now in coach,
but he spent more than an hour here.
I have to leave. A horse!
On a coach, of course!
Stop crying.
The people living around the Tuileries have entered the palace.
But only to look, they didn't touch anything.
In the King's room,
a vendor has seated herself in front of the big ceremonial bed
selling cherries, at 6 cents a pound. - That's a bargain.
The people crowded in on the monuments and bell-towers.
The general took a look, indifferent to the threats and insults,
and replied to them:
"Is the arrest of the King necessary for public salvation?"
All shouted "yes".
"Then I'll assume this responsibility personally!"
Gentlemen, when you want. The coach is ready.
The order to capture the King that this captain transmitted,
was given by my friend La Fayette.
In the order there's no mention of capture nor of escape.
It only says "Antirevolutionaries have abducted the King".
I wrote it down on his dictating.
Well, that captain?
Such abuse of power! Change the order of his general!
And did La Fayette instruct you two to leave?
Me, yes.
The captain got orders from the National Assembly.
The abduction is a brilliant idea
to try and save the crown.
But why did he do that?
It could have caused severe conflicts
between the different factions inside the Assembly.
The field attendant of La Fayette.
Come on! - Mr de Romeuf!
But how many officials are following the King?
And I, where do I sit down?
- What? Are you coming? - Coming!
Ah, here's our coach.
Such torture!
Yes, yes, yes!
This time I want to sit next to the driver!
I insist!
But that's no place for a lady, Virginie!
A lady will always be a lady!
She sits where she sits down! Thanks, Mr de Vendel.
All that talk of revolution
and for once I want to make it!
I'll sit next to the citizen driver!
But Virginie... - No. Here Mr de Vendel gets in.
Citizen! Did you see the King? Who has seen the King?
He left without leaving a forwarding address!
He fled disguised as a servant.
Search him in the lair!
No, in the stable, with the cows! - Ah stop it, he's too much!
If you have no house, go to the Tuileries. It's for rent!
We demand whomever sees the King
to bring him back to the stable!
What are you going to do, do you have a plan?
As soon as I am in Châlons,
I'll ask for news on the abductors of the King at the town hall.
I see.
Exactly where will captain Bayon,
who left with Casanova, get information about the fugitive King.
Abducted or fugitive,
the King did well to rid himself of the Jacobins who held him back.
Thoroughly humiliated in front of the Assembly,
he was but a shadow of a monarch.
But the people are with the King.
The call him 'good daddy' and they love him.
And his return will be a big party!
Perhaps you're right milady, but the people have changed a lot.
People of city and countryside found out they were poor.
Of course!
With the revolutionary propaganda of the Clubs!
And they've started to wonder if
in the hereafter, after death,
the last would really be the first.
And, with this doubt, they've started to be concerned with the 'herebefore'
No, Mr Restif.
I could cite you hundreds of examples of the people's love for their King.
Like His Majesty's trip to Cherbourg.
June 21, 1786.
Inauguration of the naval harbour of Cherbourg.
In the presence of King Louis XVI,
the last and gigantic conic tower
which, anchored with the others to the sea bottom,
will delimit the harbour of Cherbourg, is towed in.
I had the pleasure to assist.
It was a real mass experience,
like Segur, the Minister of war, said.
The hoorays of 20.000 citizens out clamoured
the salvos of 600 cannons.
I know you don't approve of anything I say,
but if you would have seen him in his red robe!
He was my king, my ideal,
my religion.
Can I see them too, countess?
Thank you.
Your tickets, please. - We're going to Metz.
Perfect, mister.
I have a concert in Metz. - OK, lady.
I'm headed for Metz too. - Thank you.
Nancy. - Very well, mister.
I live here. - Yes, Mrs Gagnon.
Did you have a good trip? - Yes, thank you.
Get the luggage of the lady.
Milady, very strange.
They passed here 2 hours ago, not 5. The were alone.
The duke of Choiseul and his 40 hussars
left 15 minutes before the coach passed.
Without waiting for it!
But to leave Châlons must have been the surest way.
At every post there are more soldiers! What happened?
Nobody knows. I'll look for news.
What has happened?
Are you sure it was him?
Yes, it's the face on the banknotes. Look.
I saluted and a woman responded to me with her hand.
That's why so many soldiers arrived.
In Clermont there were 150 hussars!
They said that we had to escort a treasure from Paris to Metz.
At what time was that 'treasure' expected? - At 5 o'clock.
And at six a cabriolet arrives with a strange guy.
He wore braidlets all over!
His hair all curled!
And he was dressed in yellow.
Leonard? What did he do here in this madness?
Deliver a message from Choiseul to captain D'Andoins.
The message said "the treasure will not pass by today".
Yes, but the 'treasure', or something very precious,
actually passed by here.
If it passed by here? And how!
At a quarter to eight, in a coach.
I never saw one that big.
And a cabriolet.
But the captain had conceded us leave, so that...
Drouet, who was guarding the hay,
Who is that Drouet? - Our post commander.
He told them not to wear out the horses on the slope of the Argonne.
And now he says he thinks he recognized the King and the Queen,
because he saw them in Versailles, when he was a weaver.
Go figure! As if Drouet frequented the King in Versailles!
And a functionary arrived with an order from Paris.
Dictated by captain Bayon?
I don't know. It said that the King had left.
We disarmed them. We locked up the captain.
Drouet went to the city hall and the mayor told him
to pursue that coach immediately.
So that he left for Verdun almost at the same time as Guillaume.
Alias the 'Pig headed'.
So, the plan of the baron of Goguelat didn't work!
But why? Somebody betrayed?
No! Inept and disloyal officials,
counties in favour of the New Constitution.
And our good people?
If the recognized their King, why didn't the protect him?
I don't know, my lady.
From close by, they are so different!
I don't understand. Tonight they appear closed, distant, hostile.
Ungrateful people!
Countess, I'm delighted to have met you. Good trip.
Sainte-Menehould, Châlons, Montmitrail, Meaux, Paris!
Wait a minute.
So the King and the Queen were here with their children.
So I said to myself "it's a great day for my inn!"
But I was wrong.
It wasn't the King. It was you who would arrive.
That's why
today is a great day.
Can I have a drink?
Nicolas!
Nanette!
This is...!
Giacomo! It's Nicolas Restif! - Yes, I already had the pleasure.
He's the husband of my poor Zéphire. - Mama!
My son! He's the husband of our Zéphire!
Are you married to my Zéphire?
Your? No, she's hers. She's yours, isn't she?
Our Zéphire, she's of us both.
Nicolas, Giacomo was my first love.
So, you are my father in law? - And you my son in law!
Come, sit down. - What a day!
Next to you, the three. So, the three together.
Nanette, think of me! - Platon, go.
We are full up!
Mr Restif, Mrs de la Borde is expecting you.
Go. Mr Restif will follow with me.
What's more, we'll overtake you. - The pig's legs!
Zéphire... After one year she left me.
She left me for a better world. Let's hope that's what it is.
Yes, a pneumonia
took her in three weeks.
Nobody told me. Me, her daddy.
Listen, I'll confess something.
Your Zéphire wasn't my daughter.
To me they also attributed too many children.
I don't think I had a relationship with that Mrs Nanette.
I never saw her before.
Then why did you confirm it?
Out of love for intrigue, out of gallantry,
out of a sense for theatre...
I don't know. She threw herself at me upon entering the inn,
I was sure I never saw her.
But why disgrace a woman of a certain age in front of her people?
So I'm not your son-in-law.
Given that I'm not your father-in-law...
I'm not so sure either
that my Zéphire was Nanette's daughter.
It was during a trip, a long time ago.
Shortly after losing Zéphire, I arrived at that inn.
The landlady had just lost her daughter,
who had the same name, Zéphire.
What a revelation!
However, some details didn't quite match up.
But why carry things so far?
Nanette's sorrow was so sincere...
And it made her so happy to meet the husband of her daughter...
What's more, at that time,
Nanette was still a devastating beauty.
And we mixed our tears
in her bedstead for three days.
In the Tuileries, a perverse queen
stirs up a fearful King
who prepares a St. Bartholomew's night of patriots!
France's gold and arms are sent abroad,
so that the tyrants, stationed at the borders, meet...
What a shame!
An alm, please. - Get out of here.
Since more than 6 years I live
in Bohemia, in the castle of Dux.
I am librarian of count Waldstein.
In reality, I'm a buffoon of the court.
I'm always fighting the servants,
who mock me and insult me.
So I decided to escape.
I addressed myself to the duke of Weimar, to the duchess of Saxony.
I only asked for employment worthy of my name.
The wait is humiliating!
Shall we sit here? - Yes.
Two emissaries of count Waldstein found me in Paris.
They told me he was sorry and that he desired my return.
He even paid... Thank you.
He paid letters of credit which he signed with his name
to some German Jews.
But in truth, he wants me to return. He's bored.
He wants me to brighten up his evenings, for his friends...
Look, I'll show you.
Noble ladies and gentlemen!
I'll tell you what happened to me when I pretended to fall of my horse
in front of the house of the two most virtuous sisters of Dresden,
Marika and Birgitt!
And, helped by them and laying down on a bed in their house,
I asked them to search in my horse-saddle
a miraculous ointment, which in truth was Burgundy wine,
and I asked them to rub that on my naked skin,
and that they massage my body with their able fingers...
Restif, I'm really tired.
I think it's time to get back in the fold.
But I want to do it alone, Christ, on my own feet!
Without policemen on my side!
That's why I got lost in Paris.
A fresh horse, quick!
Dr. Mangin! Where are you going at this hour? - To Paris!
The city council of Varennes ordered me to
bring a message to the National Assembly.
The King and the Queen have been arrested!
They are in the house of Mr Sauce,
the deputy attorney of Varennes.
A handful of patriot detained them on entering the city
alerted by Mr Drouet,
the post commander of Sainte-Menehould.
All the people are guarding the shop with arms.
What kind of shop?
Mr Sauce produces candles,
sells spices and colonial products.
Varennes, where is that?
At about 6 leagues on the road of Montmédy.
How lucky that Drouet met those guardsmen!
Night of wake...
The spectacle changes, the people enter on the stage.
I imagine you'd like to go to Varennes.
I left Paris to catch up with them and to be present at the event.
And you'll write about the Bourbons,
prisoners in a candle factory!
Not even Shakespeare would have managed to make a tragedy out of that.
I don't write tragedies.
I give testimony of what I see.
Here's our coach.
I think I'll go to Verdun.
I don't like the idea of assisting at the funeral of a King.
But the French people do not want his death.
My dear Restif,
a king who's prisoner of a post commander is as good as dead.
Another return.
Mr Casanova, count Waldstein orders you to return to him.
They found me.
This will not end here!
As a young man, I escaped worse jailers!
When I was young...
But youth is a defect that's quickly corrected.
Restif, do me a favour.
When you return to Paris, visit Goldoni. He's old and ill.
The new Régime stopped his pension as a decorating artist.
He had to sell his library.
He lives in Dauphine street.
Promised! Count on me.
Bye bye.
Watch out, out of the way! Let the coach pass by!
To Varennes!
Where do you come from? - From Sainte-Menehould.
Drouet has detained the King in Varennes!
This coach goes to Varennes! - But they expect us in Metz.
They expect us in Varennes! - Yes, to Varennes!
To Varennes! I need to go to Metz! I have business there!
Is there no other coach to Metz? - Yes, I'll arrange it.
I'll see you in Alsace in a day or so.
Our luggage!
They're going to Varennes!
Our luggage, going to Varennes!
Calm down...
I understand you're nervous.
You here, your wife alone in Paris,
in the middle of this chaos.
Listen, you go back to her, right?
Wait for the first coach to Paris and tomorrow you're at home.
No! I came all the way here... - So what?
And you? - I have my theatre.
I have my concert, don't worry.
But you cannot stay all alone!
Me?
I am alone.
Always have been.
Marie Madeleine...
Let's go.
Mr Paine,
will you forgive me for just now?
I lived through so much fear in my life.
Fear...
Not only because of that fool.
Fear of discourses, of people, of you...
Of all that
I don't know, of what I will loose.
The Court is like a comfortable bed.
It's like the red robe of the King in Cherbourg.
It was security.
I has nothing to do with an ideal.
If I could have the same security with another ideal, it would be fine for me.
My father brewed beer, so go figure...
Well...
do you forgive me?
It was only fear.
And won't you have fear tomorrow?
The ingratitude of the kings is proverbial.
That of fallen kings is ferocious.
You want to give me my courage back tonight?
No, don't expect that from others. We all have fears.
With faith and ideals we try not to be fearful.
But we have to find
the ideals that suit us.
Yes, countess.
And if those ideals are a dead-end street,
we need to have the courage to change them.
It's the change that makes me fearful.
When cats and jesters abandon the rich people's homes,
they get stones thrown at them.
In the Human Rights and the American Constitution,
instead of 'property' it says 'pursuit of happiness'.
And you, are you happy Mr Jacob?
No.
I've always feared
to abandon what I had.
And moreover, I hate happiness.
To Varennes!
Meanwhile, my husband got off
to interrogate the travellers.
They said they were Russians. - But the all spoke French.
A doctor! A lady in the party has an intestinal crisis.
A diarrhoea? They're not going to say it's because of my food!
Annette, go find Dr. Porel, Dr. Mangin is not home.
Quick, go find a doctor!
Those are excuses in order to delay the departure!
To Paris!
Silence! The children are sleeping!
Those bells...
Two envoys from the National Assembly and from general La Fayette.
They're coming from Paris.
The man who detained the King, the mayor, Mr Sauce.
Vice mayor. I detained nobody.
The emotion of the moment, the haze of the night,
even the security of the travellers,
advised against the trip.
So I invited them to rest at my home, that's all.
When the coach came back, I shouted to Sauce
"If you let them pass, you'll be guilty of high treason!"
True, he shouted that to me.
It's Mr Drouet,
post commander of the city of Sainte-Menehould.
And when Sauce wanted to see the passports,
a man dressed as a servant ordered to continue the trip.
"Stop or we'll fire!", I shouted.
Right, that's what he shouted.
And I gave the order to fire the guns.
They weren't loaded!
I didn't know.
Neither did the travellers. The got off and followed Sauce.
Yes, imagine my agitation.
The house full of kings in the middle of the night!
And to prepare them rooms and food!
But when His Majesty embraced my husband
I was touched and I wept.
We were like a family
which finds its father again after giving him up for dead.
The King told me, "In Paris, I live surrounded by daggers.
I wanted to mingle with my faithful subjects in the provinces
to enjoy the peace and liberties I lost".
The liberty to escape abroad!
That's Drouet, a monster spewn out of hell!
The King told me he only wanted to go to Montmédy,
at some leagues from here.
Yes. Where Bouillet awaited him to escort him to Austria or Luxembourg!
No! We'll go to Paris! Le them prepare a coach!
To Paris. To Paris right away!
They are resting, they are resting!
Oh, those bells!
You see? You see what confusion?
Luckily you arrive.
Come on up to see His Majesty.
Give way to the representatives of the Nation. They come from the capital.
Let's hope that this ugly matter will bring us something good.
The King promised me benevolence,
but we count on the Assembly.
I sent Dr. Mangin to Paris right away
to tell them that the King is my guest.
I also had transferred some
old wooden cannons from the other side of the city,
but anyway...
Give way to the representatives of the Nation.
Please, be so kind, please.
Majesty, here are two representatives of the Nation
who like to have a word with Your Majesty.
Sire, in Paris people are at each other's throat.
Our women, children and mothers may be murdered.
And I, mister, am I not a mother too? - The Queen!
Sir, we bring you a decree from the Assembly.
Where is that decree?
In the hands of lieutenant Romeuf, aide of the general.
Mr de Romeuf! I would never believe that!
I was hoping not to overtake you, Majesty. I'm here to serve you.
There's no King in France anymore.
The insolence!
Oh, take me with you!
I don't want you to dirty the bed of my children!
Her Majesty is right, well, from her point of view...
Calm down, milady.
I'll get the luggage.
The 'friend op the people' has arrived from Paris!
I'll read it. Citizens!
Listen to the Friend of the people!
Listen to Marat!
"It's a hard job to be right 6 months ahead of time!
Didn't I predict the flight of Louis? Didn't I tell you for a long time?
Last night, Louis XVI laid down after obtaining that gold
whose virtues are the only ones he knows.
The father of France abandoned his post.
He escapes and will send us in exchange for his royal person
foreign and domestic war that will last for years.
The conduct of the people in the most difficult crises
shows that they can dispense with their rulers!
It's high time for the heads of De Bailly and of La Fayette to roll.
Of all the villains in the High Chamber and of the traitors of the Assembly!
You'll need a tribunal,
a military tribunal, or you'll be lost!"
To Paris!
I didn't talk about victory.
Just now, in the street, I observed the faces of those peasants.
Those weren't thrilled faces
no faces of children happy to see their father again,
as Mme Sauce has it.
In those faces I saw centuries of famine,
of misery, of humiliation.
And the fear that it's not yet the day the injustice will end.
For that they'll have to wait
for a next opportunity.
...of Bailly, of the antirevolutionaries,
of the traitors of the National Assembly!
So start to assess your personalities,
if there's still time!
Men of the National Guard,
in these moments of crisis,
you see yourselves abandoned by your officers
who hide in moments of danger,
and only come out when it's calm to betray the fatherland...
Gentlemen, I forgot to thank you.
The trip has been very long, and it ended badly,
but you left me with lighter memories.
Countess, please satisfy my curiosity.
What's in those two mysterious packets I helped you
to transport last night?
So that was you?
Why, from the start I didn't trust you.
It's right to have those kind of feelings towards us,
writers, chroniclers, gazetteers...
We are a race of spies.
We don't participate, we don't construct anything,
but nevertheless, we describe, classify,
and at times we muddle it all up.
That's why, isn't it, we are a pretty curious
kind of people.
It's the dress the King wore
at the inauguration of the Port of Cherbourg.
Tomorrow it's Sacraments Day,
and His Majesty had to wear it in Montmédy
in front of his armed troops.
Must be exhausting to play at King.
The heavier it is, the more glorious.
If the King would have travelled in these clothes,
they might have hesitated at the moment of his arrest.
Majesty...
And here you have the King who mounts the scaffold with his confessor.
The 21st of January of 1793 exactly.
We have shown you the day...
and it is inside the machine of the 'New World'.
Come, ladies and gentlemen! Bring your children too!
Contemplate the great events of History!
And reality will convert itself into fantasy,
and fantasy, into reality!
In the magic box I show you the 'New world'.
One by one! Don't push!
Come see the History of the world with moving images!