In the older France, no one
would have so rudely forbidden me to speak.
Young man, you should only forbid
- actions which can harm society. - Words can be harmful, too.
Maybe. But to forbid them is a step towards tyranny.
He's handsome, but what a disposition!
In Bologna, we call them "ball busters"!
The girl is charming, too. Not bad.
A bit dark, maybe.
If God made them black, there's a reason.
Out of the way!
These roads are truly getting dangerous!
Nature calls!
Good idea.
Wretched bladder!
I'm at that age: you never stop peeing,
and what an effort!
You always get punished in the places where you sinned.
True!
If it was limited to that area...
but the eyes, hands, feet, they all weaken.
I don't have gout, it's my kidneys.
You're lucky: I have gout and kidney trouble.
In case you didn't notice, I'm also a bit deaf.
What?
Finally...
seeing our fate:
poverty, illnesses,
sorrows, suffering...
They have one advantage: they make dying easier.
I visited Voltaire in his chateau in Ferney, in 1779.
He was dying. We had a fierce argument,
but he fed me sublimely.
You two! Get some rocks for the wheels.
Block the wheel. The other one, too!
Now push! Harder!
Mr. Baldi, I'm coming!
De Florange!
How are my other darlings up there?
Poor Mr. Baldi.
Were you scared, Mr. Baldi?
What did you do all alone? Play with yourself?
An alfresco lunch, hurriedly consumed,
and not by just anyone!
This bottle is from the Royal cellars.
I forgot, you're a seer.
No, I'm just observant, even though my eyesight is failing.
I've drunk that wine at the King's table.
You know...
I saw you when I was fifteen.
Really?
Can you keep a secret?
You were my first love.
You met me too soon, and I met you too late.
So it goes... Our travelling companions are waiting.
Seeing it's you, they must think
we went off for a flirtatious interlude...
For me, it was one, Madame.
Off we go!
"Enemies of the Revolution have kidnapped the King.
"Loyal citizens must wrest him from them
"and return him to the Assembly.
"Signed: La Fayette."
Orders are also hereby issued to stop the 6-horse green coach
carrying the King and his family.
6 horses...
Carrying the King and his family.
I, Commander Bayon
of the 7th Battalion of the 2nd division of the National Guard.
dispatched by the city of Paris to arrest them,
here at the first stop after a 6-hour journey,
do hereby send citizen...
Gabriel Vallet, Excellency.
Gabriel Vallet, to the Châlons town hall,
to carry the above-mentioned orders
to all townships from here to the border.
If it takes you more than an hour, you're guilty of treason!
Leave at once!
You heard? Orders to arrest the King and his entire family.
You can't arrest the King!
By now, he's at the head of 1,000 hussars!
You knew about this?
I didn't know it, but I foresaw it last night.
The King fled along this road today?
Mr. Baldi, maybe you can catch him.
How does the news strike you, Mr. Paine?
A king in flight
grows less of a king by the minute.
- You're the host? - At your service.
On his throne or in flight, no king
ever made me miss a meal. By the fire.
I saw him. But it wasn't him. He wasn't wearing his red coat!
Yes, it was. Here.
There he is! Just as he was.
Supreme of truffles, roast partridge,
foie gras, carp in sorrel,
cheeses, desserts, wines...
Bring me the lot!
They saw 6 people in the large carriage.
An old woman, 2 ladies, one very pretty, 2 little girls, a majordomo.
That's Mme de Tourzel, the Royal children's governess,
Madame Elizabeth, the King's sister.
The pretty lady is Marie-Antoinette.
And the Dauphin, dressed as a girl.
And his Royal sister.
The majordomo in frock coat and round hat.
The King? In a frock coat?
What's so odd about that?
A King can't flee in his crown and ermine cape.
Much too showy!
The King isn't fleeing! He's on his way to joint his allies.
For the good of France.
The pride of kings throws humanity into confusion.
France is confused
because of people who wanted a new government.
I love disorder.
No government is good.
Because it enriches one part of society,
and impoverishes another.
More than either would be in their natural state.
Governments, alas, are governed!
But worst of all,
is the government of the aristocracy and the monarchy.
The two most tyrannical swindles in the history of man.
For instance,
look at the Royal Beast of England, dear George III.
He needed more subjects overseas to squeeze like lemons,
to keep up the luxurious living at his court.
But America...
General Lafayette edited that.
When did they discover he'd fled?
7 a.m.
When did you leave?
8 a.m.
What's happening in Paris?
The city's in turmoil.
How did you decide they'd headed for Metz?
To meet up with de BouillÃ©'s troops at the border?
Obviously.
- Roast partridges! - Fine!
Do you always eat that much?
Even when I indulged in other pleasures besides eating.
It's superb!
In France, it's even worse.
4,000 privileged families, princes de blood,
sword, or church, who despise each other
and vegetate at Court, indulging in every excess.
Since you're so well-informed about Court life,
did you know those 4,000 families
contribute huge sums to the Royal budget
and to charity?
The people don't want charity. They want their rights.
Their rights... and the duties that go with them!
The duty to respect their King!
A King by divine right!
The aristocrats were the first to neglect those duties.
Most fled abroad and forgot their King.
I don't share your ideas!
Don't get so excited!
As to that "divine right"...
How did the aristocracy obtain it?
Do they have special access to God that the people don't have?
No, it's a trick to hand down the office from father to son,
so that after a lion, an ass may sit on the throne!
Bon appetit on this day of mystery! Right, Madame?
Won't you have something?
Gladly, but I usually fast.
I have nothing against revolutions. They can do good.
But those who make them are seldom good.
For you the only good people are those who don't make revolutions.
For us judges, this period...
For the likes of you... Are you glad he escaped?
Marat was right: La Fayette's in league with the King
and the great whore!
You swine!
- I forbid you to say that! - Go ahead and stop me!
He can't stop a thing. You can stop yourself!
For dignity's sake.
Aline, pick it up.
Sorry, Judge. Your cheese.
He has a liver this big!
What a trip!
They're everywhere!
I'm here. With all your things, Mr. Casanova. All's well.
Good lad!
Like some?
Good!
Princess, give me a kiss!
What's a kiss to you?
Give me a kiss!
Come with me!
Princess... your King ran away, I saw him.
He said to me: "Take that bitch!"
What a pretty neck! For my brother-in-law.
He's an executioner in Paris!
What do you want? A kiss, too?
All right, Countess? It's all over.
You offended me more than that wretch!
What is it, Madame? Look at your hair!
That brute!
Marie-Madeleine, quick!
What's going on?
None of your business, sir! He's such a pest!
Come help Madame.
Leave that alone!
People are restless.
Today... anything could happen.
Would you be kind enough
to say farewell for me,
to our tempestuous friends.
I haven't been consoled. My life is a wasteland.
You took my breath away.
You made your 1,000th conquest in that coach.
Please don't refuse. Today anything could happen.
You said so yourself.
Make my happiness complete.
It's insanity, but take me away!
We'll go to my place in Champagne, or wherever you want.
Please, Giacomo...
What you call insanity,
would have been the height of wisdom
until a while ago. But at the age of 66,
one develops another kind of wisdom,
that doesn't bring happiness, but protects one
from disappointments.
It's cold today.
Where was I?
Thank you for your double offer.
Your beauty and your country house.
I'd have loved them both.
Believe me, only I will regret this.
This old man didn't take your breath away.
It was his name,
his reputation,
his past.
Today, those things are gone.
In any case, Madame, thank you again!
I'm glad to have met the great Restif.
And I'll never forget the Chevalier de Seingalt.
Your horse is dead. Of a burst heart.
I can saddle another for you.
Hey, you!
I broke my ass on a saddle for 40 leagues,
at 6 leagues an hour!
You have room! Take me in your carriage!
Since you asked so politely...
See, Madame? That's the company my new wisdom gets me!
Thank you for your precious help, young friend.
I'll remember you.
And I you, Mr. Casanova.
A pity we didn't meet in our youth... Who knows!
Of course... Why not!
One shouldn't turn down anything on principle.
- My gout! - You're fit as a fiddle!
Say good-bye to your lovely mistress.
I won't fail.
Sir, if you'll allow me...
The supreme of truffles, partridges, desserts, cheeses, wines...
Who will pay for them?
Me! If you'll shout: long live dignity!
- Long live dignity! - Bravo!
Here, my good man. Here...
A letter of credit signed by Count Waldstein,
the last of that noble lineage.
"I hereby agree
"to honor within 6 months,
"payment of the debt endorsed by Count Wallenstein."
"...in the amount of...
"Write the desired amount in the blank space.
"...on behalf of Mr...
"Write in the creditor's name.
"Signed and approved
"by the Chevalier de Seingalt."
Jean-Louis Romeuf, aide to General La Fayette.
Did a Captain of the National Guard
come through from Paris?
He just left by carriage.
But he'd been here an hour.
I must leave at once. A horse! He gets a carriage!
Drink, Madame. It's cocoa.
Drink some, it always did you good.
Why are you crying, Madame? It's over now.
The crowd spilled over from the streets into the Royal Palace.
But only to look around. They touched nothing.
In the King's room, beside the huge ceremonial bed,
a woman sold cherries for 6 sous a pound.
That's cheap!
People had climbed onto monuments and bell-towers.
The General came out,
oblivious of taunts and insults, and faced the crowd:
"Is it in the public interest to arrest the King?"
Everyone shouted: "Yes!"
Then he said: "I'll take care of it personally."
Gentlemen, at your leisure. The stage is ready.
So the orders to capture the King, passed on by that captain,
came from my friend La Fayette?
There was no mention of capture in the General's orders. They state:
"The enemies of the Revolution have kidnapped the King."
The General dictated them to me.
How dare that captain!
He altered the General's orders!
La Fayette ordered both of you to leave?
Only me. The Captain was sent by the Assembly.
Calling it a "kidnapping"!
What a brilliant idea to save the crown!
But why did he do it?
It could divide the various factions
in the Assembly.
La Fayette's aide is here.
Mr. de Romeuf?
How many officers are following the King?
Where will I sit?
There's our stage. What torture!
Now I'll sit beside the coachman. I insist!
It's no place for a lady!
A lady is always a lady. Wherever she sits!
You always talk of revolution. Now I'll make one:
I'll sit beside the citizen coachman.
That's Mr. de Wendel's seat.
Tell him to sit down! It's unbearable!
Homeless? The Royal Palace is for rent!
If you see the King:
lead him back to the stables!
Do you have a plan, Lieutenant?
When I get to Châlons,
I'll ask for news of the King's kidnappers at the Town Hall.
I see. The same place where Capt. Bayon,
who left with Casanova, hopes to get news of the King's escape!
Kidnapped or escaping, the King did well to leave
the Palace, where he was under house arrest.
Humbled by the Assembly,
he'd become the shadow of a monarch.
But the people are for the King.
They call him "good daddy", and love him.
They'll rejoice when he returns.
You may be right. But the people have changed.
The lower classes in the cities and the peasants
realized they're poor.
Of course! Revolutionary propaganda taught them that!
They're starting to wonder
if in the hereafter, after death, the last will really come first.
Faced with that doubt, they've become interested
in the here and now.
No, Mr. Restif. I could give you countless
examples of the people's love of its King.
His Majesty's trip to Cherbourg.
June 21, 1786.
Inauguration of the Naval port of Cherbourg.
In the presence of King Louis XVI, the last of the huge conical towers,
8 of which are already anchored to the ocean floor
to mark off the harbour, is towed out to sea.
I had the pleasure of being there.
"He and the crowd were one",
as the War Minister said.
The cheers of 20,000 citizens drowned out
the salute of 600 canons!
I know you disapprove of all I say.
But if you'd seen him at Cherbourg in his red coat...
He was my King, my ideal,
my religion.
May I have a look, Countess?
Traveling papers, please.
We're going to Metz.
I'm giving a concert.
I'm going to Metz, too.
- To Nancy. - I'm home, I live here.
Did you have a good trip, Madame?
Get Madame's baggage.
Something's wrong...
They went through 2 hours ago instead of 5. They were alone.
It seems the Duke of Choiseul and his 40 hussars
left 15 minutes before their carriage arrived.
They didn't wait! This was to be the safest part of their journey.
With more soldiers at each relay. What happened?
No one knows. I'll go get news!
What went wrong?
I saw the coach...
Drouet says he met them...
You're sure it was him?
It's the same face that's on the notes! Look.
I waved and a woman waved back.
That explains all those soldiers this morning.
I was at Clermont fair. I saw 150 hussars!
They told us we were to escort a treasure coming from Paris to Metz.
That reassured us local folks.
- Then what? - What?
When was this "treasure" coming through?
At 5.
Then at 6 a cabriolet appeared carrying the strangest fellow.
He had little braids and ribbons everywhere!
And frizzy hair!
And he was all dressed in yellow!
Leonard! What was that screamer doing here?
Choiseul had given him a note
for Capt. d'Andoins. It read: "The treasure won't come through today."
But the "treasure", or something very valuable,
did come through.
And how! At 7.45, a carriage appeared,
the biggest I've ever seen, and a cabriolet.
But we'd had orders to unsaddle our horses and were off duty.
What did the Captain do?
What could he do? He came over and said:
"Things have gone awry. Hurry or you're lost.
"Change horses fast and away with you!"
Drouet had been out haymaking in the fields. When he saw...
Who is Drouet?
He's our postmaster.
He saw the huge carriage, and feared for the horses on the climb.
Now he says he recognized the King and Queen:
as a dragoon, he'd met them in Versailles.
As if Drouet hobnobbed with the King!
Then a man arrived with orders from Paris...
From Captain Bayon.
Don't ask me! He said the King had left.
They were disarmed, the Captain was jailed.
Drouet went to Town Hall,
and the mayor told him to go with all speed after the carriage.
He left Verdun about the same time as Guillaume.
Known as "Bignose"!
Then Baron de Goguelat's plan didn't work!
Why? Was there a traitor?
No, incompetent officers, disloyal troops,
towns in favour of the new order.
And our good people?
If they recognized their King, why didn't
they protect him?
I don't know, Madame.
They're so different, seen from up close.
I don't understand, tonight they seem distant and hostile.
Those ingrates!
A pleasure meeting you.
I hope the rest of your journey is pleasant.
One moment.
Mr. Baldi, come here!
Why are you here?
What are you looking at? Let's go home.
This morning I woke up,
sensing something important would happen to me.
The King and Queen came here with their children.
So I said to myself: "This is a big day for my inn."
I was wrong. The King wasn't it.
It was your coming.
That's what made it a big day for me.
Careful!
Can we have drink?
Giacomo, it's Nicolas Restif!
I've had the pleasure.
- The husband of my poor Zephire. - Mother!
My son! The husband of our Zephire.
You married my Zephire?
Yours? No, hers. Well, yours.
She's our Zephire.
Nicolas, Giacomo was my first love.
- Then you're my father-in-law? - And you my son-in-law?
- Come, sit down. - What a day!
All three of us together!
- Nanette, what about me? - Plato, go away!
There's no room!
Madame is waiting for you. We're ready to leave!
Go! Mr. Restif will travel with me.
We'll catch up with you.
Pig's feet, St. Menehould style.
Sir, if you wish to dine, we have mackerel in sauce,
stuffed duck, or pig's feet, St. Menehould style.
Bring everything. Absolutely everything.
They're my guests.
Zephire left me after a year.
She left me for a better world, at least, I hope it is.
Yes, pneumonia
carried her off in 3 weeks.
No one told me... me, her papa!
Listen... I'll tell you a secret.
Your Zephire wasn't my daughter.
Too many of them have been attributed to me, too.
But as the saying goes,
one's never too sure of the father.
Or of the mother.
I have no recollection
of this Madame Nanette. I'd never seen her before tonight.
Then why did you go along when she said...
Who knows?
Love of intrigue, gallantry, a sense of theatre...
I don't know. When she hugged me,
as I came into the inn, I knew I'd never met her. But why say so?
Why disappoint a woman past her prime in front of her villagers
Then I'm not your son-in-law?
Since I'm not your father-in-law...
I'm not so sure
my Zephire was Nanette's daughter, either.
It happened on a journey, a long time ago.
Shortly after Zephire's death, I stopped at an inn.
The proprietress had just lost her daughter in Paris.
Her name was Zephire! What a discovery!
In truth, some of the details didn't tally.
But why quibble?
Nanette's grief was so genuine.
She was so glad to meet her poor daughter's husband!
And in those days,
Nanette was still a great beauty.
So we pooled our sorrows
in her bed, for 3 whole days.
"In the Palace a perverse Queen,
"incites a cowardly King
"to massacre all patriots.
"The gold and weapons of France"
"are sent abroad so tyrants
"on our borders..."
Help me!
For over 6 years now,
I've lived in Bohemia at Dux Castle.
I'm Count Waldstein's librarian.
In fact, I'm a kind of court jester.
I'm forever fighting with the servants,
who mock me and insult me.
That's why I've run away.
I wrote to the Duke of Weimar, to the Duchesse of Saxony.
I want a position with some dignity.
But they've kept me waiting!
Shall we sit over there?
Count Waldstein sent two men to Paris,
to tell me he was sorry and wanted me back.
He even honoured
some letters of credit on which I'd signed his name,
for some German Jews. He did it because
he wants me to return. He's bored.
He needs me to amuse his guests.
I'll show you how. Noble ladies and knights!
I'll tell you the story of how I pretended to fall from my horse,
opposite the house of the two most virtuous sisters in Dresden.
Marika and Birgitt!
Rescued and laid out on a bed in their house,
I asked them to fetch from my saddle-bag,
a flask of miraculous ointment. It was just
Burgundy wine! I asked Birgitt and Marika
to rub it with nimble fingers
on my naked skin, and massage me where...
Restif, I'm really tired. I think I...
It's time I returned to port.
But I want to be alone. On foot.
Not escorted by gendarmes.
In Paris, I got them off my tail...
A fresh horse! Hurry!
Dr. Mangin! What is it? Where are you off to so late?
To Paris! To carry
a message from the town of Varennes
to the Assembly:
the King and Queen have been arrested!
They are at present in the house of Mr. Sauce,
the deputy-mayor of Varennes. They were arrested
coming into town by some patriots,
who'd been alerted by Mr. Drouet,
postmaster in St. Menehould.
All the townspeople are guarding the store.
What kind of store?
Mr. Sauce makes candles, and sells spices and colonial wares.
Where is Varennes?
About 6 leagues from here, toward Montmédy.
It was lucky the postmaster ran
into his men bringing back the horses.
They showed him where the coach veered off..
Or else Drouet would have headed for Verdun, not Varennes.
Lucky for whom?
An all-night wake...
It's a whole new show, the audience takes to the stage.
Your Machiavelli wrote:
"Chains are too heavy and bonds too tight
"for those who have tasted freedom."
In my seminary "The Prince" was banned.
I presume you're going to Varennes.
That's why I left Paris, to catch up with them
and witness the event.
You'll write about a royal family, prisoners of a candle-maker!
Even Shakespeare couldn't make a tragedy of that!
I don't write tragedies. I just jot down
what I see.
There's our coach.
I'll head for Verdun.
I'd rather not attend a king's funeral.
The French people don't want his death.
My dear Restif, when a king is captured,
not by another king, but by a postmaster, he's as good as dead.
They've found me.
But I'm not beaten yet! In my youth,
I escaped from deeper dungeons.
When I was young...
But youth is a habit we soon get over.
Restif, do me a favour when you get back to Paris...
Go see Goldoni, he's old, sick, and nearly blind.
The new regime cancelled his artist's pension.
He's sold his library, book by book. He's in a garret on rue Dauphine.
It's a promise.
Farewell.
Out of the way!
Make way for the coach!
Go to Varennes!
Head for Varennes.
This is a State service. We're due in Metz.
And we're due in Varennes!
I must get to Metz. I have business to do.
Our business, Mr. Paine.
- No coach for Metz? - I'll try and arrange one.
I'll meet you in Alsatia in a few days.
My foundries won't move!
Our baggage!
They're going to Varennes.
Our baggage!
- They're going to Varennes. - Calm down!
I can see why you're worried.
Your wife's alone in Paris,
with all this mess. Go back to her.
Catch the first stage,
you'll be home by tomorrow morning.
No, if I came all this way...
- So what? - What about you?
I've got the theatre.
My concert. Don't worry about me.
You can't stay all alone.
Me? I am alone.
I've always been alone. I'm used to it.
- Hadn't you understood? - Virginie, you have me!
You have your art.
You...
It's easier to get rid of a king, than of your wife.
As for my art...
I'm in the first act...
at the back of the stage with the choir.
They only hired me because of you and our relationship.
Don't sulk, Mr. Baldi.
You'll be my watchdog, you'll take care of me, right?
Maybe M. de Wendel will agree
to keep me company till we reach Metz?
- It will be a pleasure. - Thank you.
Dearie, go get the basket of doggies.
Doggies!
Madame...Mr. Emile wants me to...
Mr. Emile must be me.
Emile wants me to see him to his village. It's nearby.
I said I had to ask you for permission.
If she doesn't give it, what then?
I won't go.
Then you don't love him.
No, wait.
Madame always took care of me. I was brought to her when I was 9.
Madame, maybe for him I'm just a whim, a curiosity.
But now for the first time,
I want to laugh and cry.
Marie Madeleine, what do you want to do?
Come or don't come, but decide yourself.
Go on.
Madame, tonight such strange things are happening...
I wonder what, in these troubled times, a poor man can do
with his 100 workmen to care for.
Maybe a poor man shouldn't have 100 workers to care for.
Will you forgive me?
I was never so afraid in my life. Afraid...
Not only of that madman who attacked me
afraid of the speeches, of the people, of you
afraid of the unfamiliar, afraid for all I'm about to lose...
The Court is a cosy nest...
Like the King's red coat at Cherbourg,
it meant security. This has nothing to do with ideals.
If I felt secure with some other ideal,
that would suit me.
My father was a brewer, so you can imagine...
Will you forgive me?
It was only fear.
Won't you be afraid tomorrow?
Kings are notoriously ungrateful,
and fallen kings are even worse.
Raise my spirits tonight?
No one can do that for you. All of us are afraid.
Faith and ideals are to protect us from fear.
But we must find the ideals that suit us.
Yes, Countess.
And when we realize our ideals have reached a dead end,
we must dare to change them.
Change is what scares me.
When cats and buffoons lose their rich masters,
they're pelted with stones.
In the American Declaration of Independence
we changed the word "property" to "pursuit of happiness".
Were you happy, Mr. Jacob?
No, I was always too afraid... to give up what I had.
And... I hate happiness!
To Varennes!
I ran into my postmen coming back with my horses.
They warned me that the coach had left the road to Verdun.
To head for Varennes-Montmédy.
So we did the same, took a shortcut through the woods,
that saved us a good 45 minutes.
Reaching Varennes, we were delighted to see in the darkness
the two coaches stopped by the church waiting for fresh horses.
Don't stay there.
I didn't know the post-station had been moved.
Beyond the bridge over the river.
Half a mile further, and they'd all have been safe.
Luckily, the nearby inn
still had some customers, all good patriots.
We worked out a plan:
some came here to wake up Sauce, the mayor,
while we built a barricade at the bridge,
- so the coaches couldn't cross. - Or any soldiers come in.
Meanwhile, my husband went to cross-examine the travellers.
We'd been told they were Russians.
But they all spoke French.
A doctor! A lady-in-waiting has stomach pains.
Stomach pains! Next, they'll blame it
on my food! Annette, go fetch the doctor.
Dr. Mangin's away. Get Dr. Porel.
Get the doctor, I tell you. Hurry!
Excuses, to delay them! To Paris!
The children are sleeping!
Those bells!
Two men with orders from the Assembly and from Gen. La Fayette.
They're from Paris.
He arrested the King: the mayor, Mr. Sauce.
No, deputy-mayor. The mayor's away. I arrested no one.
The shock of it all, the dark night...
The travellerâ€™s own safety
made it unwise for them to go on, so I invited them
to rest in my home, that's all.
When we got back to the carriage, I shouted to Sauce:
"If you let them leave, you'll be guilty of treason!"
It's true, he shouted that.
That's Mr. Drouet, postmaster at St. Menehould.
When Sauce asked to see their passport, a man in livery
ordered the coachman to move on.
So I shouted: "One step and we'll shoot!"
Yes, that's what he shouted.
I told all the lads in Varennes to aim their guns.
Which weren't loaded!
I didn't know it, neither did the travellers.
So they got out and went with Sauce.
As you can imagine, I was in a state:
it was late, my house was full of royalty.
I had to get rooms ready, make food...
When His Majesty kissed my husband,
I was moved to tears. It was like a family
finding a long-lost father again.
The King said to me: "In Paris, I lived surrounded by daggers."
"I came to revisit
"my loyal subjects in the countryside,
"to experience again the peace and freedom I'd lost."
Freedom!
Freedom to flee abroad.
Drouet! A monster from hell!
His Majesty said he only planned to go...
To Montmédy, not far from here.
Where Bouillé, that blackguard,
waits to escort him across the border!
No, he'll go back to Paris! Right now. Prepare the coach!
To Paris!
They're resting!
Those bells!
You see, what a mess!
A good thing you people got here!
Come on up and see His Majesty.
Make way for the Assembly's envoys! They've come from Paris!
Let's hope this nasty business does our town some good.
The King promised he'd help, but we're banking on the Assembly.
I sent Dr. Mangin straight to Paris so they'd know
the King was my guest. I also dispatched
to the far side of town, some old wooden cannons.
Make way for the Assembly's envoys.
Please...
Countess de la Borde, how come you're here?
Baron de Goguelat, what happened to you?
A bullet hit my shoulder
as I made my way through the local Guardsmen
to reach this wretched inn.
And your infallible plan to escort the King?
Counter-orders, delays, mutinous hussars,
the meddling of the Queen's hairdresser...
Do you have an even more infallible plan now?
We must delay the King's departure
till the Marquis de Bouillé gets here from Montmédy.
I advised the King to shoot his way out, but he refused.
Can you blame him?
Idiocy is the worst of treasons.
And no revolution will ever stop it.
Sire, two envoys from the Assembly
wish to be received by Your Majesty.
Sire...
The King.
You won't get far.
The interests of the State...
In Paris, blood is running.
Our wives, our children, our mothers
may be slaughtered.
Am I not a mother, too, sir?
The Queen!
Sire!
We've brought a decree from the Assembly.
Where is it?
Lt. Romeuf, the General's aide, has it.
Monsieur de Romeuf! You, of all people!
I hoped not to catch up with you. I'm here to serve you.
France no longer has a King!
Don't let it soil my children's bed.
Her Majesty is right... From her point of view.
Take me away!
When he embraced my husband, I was so moved.
It was like a family reunited with their father,
after fearing they'd lost him.
Make way!
Calm down, Madame.
I'll deal with the baggage.
The journal just came from Paris!
Let me read it! Citizens!
The "Friend of the People" from Paris.
Listen to Marat:
"It's a thankless task to be right 6 months ahead of time."
Make way!
"Didn't I predict that Louis would flee?
"How did a whole family that we wrongly
"felt stood for the well-being of France
"escape from us in the heart of Paris?
"Beware of the vows of Princes.
'The Austrian woman seduced La Fayette.
"Louis XVI in livery escaped with the Dauphin,
his wife and his whole family.
"The Father of France abandoned his people
"and escaped to send us instead of his royal person
"a lengthy foreign and internal war.
"The people's conduct in the most difficult moments,
"proves that it no longer needs leaders.
"The time has come for the heads of Bailly and La Fayette to roll,
"and of all the villains in the General Staff and the Assembly.
"You need a military tribunal,
"or you are lost!" To Paris!
"Last night at 11
"Louis XVI went to bed after receiving this virtuous order.
"His only contact with virtue!
"At 11.15 he left the Luxembourg Palace with his wife.
"This plot, a scheme of the Bourbon and Austrian royal houses,
"this cowardly plot hatched 18 months ago..."
- Need anything else? - No, thanks.
"The King thought he could escape the National Guard,
"and the disgruntled people of Paris,
"to find refuge among his loyal generals.
"and kind-hearted country folk.
"Instead he ran into the National Guard and disgruntled country folk.
"who blocked his way to the border."
You're saying his arrest was a victory for the disgruntled people.
I spoke of deeds, not victory.
Moments ago, I watched the faces of those peasants.
They weren't moved, they weren't
children happy to have found a "long-lost father".
Those faces betrayed centuries of famine,
of poverty and humiliation...
And the fear that the end of injustice is not yet at hand.
For that they'll have to wait for a future occasion.
"Now is the time to make the heads of ministers roll...
" the heads of the Chiefs-of-Staff, of generals...
"...of counter-revolutionary townships
"of traitors in the Assembly."
"Start by securing them, if there's still time.
"Men of the National Guard, in these critical times,
"you've been abandoned by your officers
"who hide when danger lurks
"and only come out to betray their country..."
Gentlemen, I forgot to thank you.
The journey was long and ended badly,
but because of you, its memory will be easier to bear.
Countess, would you satisfy my curiosity?
What was in those 2 mysterious packages,
I helped you carry last night?
So it was you?
That's why I mistrusted you from the start!
An understandable attitude to have towards
men of letters, chroniclers, scribblers...
We're a race of spies, we don't participate or form bonds,
yet we describe, classify
and sometimes confuse everything.
That's why, am I right, Countess?
We're a curious lot.
The costume His Majesty wore at the inauguration of Cherbourg.
Tomorrow is Corpus Christi. He was to wear it
at Montmédy, to reviews his troops.
It must be exhausting to play King!
To a great task, great honours!
If he'd travelled in that outfit,
they might not have dared arrest him. Who knows...
Your Majesty!
Long live the people!
- Long live France! - Everyone to Paris!
That's what one learns from travelling.
See the King mount the scaffold
with his confessor,
on January 21, 1793!
We've already included it in our machine to view the new world.
Come see Louis XVI.
There's the head of the King of France,
falling into the basket, sliced by the guillotine.
Step right up! Bring your children!
See the great moments of history with your own eyes.
Don't push!
Come see the history of the world in moving pictures.
Reality becomes fantasy, fantasy becomes reality.
In this magic box, I'll show you a new world.
With its distances and perspectives.
One sou per person.
What you'll see is beautiful...
Folks, in this machine we have...
Nicolas Edmé Restif de la Bretonne wrote in 1792
these words that are in the 2nd part of Chapter 17
of the Revolutionary Nights:
""All those ideas exhausted me.
"For relief I plunged into the centuries that followed.
"I saw the people of 1992 reading our history.
"I strained to hear them and I heard.
"The harshness of their judgment terrified me.
"Some claimed we lacked humanity,
"whereas those with extreme views, as in my day, approved."
All Europe, apparently,
had a new government, united and at peace.
But I saw in the pages of history the terrible jolts it had endured.
I thought I heard the readers saying to each other:
" 'We're so glad we didn't live in those terrible times
" 'when human life was valueless.'
"Once the pain is over,
"if you didn't die of it, it becomes a joy,
"and one needs such jolts
"to appreciate the price of tranquillity.
"As you need an illness to appreciate good health.
"What fine reasoning", exclaimed a visionary,
"You're no different than people 200 years ago.
"You're made of the same organic molecules.
"Now you're at peace,
"because those molecules are weary of war.
"But beware. After a little rest,
"you'll feel strong again, and I'm afraid
"you'll go back to it."
Subtitles: A. Whitelaw
Subtitled by TVS - TITRA FILM