We are in the year 1871. A journalist for Versailles Television broadcasts a soothing and official view of events while a Commune television is set up to provide the perspectives of the Paris rebels. On a stage-like set, more than 200 actors interpret characters of the Commune, especially the Popincourt neighborhood in the XIth arrondissement. They voice their thoughts and feelings concerning the social and political reforms.
Direction
Watkins' fake-doc format dissolves 1871 into now.
Acting
Non-pros channel ancestors with terrifying conviction.
Production
Television studio becomes time machine.
Director
Peter Watkins
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Watkins funded this through French TV then buried it—no broadcaster would air the full 345 minutes for over a decade.
The actors' real political debates were unscripted; Watkins cast actual radicals, conservatives, and undecideds, then let them fight for six weeks of rehearsal. Some 'characters' you hate were playing themselves.
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