PART 2
Citizens, good evening.
Tonight we meet Eugene Protot, Justice Delegate,
who is just leaving the Commune Council.
You've now taken a measure against police arbitrariness.
Yes, indeed.
Following arrests, searches and requisitions of all sorts,
which some citizens denounced,
citizen Vermorel and l have moved to adopt a decree
protecting citizens against the arbitrariness of police measures
that may occur in these troubled times.
lt is vital for our Republic that all traitors and conspirators
be neutralized.
But we must guarantee the respect of individual freedom.
What do you intend to do?
All arrests are to be announced within 24 hours
to the Commune Justice Delegation
to evaluate the validity of detention.
Persons abusing power - prison governor, guard or policeman -
shall be prosecuted.
This is not a police state and never will be!
Can l help you?
We are from the Women's Union, we are delegates.
We've come for a meeting room
which should have been granted by the Executive Commission.
You're not the first in line, please take a seat.
Citizen, it's urgent!
ln the year 1 871, on the 1 1 th of April at 3:00 p.m.
Birth certificate for Christian Ernest Antoine, male,
born at 6:30 a.m.
l have 2 children. l need to feed them.
That's all. Please come back next week.
- That's all l get? - That's all!
lt won't get me very far.
- We're from the Women's Union. - l'm listening.
We've come for a meeting room.
The Commune has allocated one in each District.
- So l hear. - We've come for it.
The 1 1 th District Sub-Committee should be in charge of that.
The best thing is to see citizen Patey who'll direct you.
Citizen Patey?
We've discussed this, there's work with the ambulances.
Also the wounded
who need help and money, so we have to take up a collection.
No, we're not responsible for collections.
We have other priorities.
- More important than charity. - Discuss this with Patey.
- Over there? - Next door, on the left.
Give me 5 minutes.
You're allowed 5 stamps. Please, l'm with...
There are problems at the wash-house.
Beatrice Jossiau, 5 stamps.
ls that it?
Yes. For one week.
But the father of my children is a prisoner in Germany.
Prisoner in Germany? Since when?
Last year.
Citizens, excuse us, but we are delegates from the Women's Union
to get a meeting room.
Citizens, stop that racket, please!
Listen, l asked Colonel Favy
for an inventory of the troops in the District. l'm still waiting.
Bloody hell, how can l give you an inventory!
We can't even assemble our men.
They're at the front, home, some we don't know.
lt's the Sub-Committee's fault, giving orders to our soldiers.
lt's your own incompetence!
- You're no judge. - Who gave you stripes?
That's enough!
l warn you Guillaume. You know very well that staff orders
are always short-circuited by you.
You're well aware: requisitions for futile parades,
or police operations we're not informed about.
We need permanently garrisoned Battalions
for District security and police affairs.
The conflict between the Town Hall and 1 1 th Legion officers
reflects the one between
the Central Committee and the Commune.
For the Sub-Committee,
the non-elected Legion officers have no legitimacy.
Eventually, the Sub-Committee will monopolize all power
in the 1 1 th District.
You can't control your own men!
l remind you that you are supposed to help us in our work!
Well then, citizen Marcellin,
to help you, l'll write War Delegate Cluseret,
for control over the 1 1 th Legion administration!
l know your problems!
You're always at headquarters!
When Cluseret agrees, it will all become more efficient!
We've come for the meeting room we've been allocated.
Do you have the keys?
Ten minutes later....
We are delegates from the Women's Union.
We're being sent from one office to the next...
What's this?
l'll handle it. Francois, got the keys?
May l leave now?
No, no. You stay here while l book you!
You're not going to arrest a woman just to get to her husband?
We've come for a meeting room.
There's no room.
What do you mean? They're giving us...
We need a place legally recognized by all women.
You have lots of empty workshops, 142 Oberkampf St., there's one...
There are hundreds of women..
expecting a meeting place in the Town Hall.
Go look, you'll see the great space you got!
- lt's a shed! - That's all we've got.
We can't hold meetings here!
That's all we've got.
We can't hold our meetings here.
You have to clean it up!
Do you know that hundreds of women will meet here tomorrow morning?
Tomorrow morning!
There's nothing l can do.
You exit here and enter there. l have to lock this door.
What's that? Give us the keys first!
l can't.
This is a security zone. l'm sorry l can't.
What's wrong with him?
Citizen, give us the keys.
We have to get them back.
He shut the door!
They're making fun of us!
This isn't a meeting place. Women can't come here!
We'll find another.
For tomorrow morning we'll have to use this, we've got nothing else.
OK. Let's do the poster for tonight.
We'll convene here, but tomorrow we look for another place.
See all the work there is...
l don't believe this!
Citizens. The Commune War Delegate, General Cluseret,
inspected the southern forts and said:
'' ''''My impression is good.''
'' ''''Attacks by a large number of enemy troops,''
'' ''''repelled with few casualties, gives us''
'' ''''great confidence in the future.''''''
We remind you that
in its Official Gazette, the Commune has issued
a document which should help you to keep a healthy diet under siege.
A healthy diet in the midst of tragedy! We've seen it all!
lncredible!
Could you please switch it off, Marie.
This reminds me of an article
'' l saw in this morning's ''''Gaulois''''.''
l'll read you a brief quote:
'' ''''The rebels' false stories.''
'' ''''Dispatches sent to the newspapers by the Commune''
'' ''''contain more lies than ever before.''
'' ''''What will the rebels say when they learn the truth?''
'' ''''The Commune states the Versailles army is repelled and put to flight.''
'' ''''According to them,''
'' ''''our troops face enormous casualties.''
'' ''''Of course, the trapped Parisians''
'' ''''cannot verify these facts.''
'' ''''We know this is completely false.''''''
So this communard press...
is really a lot of nonsense.
lt's practising disinformation.
And deep down we know it.
l'm deeply shocked, even worried by this.
Because using television to spread false news
means we can't trust any information.
National TV Versailles, Laurent Duchamp Pothier.
With us in our studio - a man most of our viewers know, F. Foucart.
An expert political editor,
whom l've invited to talk about
the Commune's social and economic policy,
a much debated subject recently.
Good evening, my dear friend.
Tell us about these so-called revolutionary achievements.
lf l was to really speak about
the Commune's revolutionary achievements,
l would be very brief, for they've done nothing!
However, l think it's useful to give an example
of the demagogy and futility of their actions...
You know, when you are devoid
of any economic or political experience,
but rely on verbiage, you end up with a totally mad situation.
On the subject of rents. Would you like me to....
Yes, it seems quite complicated.
The Commune decided,
to the crowd's delight,
that no more rents would be paid. Wonderful indeed!
One could also say, we won't pay for bread or meat, anything.
This is nothing new.
Demagogues have always promised to cancel debts,
because quite naturally there have always been
more debtors than creditors.
lt's a very cheap way to make new friends.
Also, the owners must pay their own taxes and mortgages.
Exactly! Because it's a whole system,
a bit like a castle made of dominoes.
lf one falls, the others follow.
So we don't pay rents. Fine,
but how will the owners pay their taxes?
Taxes that run the Government.
Since most buildings are mortgaged,
the owners owe large sums of money to the Credit Foncier.
How will they pay what they owe?
They don't say, because they don't know.
lf we follow this logic all the way, the Credit Foncier collapses,
and no more building sites are opened in Paris.
l remind those who are talking about people's rights.
The Paris working class is partly made up
of construction workers, including our brave natives of Limousin,
our bricklayers and plasterers of Creuse.
These are the unemployed today.
There'll be more tomorrow.
This is a cooperative. And with the Commune, it'll work.
The bench, tools, workshop will be ours. We'll have equality.
There are 30 of us. lf we earn 300 francs,
it means 1 0 francs each for sure.
Watch it!
The boss has left, OK. We're the managers, OK.
But he still owns the place.
lf he comes back, he'll get the same as everyone else.
The foundry workers must follow us.
We're also waiting for a workshop. But we really need work.
And we'll get work if the mechanics get orders.
Then there'll be work for the foundry.
We can make ammunition for the weapons
they repair and manufacture.
But we shouldn't lose any more time
and establish a cooperative right away. Otherwise we won't make it.
We need that too.
Sure we need a cooperative. But we must be careful.
We must all agree, so that things go well.
Don't forget what happened with the state-owned workshops of 1 848,
let's not fall into a trap like that.
The cooperatives will work because
we want them and everyone needs them.
lt's our hope against capital.
Following the Saint-Maur Street mechanics,
the foundry workers' cooperative opens on April 1 9.
ln order for them to stock up on raw materials,
the Commune allows requisitions from inactive workshops.
l've also been told of a new craze
concerning revolutionary taxes.
The Commune is going tax-crazy.
Yes, well, these people who are always talking about liberty
and independence,
haven't come up with anything other
than to overburden everyone with taxes.
What was the situation at the start of the Empire? As we know,
there were the huge building works by Baron Haussmann.
But especially the railroads.
Today, all 5 railroad companies
have been taxed excessively.
There is a tax which we must admit is quite unpopular:
the tax at the city gates.
'' Ah yes, the ''''octroi.''''''
They could have lifted it.
'' To the contrary, the ''''octroi'''' was maintained.''
They have taxed everything.
All this shows a total lack
of political intuition and will.
We all know by now that these people are a bunch of loudmouths.
l don't want to lay it on, but l'd like to add -
loudmouths who mistake blabber for action.
This bunch has done absolutely nothing in the field of economics.
Silence!
Citizens!
Silence please, this is for TV Commune. Thank you.
Citizens. With us here are citizens Avrial and Frankel,
both Commune members,
to explain the decree on the requisition of abandoned workshops.
During the siege, the federation of mechanics
had asked for the requisition of abandoned workshops
in order to manufacture guns.
Two cooperatives were set up in the 1 1 th District.
Unfortunately this experience failed, because of the capitalists,
the money-makers lending at 1 7% interest.
Today, circumstances are more favourable.
Avrial belongs to the lnternational Workers' Association,
striving for working class emancipation.
He led cooperative projects with fellow workers during the siege.
As Commune Director of Artillery,
he supports cooperatives of mechanics and foundry workers.
How does this decree apply?
This decree of April 1 6
allows the Employers' Federation
to make an inventory of all workshops
abandoned by owners who fled Paris,
leaving many workers with no income.
lt applies to whom?
To all existing corporate bodies of workers
who'll now be able to open cooperative workshops.
Also to women in difficult situations.
Leo Frankel is behind many of the Commune's social reforms.
A Hungarian Jew, lnternational Workers' Association member,
he is the spokesman for the working class,
and favours the economic emancipation of women.
He bans night-work for bakers, supports cooperative projects...
ls that you, Marie?
- You're back already? - Yes.
You've done all the shopping?
And found everything you wanted?
l found everything you wanted, madame - meat, vegetables.
- lt's not a problem, you know. - That's good.
But the cost!
- l can imagine. - Prices go up every day.
lt's normal in wartime. Still, it's not as bad as the siege.
Just think what it was like for people during the siege.
l don't think we have the right to complain.
Madame, youdon't have the right to complain.
What do you mean?
You don't see what's going on.
But l go out, Marie! l go for walks in the Tuileries.
l don't live locked up in this room!
You still go out?
Why do you say that?
All the streets are full of furniture. Everyone is moving out.
Because some people are frightened.
Those who can, leave.
We chose to stay. You'll never stop people from being frightened.
You may not be able to leave the building tomorrow.
What makes you say such things this morning?
Shops shutting down every day. Giroux is closed!
The National Guard headquarters moved in.
That's next door!
They say they're going to build a barricade.
There'll be one tomorrow.
Those are rumours. l don't think it's possible.
Not in our little street. Don't exaggerate.
There are some barricades not far from the house already.
But you know there'll be fighting. We can't avoid that.
l'm frightened.
No. Things will go back to normal.
The Commune can't win.
On April 1 4, Guillaume, of the Municipal Delegation,
hands Director Heuzey a search warrant
for the religious school.
The National Guard takes up post in front of the school.
A Guard tells an orphan trying to reach her classroom:
'' ''''There are no more sisters, thank God!''
'' ''''They're fools who talk rubbish.''
'' ''''Come back later,''
'' ''''you'll find citizens who'll teach you life!''''''
We don't know what will happen to us,
though we always have the mother house,
and communities in the provinces, where we can shelter.
We'll take the girls who have been entrusted to our care.
Many of them have no parents at all,
or possibly just a father or a mother.
We're responsible for them. We'll protect them
whatever happens.
Yes, we are very worried not only for the little girls
but also for the future of this neighbourhood.
Every day, we offer home-care
and sometimes assist births.
Local volunteers help
distribute up to 6,000 meals a day,
thanks to donations. What's going to become of the poor?
Who will feed them, care for them? We're worried.
l'd like to remind you of 2 tasks
of the Women's Union.
The first is the defence of Paris.
To mobilize, and to set up
ambulance posts to help those who are fighting.
But the second, equally important,
is to contribute to the social revolution
'' which is the Commune's ''''raison d'etre.''''''
For this revolution to succeed,
women workers must free themselves
from their state of slavery.
The best way to do that
is to own our own work tools.
We must reap the benefits
of what we produce.
This can only happen through cooperatives.
These cooperatives should enable us...
to radically modify working conditions,
and to master the means of our production.
We should, for example,
be able to diversify our tasks,
to stop repeating
the same gesture all day long.
We must earn decent salaries,
equal to men's.
We need to have time off
for education and for our children.
There!
l think it's very important
that women organize themselves
officially.
And that they allow themselves
to become active
and conscious
of what they do and why they do it, at work,
and to free themselves of the household.
And be recognized at last by men...
and other women.
For me, cooperatives
represent a recognition of that.
- A new work relation. - Another way of life.
Absolutely. Another way of thinking.
lt's also obtaining a certain autonomy. That's the main idea
of a cooperative - to be self-managing.
To acquire a certain freedom. lncluding with work
which is in itself alienating.
lt's to have more freedom. More space.
lt's also to free oneself
from the way work has been conceived up to now.
Work is not an end in itself. lt must be a means
towards other ways of living,
other associations,
since a cooperative is a free association of workers.
That's what it's called.
lt must be the base
from which we can build new possibilities,
it could open the way for something new.
We should have time off.
The Commune isn't....
the men's or women's Commune,
it's a completely new society,
closer to the workers' aspirations.
Women's work didn't emerge yesterday,
it has always existed.
lt could be a way for the recognition
of our place in society
with men, not against them, but together.
lt's not an eccentricity, it's a reality, and also a necessity.
First of all, it's a means of survival.
But l think it's especially a path towards something else.
Since now we have nothing, we must create it all!
So people have to be able to learn. Learn other trades.
Escape from all the jobs to which women are confined.
Open up new possibilities.
l'm also eager for women to express themselves on an artistic level.
For the moment, women are cut off from all creation.
l really think that
we can establish associations that will take care of women,
open up new horizons to them.
Teach them literature.
Teach them to do other things with their hands and lives,
than just work for survival.
Today in France, 60% of women work in 6 professions
which represent only 30% of the labour market:
for example, 98% of all secretaries are women.
Yet, women's success rate, from A levels to University,
is significantly higher than men's.
lf we can obtain financial success,
it will bring us political power
and a recognition of our independence.
ln any case it will allow us more freedom
to choose what's best for us.
Yes, but profitability isn't enough in itself.
Being in control of a structure
to obtain recognition and independence
might also lead to a kind of alienation in the way
that is already happening
to others working in a profitability system.
l think it's important to add the social or artistic aspect,
to link profitability and human intentions.
To combine profitability with creation.
To find something other than this alienation that will trap us again
in this system of producing, working, etc.
You give a woman the means to work differently...
and less.
She's left with very little time
to do anything else, to think of new things
and she is very diminished by that.
So there's also an educational task
which must start from childhood...
and be organized very quickly.
That's also what a cooperative is.
A better sharing of tasks, more free time.
To go collectively towards other knowledge...
through discussion, towards new things.
To stop only identifying with work.
Even today that's how it is.
lt's not who are you, it's what do you do?
lt's the first question you're asked.
l'm often confronted with it.
l've been unemployed for ages, l don't have a profession.
'' Then they ask: ''''What are you looking for?''''''
'' ''''l don't know, it's not easy.''''''
lt's what do you do, not what is your activity,
which is something one could accept.
l do something, like stringing pearls...
l do something. lt's not what do you do!
lt's always your professional status.
That's what's so painful.
'' You'd like to say: ''''Spend some time with me, 5 minutes,''
'' ''''you might understand what's up,''
'' ''''and even slip me some ideas.''
'' ''''Since l seem to be stuck here.''''''
l don't agree with that,
because l think that women
don't even need to be asked what they do.
lt's obvious. Even if we work, it's substandard.
Our priority is to take care
of the kids, the laundry,
to put up with the old man.
Ultimately... l'm a dressmaker,
and who gives a shit?
ln France, 80% of all domestic work is done by women.
This represents 3h30 of work each day
for a woman with children and a full-time job.
l would like to learn.
To be able to choose.
Exactly. Right now, l can't choose. l can't do anything else...
Maybe l don't feel like working,
l'd like to have time to think.
- That's good. - Me too.
Today we don't have time to think.
Yes, and it's serious.
The system gives one the least possible time to think.
lt's all the same thing...
lt goes beyond all this. First, there's this cooperative business.
A way of sharing the means of production.
But what we really need is to free ourselves totally from work.
Life is elsewhere. lt's not work.
What's going on? Why did the National Guard come?
Don't be scared. lt's safe here. Get on with your work.
The National Guard came because...
they might shut this school and set up a state school.
We'll talk about this later!
A state school. Will we have to go?
We'll talk about this later.
Why? lt's important!
You will frighten the young ones. Get on with your work.
But what are you going to do?
We'll see, don't worry.
Will we return to our parents?
Mother Superior will speak to you about this later.
Does God like state schools?
God loves all things.
We were saying that there was more to life than work.
But the problem is we're staging the Commune now. What is that,
if not an attempt to think
radically differently.
To challenge everything. Profit, education, all that.
l can't see....
any other revolutionary way.
Then come problems of the individual abuse of power.
Those are ego problems. Maybe we can forget our ego a second...
You can't.
l know. But it's a fantasy, just like revolution.
lt's a dream. Let's at least try and talk about this.
What can we dream up?
A new system, without profit, etc.
And how do we invent it?
The main question is how?
lt's easy to dream...
The Commune isn't dreams, it's acts.
lf we'd at least listen to everyone.
Regardless of social class, sex, age.
For me, school acts as the brake.
My son was much more open in his younger years than he is now.
lt's not only school's fault. lt's the whole system.
We hear a lot about social organization of labour.
lt's very fashionable these days.
Listen! l lived through the Empire, and l can assure you
the social organization of labour
the Commune keeps harping about goes back a long way!
The Prince, while imprisoned
in Hamm in 1 844,
'' wrote an interesting book called the ''''Extinction of Pauperism''''.''
Allow me to read 3 or 4 lines from it.
By Prince you mean Napoleon Bonaparte?
Yes, since for me at the time he was first Prince,
then Emperor Napoleon lll.
This is what Louis Napoleon Bonaparte wrote:
'' ''''The working class possess nothing.''
'' ''''We must make owners of them.''
'' ''''Their only wealth is their labour.''
'' ''''We must ensure that this labour is useful for all.''
'' ''''They are like Helots''
'' ''''amongst the Sybarites.''
'' ''''They must be given a place in our society''
'' ''''linked to the interests of the country.''
'' ''''Finally, they are an organization''
'' ''''without ties, with no rights, no future.''
'' ''''We must give them rights and a future,''
'' ''''and get them back on their feet through Associations.''''''
You know what Association is?
lt's the right, given by the Empire, to assemble, to organize,
to unionize and go on strike. They forget this today.
The Commune talks of people's and workers' rights.
These rights were already granted by the Empire.
ln other words, nothing new under the sun!
No, absolutely nothing new.
lf it had been left to evolve naturally,
things would have turned out fine.
But they wanted revolution, not evolution.
They provoked what became terrible and bloody,
we now know this.
A workers' association...
which is collective and egalitarian!
ln other words, we all earn the same, everyone is boss.
But what does this mean, money-wise?
Because you have to eat, live.
And sharing?
We share equally. The same share for everyone.
We take one share for each.
For example, if there are 4 of us.
One share to cover accidents.
One share for... how do you say?
To invest in machinery.
And one share
for the Association established by Frankel.
So you want other associations set up to continue the chain.
You want to set an example? That's good too.
But everyone is paid the same? Regardless of seniority?
An apprentice who doesn't work very well? He gets the same share?
Yes. Those who don't work well can learn to work better.
ls there a share for accidents?
The second share's for accidents.
There's one for the owner if he comes back.
So you don't know where the owner is?
He ran away.
We have no idea.
lf he comes back, he'll get the same as everyone else.
No more, no less!
Today it's hard to know who owns most companies.
And today responsibility is very diluted.
Responsible but not guilty. Guilty but not responsible.
Cooperatives work like capitalistic enterprises.
They're hit by the market.
They adapt for the market.
They save money. They lay off.
lt's not only a question of work equality and profit sharing.
lt's also equality of speech. Everyone has the right of say.
And then everyone discusses it...
That's real citizenship.
That's what strikes me during the Commune.
People experienced citizenship all the way.
And people participated fully. They were no longer
subjects of the King or the Emperor,
but their own masters. They decided, they advanced.
Do people have the right of speech today?
TV talks to you but you can't answer.
lt's the first time in history that we have a box at home
that talks like this, but you can't say:
'' ''''No, l'm sorry, l was there just now, it didn't happen like you say.''''''
Of course, what makes it worse is that
television sides with those who have power and money.
How can we discuss with them?
That's how their ideology is relayed.
And the media are a party to that,
all the media!
We must give back meaning to citizenship.
Because now it's a word... you used it,
the bourgeoisie, the wealthy use it.
lt's like consensus:
Law-abiding Citizens, cast into the same mould.
ln the Commune, being a citizen meant making decisions,
joining forces. lt's something to win back now.
Take women's power, the Women's Union...
we should think about that too.
Careful, they say it's getting better.
They propose things like
women's right to vote,
social progress, etc....
What l mean is...
For the European elections, 50% didn't vote. What is democracy,
with people elected with so few votes? Why don't people vote?
They can't blame it all on their fishing habits.
The political class is like a caste.
Away from the world, its realities.
The Commune set up the possibility of dismissal from office.
Now we delegate power
to people for their entire mandate.
They betray their program: no sweat.
The Commune set up removability. Something to consider!
People are no longer represented.
l totally agree.
What do the elected do? Hide behind the technocrats who tell us,
'' ''''We're doing our best but it's complicated.''''''
There's one world vision: theirs.
That's monolithic thinking: one economic world vision.
Without it, there's no solution.
You were talking about cooperatives
with a social aim. lt was also a way out for us
when the bosses failed us.
We had a need then...
But today employers are very different.
Workers don't have much say.
The board of directors and the president make the decisions.
And the worker....
lf he complains, he gets the boot.
On the other hand -
l don't mind being hard on the bosses,
but they're confronted
with an international situation
where some groups don't pay their workers at all.
They have to face that, and so do we. Our social gains...
should be applied in those countries.
We could fight for that.
This brings us back to ideological pressure,
and the question of the media.
The monolithic thinking you talked about. They want us to believe
economic problems come before social ones.
That's a lie!
lt's inhuman and an economic deception.
Take Japan for example.
lt was supposedly economically successful 1 0 years ago.
Workers and employees accepted
minimal social progress. Today they're sinking,
because if you don't combine social and economic issues,
you've got no chance. You're sure to scupper!
ln 1 870, the wealthiest 20% of the world population
had 7 times the income of the poorest 20%.
ln 1 997, this difference was 7 4 to 1.
Today, the richest 20% share 86% of the world GDP,
vs. barely 1 % for the poorest.
The world's 3 richest persons own
more than the total GNP
of the world's 48 least-developed nations,
that is to say, 600 million people.
There are problems everywhere: outcasts, illegal aliens,
destitute, people who need help.
Now's the time to open the phone-book, call, do something.
That's how you change things.
Not by saying let's go to the barricades, we're revolutionaries.
lt's easy to say there are problems
in the Third World. Sure there are.
But there are just as many right here. A lot can be done right here.
So you open the phone-book, what page?
There are plenty of NGOs...
Against unemployment... to fight against poverty.
Or to help disabled elderly.
Small things. Changes don't come with great speeches.
lt's possible, at a given time, to work on a political level too,
for a peace agreement, etc. But it's up to us,
each one of us, in our own environment, with friends, etc.
What you're saying sounds almost like some humanitarian thing.
ln other words, swallow the pill. Accept the system as it is and...
stick a band-aid on the wounds it has inflicted.
- What would you do? - l'm wary of that.
You think charity is good?
But it's not just charity.
lt's the state handing over to NGOs the job
of making band-aids for its own survival.
That's not normal.
He wasn't talking only about charity. He said NGOs.
There are many NGOs, fighting unemployment, destitution.
lt's not necessarily just a poultice on a wooden leg.
l think what you said is important.
But people won't become militants because of this film.
This experience was very interesting.
But l hope that a lot of us were already active in NGOs,
and felt they were already doing things.
ls that how to change society? That's another subject.
l think we can change society if we want to.
lt's just a question of joining forces.
To discuss things with people, with friends.
The problem is we are silent.
What about the pervading lethargy? No one's angry.
We're angry, but it's not enough.
No, l don't think we're angry.
We are, in a way.
We're indoctrinated into accepting our individual comfort.
Then we complain.
Where did the anger come from? We have no problems. We live well.
Working conditions might be worse than ever.
No. Come on. They have their TVs, their flats.
They didn't have that before. They don't suffer as much.
lt's insane. l've realized this after having read books
on the terrible conditions in the 1 9th century.
Here everyone's in costume
and we've recreated the houses and the street kids.
But think about today - what do you see?
More than a century later, we've sent people to the moon, etc.
But it's exactly the same thing.
Homelessness, precariousness, destitution.
Growing inequalities....
The rich getting richer.
All this under a left-wing government, or so they say,
- that's been in power for... - 1 4 years.
So, fine, we've got lnternet, the moon, space...
mobile phones, but...
The soup kitchens are also very good business.
500,000 meals a day.
Don't you find that the experience of this film showed us that...
incredible things happened between us?
- For sure. - Free speech!
Let's not think that we made a revolution!
No, but we experienced that human relations...
that's essential for me.
Do you realize the relations we have between us?
Yes. lt's fantastic.
That's where it starts. Human relations,
relating to a person sitting next to you all the time,
even when things change, as they often do.
To convey things...
to give and to receive all the time.
l had that feeling of giving and receiving.
Especially receiving, a lot and from everyone...
on all levels.
The participation of the cast in the making of this film
is precisely what the global media are afraid of,
and probably one of the main reasons why the TV channels
which were asked for support, refused to finance this film.
What the media are particularly afraid of,
is to see the man in the little rectangle
replaced by a multitude of people,
by the public....
Good evening.
lmportant news has just reached our teleprinters.
The Official Gazette informs us that a court-martial has been set up
to rule on cases of insubordination among the National Guard officers.
The Commune has also recently faced
a grave loss of manpower through desertion.
Let us wager that their unpopular measures will have a reverse effect.
Soldiers! A grave moment.
The Versailles troops are at our gates.
You marched bravely to Versailles.
You fought bravely at the barricades.
Brave but foolish!
What? l'd say courageous!
Soldiers!
A soldier may be brave, never foolish.
The enemy troops are sheep, but disciplined sheep.
Look at yourselves. Half-undressed, badly shaven, drunkards!
C. de Beaufort is an aristocrat.
He shares the political views of his cousin Edouard Moreau.
But his dandyism and position as Aide-de-camp arouse animosity.
After a few drinks, he makes threats against the 66th Battalion
which will cost him his life.
Who are you? Word has it you're something of an aristocrat.
Don't you know that the National Guard can't stand aristocrats?
Tell me, citizen captain, Count!
Life's not too hard on you, eh?
lf your mother wasn't born in the gutter, what would you say?
A useless bunch. Look at yourselves!
Filthy boots. Badly shaven.
Caps on crooked.
Disobey and l'll purge you all!
The Commune has admitted inefficiency by restructuring
its executive power.
Renouncing collaborative administration,
it proclaims a new, 9 member commission.
'' The ''''Executive High Commission''''''
is established to centralize all operations
'' and, l quote, ''''to charge into war''''.''
'' The newspaper ''''Le Temps'''' sums up the situation very well...''
l truly believe that change is possible in France.
To take for example education -
since its easier to be precise in this case -
it's a question of global culture,
how people are trained in life
to commit themselves through their actions.
Let's take participation in this film.
There are school children here.
When asked what they learn at school, what they remember,
whether they feel that history relates to their present life,
if this subject enables them
to understand the world today,
has the teaching of history changed,
as history itself has changed?
'' l found out that the answer is ''''no''''.''
lt's the same stuff we had 1 0 years ago.
There have been huge changes over the last 1 0 years.
There's an urgent and important need for awareness.
This film showed me the huge gap between reflection and action.
ln a barricade situation, for example, deeply involved
in a direct, strong,
chemical, physical struggle:
as soon as the camera comes up and we have to speak,
it's a very difficult relationship.
For reflection to connect with action.
Real change will come from this type of work.
'' Not through resignation based on the usual: ''''it's always the same,''
'' ''''it's hard to get on together'''', etc.''
No. Change will come from a search
for a stronger relationship
between action and ideas.
lf we don't want physical and violent struggle,
we need to go on fighting for our ideas
and for the means to... physically defend these ideas.
Have you had time to get yourselves organized in a more structured way?
But we don't want organization.
Events show what happens when power is centralized!
Enough of that system, state-run or not.
We'll find ways to organize differently, or not at all.
You're the only media around, the only authority
for those who can't read or write.
We're all at your mercy, depend on you, believe you.
We've had enough! We must do things our way, collectively.
We need houses, so we occupy one.
Stop all this hierarchy....
and power struggle.
What's it for?
To be under a dictatorship again?
Every rebellion is the same:
people set up a structure, a hierarchy:
it always ends the same. People have to change.
But you're not saying anything!
Yes l am! People must change.
People, fine. They, they! What are you going to do so they change?
l'd love to loot that pawn shop, distribute all the stuff.
We'll give Mme Thibaudier her mattress.
Let's go then!
l've got a message. lf any women need a babysitter,
l don't mind doing that while they're at work.
Me too... lf any elderly people need a hand,
shopping or laundry,
- they can ask me.
l've got a message for the bourgeois.
They're gonna have a headache, 'cos we're here to kill 'em.
One thing for sure, we're not going to starve.
Because now the granary gates are open for the taking.
People wait and say,
'' ''''Can you give me?'''' No, now we'll take.''
But if everyone did that?
But that's exactly what happens!
The bourgeois have always taken and never given. We'll do the same,
and then you'll see a change.
They must stop wanting to possess.
They must change their acts and thoughts.
Not to accumulate goods.
That's bourgeois thinking.
We want to destroy that. lt's over now!
- We loot for others! - lsn't that extreme?
lsn't their way extreme,
to have starved us for centuries?
How far are you prepared to go?
We're ready to die!
lt'll be the same. lt's hell here already!
We're not afraid to die, we prefer to go to heaven.
We have faith.
- What faith? - The faith of believing.
We shouldn't talk to you.
Your manipulation methods are those of National TV.
We don't need to prove our ideas to you.
Your role is a bit strange! Do you really broadcast
what we say, what you're filming? Will people see this film?
We try.
What'll you do with it? You can change our soundtrack.
Let's not exaggerate. Come to the cafe and see.
We show what you say.
National TV uses propaganda all the time.
They manipulate people very strongly.
And you see the kind of press that's around.
We're with you!
We can't trust anyone any longer!
Even the Commune. They get a mandate and then forget us.
They forget the people's demands.
How can we trust anyone, you or them?
We've got to do things on our own.
We're on our own, we'll act alone.
Not for ourselves - to share. That's what counts, sharing.
lt would be good if one could say
that the educational system
develops critical thinking towards the media...
But more and more film courses in schools and faculties
limit their training to Hollywood or publicity film-making.
This education reproduces
'' a consumerist and violent ''''popular culture''''.''
However, it's encouraging to see people increasingly aware
of the role played by the education system and media,
in support of economic globalization.
National TV Versailles. Laurent Duchamp Pothier.
Henri Gothie.
Well Henri, tonight we have a very special programme
on the women of the Commune. You're just back from Paris.
You're constantly at risk,
for we know what lies in store for many of our correspondents.
You have fresh details
on these Commune women we hear so much about.
What's it like in Paris?
Sheer madness. Women in all kinds of clothing:
knickers, pants, rifles, pitchforks. They attack, they shriek,
they climb whatever they can. They scream, sing, shout, harangue.
TV NATlONAL PRESENTS:
A special programme on the Communards
with quotes from our most famous and admired literary figures.
'' G. Sand: ''''We see all kinds of essays, fantasies,''
'' ''''pretences at social science,''
'' ''''deep down, there is only passion, dreams, appetites.''
'' ''''Ambition, ignorance, and vanity dominate all...''''''
'' M. Du Camp: ''''ln my view,''
'' ''''the women of the Commune are malicious and mad.''
'' ''''Women excel in acts of cruelty which they mistake for courage.''''''
'' E. Zola: ''''This rebellious spirit''
'' ''''which makes Paris such a revolutionary town,''
'' ''''is embodied in some women who become true harpies,''
'' ''''shrews spewing fire and flames.''''''
'' F. Sarcey: ''''ln this insanity, women show more ferocity than men;''
'' ''''it is because they possess a more developed nervous system;''
'' ''''for their brain is smaller, and sensitivity sharper...''''''
Well, all this goes to prove that,
as stated paradoxically by the socialist ideologue Proudhon:
'' ''''When women get to think, they become mad, hideous, or old hags.''''''
With this wise maxim, Henri Gothie,
ends our special programme.
We invite viewers to tune in again...
for more of your fresh stories.
With a touch more courage
than the reporters in Gucci camouflage suits
reporting from their Baghdad hotels on the 1 991 Gulf War,
H. Gothie now ventures into the 1 1 th District.
What's that you're reading?
'' The ''''Cri du Peuple''''. lt's out again.''
'' The ''''Cri du Peuple'''' is available?''
A good thing too. We need a newspaper
to cover Commune events. And to communicate with the provinces.
- You're a reporter? - Sort of.
- That's why... - l follow different events.
You know the women are getting organized in each District,
so they too can have a political voice.
We actually want to have our own newspaper.
Many new papers are coming out. l don't know how they'll operate.
But they need to be autonomous.
You have a printer?
You need a printer and paper.
That's something to work out with the Commune.
Women will reorganize the production.
But l thought...
We're part of the Commune. We'll reorganize the printing trade.
You mean men's or women's papers?
No, we must re-evaluate the social relations between men and women.
ln education, etc....
l think these forces must meet, but now we need to organize...
Lucienne, watch it!
l'm sure you're a Versailles TV reporter.
Spy!
What are you doing here?
You've got no business here!
With all the lies you tell about the Commune,
the people of Paris who are starving. You think this is fun?
You think it's a joke?
All the dead soldiers!
He ridiculed me!
Kill him. Don't let him continue!
Know any washerwomen? Ever wash your laundry?
Want to talk about our life here? Go on, listen to them.
Listen, l work for National TV, which informs the French people....
Liar! Shoot him!
Which informs the French people!
That's what you call what we saw on TV about the women?
Caricatures!
lt's difficult to discuss with you.
You piece of shit! We'll show you poverty.
You've seen nothing yet! This is just the beginning, l warn you.
Look at where l live. Here, with 5 people.
Two kids. We sleep 5 in the same bed.
Can you feel the smell?
Watch out, you'll get dirty. Feel the moisture on the walls?
l've been around here before!
During the siege, it was minus 25.
But l'm not a journalist l'm a caricaturist.
You caricature people, for sure.
But you caricature the bourgeois. You know how the media work...
Listen! Shut up!
During the siege, we were freezing here.
l have to work day and night for my children.
For what? They might even have to work,
though l didn't want that.
l have to queue for hours at the Town Hall for food stamps.
ls that fair? While you people stuff yourselves.
l can't take this life or this work any more.
We're all sick here. We're dying off!
And you in the meantime... Caricatures!
Speak about reality! Reality!
'' - Reality is stronger! - ''''Pere Duchene'''' caricatures too.''
- No, wait. - What do they do?
You're a journalist at Versailles TV.
Think they'll let you speak about this? About the Commune?
To speak about the people, their lives. 5 in each bed!
- You want to be on TV? - We couldn't care less!
ls that what you want?
According to recent information,
the Commune denounced the role of the Central Committee,
while the latter has suggested
that all decisions by the War Delegate be under its supervision.
The main question is, whowill obtain power?
The Commune is debating setting up a Committee of Public Safety.
The Executive Commission, set up on April 20,
is apparently not strong enough.
Due to the gravity of the situation,
Jules Miot has demanded radical measures.
Most of the debate centres on whether this new Committee
will have 5, 7, or 3 members.
ln desperation, General Cluseret has established
in each District, a military office
to pursue draft evaders.
An attempt to bridle the struggle for power
that splits the National Guard,
and to coordinate the municipalities,
the Central Committee and the Legions.
Given the spirit of sedition
animating this useless militia,
we can rest assured that this measure
will only stir up the rivalries.
Citizens! Fort lssy is in danger.
General Rossel has replaced General Cluseret as War Delegate.
l'd like to add that Cluseret was arrested on charges of treason...
1100 cannon are scattered throughout the city,
instead of at the ramparts.
Part of the problem
is the autonomous artillery battalions
which refuse to merge with the Central Committee.
ln short, Paris is a town paralyzed by endless committees.
To counter this, General Rossel
has promised to coordinate military command.
He aims to restructure the Guard, form independent regiments,
and merge the artillery into a single body.
The National Guard Central Committee
finds Rossel's reforms unacceptable.
And l quote Edouard Moreau:
'' ''''Today, 1 5 Districts were represented at a meeting''
'' ''''of the Central Committee, which voted''
'' ''''to abolish the War Office and leave the Committee alone''
'' ''''in charge of the war effort.''
'' ''''Given that the Commune is only''
'' ''''a 'communal administration', if this request is denied,''
'' ''''we, the men of March 1 8,''
'' ''''will act as revolutionaries''
'' ''''and regain control over our revolution.''''''
Hard to avoid conflict with such varying opinions!
Amidst growing chaos,
the Jacobite majority votes to create
a Committee of Public Safety to centralize power.
Citizens! We're in the Town Hall. This is a historic event.
The moment is very grave...
After much debating, the Commune set up a Committee of Public Safety.
This 5-member Committee will run the entire Commune
to deal with the crisis.
45 members voted for, 23 opposed this decision.
The Commune members discussed at length whether or not
to publish the minutes
of these divisive sessions.
Will we ever be allowed to see them?
Alright, cut!
What's the matter? You're at it again?
We've had no proper information for 3 weeks.
Giving negative information isn't your job.
ltisnegative information!
They spent all day wondering what to call it...
That's your opinion.
You know why? They thought it might scare people.
Committee of Public Safety! Of course it scares people!
That's Robespierre!
Let's start recording again,
maybe we can talk about what's going on now!
lt's not our job. What are you saying?
So? We'll give our opinion from now on and that's it.
Or l'm going home!
The next day, the reporter resigns,
stating that this Committee betrays Commune principles,
and that he can no longer act non-critically in his work.
The Versailles army shells Paris:
80 cannons fire on lssy, Vanves, Montrouge and le Point du Jour.
Thiers' own battery of 70 naval guns joins the assault.
The Grenelle and Passy Districts quickly become uninhabitable.
Good evening.
Every hour, the news from Paris
describes an increasingly chaotic situation.
Unable to govern itself,
the Commune has established a Committee of Public Safety.
A return to a dictatorship,
which could, as before,
deny the people the rights it was pretending to protect.
Furthermore and predictably,
General Cluseret has been arrested
and replaced by his private secretary,
Colonel Nathaniel Rossel.
This apparently very cold man deserted the regular army
to join the rebel camp, asserting - and l quote -
'' ''''his horror for a society''
'' ''''which has signed France's surrender in such a cowardly way.''''''
As Thiers is persistently negotiating
details of the Prussian peace treaty,
'' we believe that Colonel Rossel's ''''horror'''' is very badly aimed.''
This officer,
'' who knows nothing of the ''''socialist'''' system he has joined,''
clearly has no chance of succeeding in the chaos
currently affecting the National Guard Battalions.
lt is in the nature of the Commune to dump its villains.
But unpardonable for it to waste its talents!
Thank you so much, my friends, for this lovely time!
How nice of you!
And this delicious dinner!
With all the shortages, how did you manage?
We don't really have any problems.
Marie moans about costs, but everything is available.
Except milk. She was all over Paris and found none.
What about this cream?
Tinned, my dear. You should try it.
lt works very well.
- lt's an idea! - Why not?
l'm trying to live as normally as possible.
But deep down, l'm very worried these days.
l feel the situation is deteriorating rapidly.
The Committee of Public Safety
brings back sinister memories. Distant, but sinister nonetheless.
l'm surprised that no one else seems to worry about it.
What do you think, Mr. Veuillet?
The income from your business and rent must be quite disrupted?
My business is in a deplorable state.
Already, the first siege made a considerable dent
in my turnover.
With the Commune, it's a catastrophe.
lncomes have dropped drastically.
Some of my clientele have taken refuge in Versailles.
l'm waiting for this comedy to end as quickly as possible.
A sinister comedy.
Yes, really!
Grandfather's liqueur. There's some left.
An excellent occasion for it.
Thank you.
And you Mr...
l forgot your name, M. Renaud, forgive me!
Dear colleague, come now!
- How clumsy! - lt's the liqueur!
What worries me
is Thiers' statement to the Parisians.
You've read it as well but...
to me, it sounds like an incitement to civil war.
lf you listen to what he says:
'' ''''The Government wished that you might free yourselves independently''
'' ''''of the tyrants who scoff at your liberty and life.''
'' ''''Since you cannot, it becomes our task.''
'' ''''Therefore, we have assembled an army at your gates.''
'' ''''An army which comes not to conquer but to set you free.''
'' ''''lt prevails upon you to prevent the disasters linked to any assault.''
'' ''''You outnumber the Commune sectarians.''
'' ''''Regroup! Open the doors''
'' ''''that they have shut on law and order.''
'' ''''lf you don't act, the Government will be forced to take''
'' ''''the swiftest and surest means available to set you free.''''''
That is a bit worrying.
lt's quite menacing.
But he has to do something.
With these recent arrests of priests.
Mr. Veuillet, you're quite concerned.....
Very concerned indeed. Because l spend a lot of time with the nuns,
and l'm shattered by the Commune's latest measures.
May 7, the 1 1 th Sub-Committee
requisitions the St. -Ambroise Church,
transforming it into a revolutionary debating club.
Thousands of people gather there every evening.
The red flag is hoisted over the pediment.
We don't have time to film a club scene in the Church right now,
so if it's OK, we'll hold the club in the cafe today.
lf we were there, what would you tell me,
what would you say in the Church?
You have things to say, anyone can talk: express yourselves.
First, l'd like to correct you on one point.
We'll tellyounothing, because we've got nothing to say to you!
We're going to speak among ourselves.
About things we need to talk over.
We requisition the Church as it has the most space.
And symbolically, we're happy
things are said in there, where we've never been allowed to speak.
Where our heads were filled with ideas, so we would never speak.
So we'll tell you nothing!
Can clerics participate? Are they not people?
No priests in social affairs. Not their business!
- Yes, as plain citizens. - Like everybody else.
Then why isn't he in the National Guard?
lf he's of age, why isn't he on the barricades?
All citizens aged 1 8 to 40
must join the National Guard
and go to the barricades or the forts.
The Commune had no time to put things into practice.
lt had to cope with everything plus a war.
How to organize ourselves
and build a true democracy?
That's also a question of power.
This power gives you enormous responsibilities.
Power and duty must be shared.
Any human being can fall into a trap,
if left with too many responsibilities.
We can't. We're not built for that.
That's why we need direct democracy. Participation...
Everyone should find a place.
lf we're all here, there must be a reason.
l tried to find my place among all this.
l'm a bourgeois from the 1 1 th. l was against the Commune,
but l stayed to help my neighbourhood.
Then l realized it was everyone for themselves.
l was very disappointed.
They sent their own kids to the barricades.
lt's inhumane. Those children should have been protected.
That's not true, we did protect the kids.
But you didn't hesitate to send them to the barricades.
That depends. ln the beginning we tried to...
l realize that in the end, the Commune....
'' The ''''legal'''' government troops massacred children''
and people in hospitals.
The Commune people fought for their kids' future.
To change it!
lt doesn't mean sending your own son...
Mme Thibaudier didn't want her children on the barricades.
The kids did because they believed in it.
But in the end...
Don't tell me it's the question of kids that's bugging you.
What bugs you is that you're the doctor's wife.
Your friends owned a workshop...
The workers dare to take over workshops left by the owners...
Absolutely not.
...and can do the work they were doing in the first place, alone.
Absolutely not. l wanted to help.
'' lf l try to help, l'm told: ''''Bourgeois, sell your earrings''''.''
l can't carry the miseries of the world.
What would it change? l try my best...
Changes for the Commune? l'm impressed!
Why? You can oppose the Commune and still love thy neighbour.
The problem is she wants to help the poor, it's not revolutionary.
No insult intended: she's nice!
You continue being bourgeois and help the poor.
No revolution there!
ln May, the Women's Union starts to recruit,
to register working women in federations
and to establish cooperatives.
Did you hear about our Union in the 1 1 th?
Yes, we heard.
The Women's Union.
lt's time for us to unite!
We're already united at our workshop.
We've started, we share the work.
Now we'll do it for the whole District.
All women unite. We'll do things together.
We must organize. During the siege,
we saw that we weren't recognized politically.
We must have political recognition,
and a place in the Town Hall.
We request equal pay and shorter work days.
Have women organize their own workshops.
Take their children into account.
We work...
but we're hardly paid, even less than before.
We need workshops without bosses,
where women will reap the fruit of their work.
When bosses won't recruit anymore, we can pool our money.
The unemployed must go to the ambulances
to look after the wounded.
We tried!
Why are you here, Mother?
l told you l didn't want to see you here. lt's not for kids!
War isn't for children.
Charles! How often have l fed you? ls this how you thank me?
No. Listen to me, Celine, l don't want you here.
- You're coming with me. - No, l won't!
ln 1 0 days, Celine Thibaudier, 18, seriously wounded,
will be buried alive among corpses in a public garden.
Her younger brother's body will never be found.
What l've noticed is that
the Versailles Government had the will to destroy us
long before we took up arms.
And l feel that in 1 999, this will of destruction
reappears each time we try to move forward a bit,
to take a little bit of power, of freedom.
lf we seize those things,
we'll face guns and cannon in exactly the same way.
l don't know... They didn't take control of the bank.
Will we take control of the bank? Do something besides education,
fighting the Church, those crumbs they let us play with?
Are we going to tackle the real powers?
As l was saying, revolution
is the search for happiness. lt's simple, but to build...
A revolution...
destroys to build.
Because if you build on the old system...
We know history repeats itself.
Yes, destroy, but during the Commune
the history of France was destroyed.
They burned the archives, part of France's memory was destroyed.
Go to the archives today, you'll see,
that's what they tell you all the time. And it's true.
They say it. Doesn't make it true.
On the question of memory -
and l've noticed that whether in school or at university,
where l did a master's degree in history,
the Paris Commune is neglected. This has to be made quite clear.
So we must talk about what the Commune teaches us.
Yes, the Commune was a failure...
No. The Commune is not a failure!
Well OK, it's a revelation. When l heard about this film
l reread my Valles, my Louise Michel, my Lissagaray.
l finished these 3 books and thought: l understand Lenin!
'' He said: ''''This is no joke.''
'' ''''One guy runs the army: Trotsky. Everybody else shut up.''''''
He commands.
He was responsible for Kronstadt!
Yes, he did that but their revolution was successful.
Same story.
Thanks for the anarchists killed!
At a time like that, there are no hesitations,
you ban this, you do that. There's no question of foreign troops
managing to help the Czar.
We have to win...
'' Listen! ln ''''State and Revolution'''', Lenin talks only about the Commune.''
l say it's another story because
what impressed me is that the Commune
opens up many paths and reflections
on its failures. This one by Lenin.
For others, it's because the Sub-Committees
were disorganized.
Others might think it
a lack of audacity towards the banks.
Some think it's very simply
a lack of military daring, for delaying their attack.
The Commune was not a failure.
The Commune wanted the power to stay with the civilians.
To organize elections. lt was their fall and their glory.
lt wasn't a failure - many things were done in just 2 months.
Things that continued germinating long after the event.
And if we're still bickering like this about the Commune,
it proves it's not a failure.
We're not moving fast enough. We're wasting time chattering.
We pass decrees which we don't enforce.
On the level of education... it's useless.
We haven't managed to put anything into practice.
l'm facing enormous difficulties with state education.
We couldn't expel the religious staff in some Districts.
ln the 3rd it went very well. By April, the religious were replaced
by lay teachers. ln other areas the religious are still there.
We've barely started the new education programme.
We can't set up free education due to a lack of funds.
We can't recruit competent teachers, let alone pay them.
This creates big problems.
lt's true, we spend a lot of time talking,
instead of implementing our decrees.
And the budget...
What can one say?
Nothing!
Three quarters of the available funds goes to the army.
The remainder to supplies and administration,
which functions miraculously with so few civil servants.
We should talk about the worsening military situation.
This is more serious.
Because that's the situation.
About our finances - we'll probably manage,
thanks to efficient work and scrupulous savings.
But we must all watch out for wastage.
As Thiers' army advances,
Commune delegates assess their position.
Present are Eugene Protot, Edouard Vaillant, Eugene Varlin,
Augustin Avrial, Leo Frankel, Francis Jourde and Augustin Verdure.
Concerning the artillery, there's no shortage of cannon,
ammunition, even gunners. What's lacking is organization.
We always come back to this.
lnstead of endless discussions and quarrels,
the Commune should split into 2 groups.
One would stay here, and the other
would go and fight.
That's our role and our duty.
Enough discussion and waste! We must act!
You might recall how enthusiastic l was about a month ago.
Today l can't hide my despair.
Being so close to the cause of women,
l find,
we've done nothing for them...
even though they have such dire needs.
Sorry to come back to this again...
We're talking about organization, wasted time,
our failure towards women and education.
But l believe that it's due
to our lack of clarity regarding the central political question.
We can tackle social progress
with strong republican institutions, and a firmly established
power and administration.
lnstead we tried to handle everything in one go.
No. lt's a question of time. You can't say that!
We're assessing 40 days' work. We can't do everything!
So we need an executive power.
Yes. A strong executive power.
Right now we have an assembly of 85 members.
Everyone debates, no one obeys.
We're often fewer than 85.
True, and probably so much the better!
What are our priorities?
We can make long-term plans,
but if the Versaillais arrive, it's finished.
We've lost Fort lssy now!
So let's not forget the urgency of the military situation.
But wait a minute. l was the first to talk about priorities.
The National Guard, feeding the people, keeping alive trust, etc.
But we should not go against our own principles.
We've been chosen to organize a government,
a Commune, to be as democratic as possible.
Circumstances are difficult. We know that.
We did our best.
lf we don't succeed, it will serve as a lesson for others.
And l'm not at all in favour
of handing over power to a dictatorship,
just because the situation is extreme.
You prefer not to take the necessary means
to save a revolution
because of your principles?
What other solutions do we have? None.
People getting ruffled if it's called a Committee of Public Safety
is of no importance compared to what will happen to us
if we're not swift and efficient.
Citizens.
The fall of Fort lssy has caused considerable losses.
The bodies of the National Guard are piled high in the cellars.
Throughout Paris, people have read Rossel's statement:
'' ''''The tricolour hangs over abandoned Fort lssy.''''''
Citizen Rossel later declares:
'' ''''l'm incapable of carrying responsibility for command''
'' ''''when everyone debates and no one obeys.''''''
Delescluze is appointed War Delegate in his stead.
Today, he made the following speech to the National Guard:
The situation is grave, you are aware of this,
the horrible war waged by the feudal conspirators
together with the remains of the royalist regime
has already cost you much generous blood.
However, in lamenting these painful losses,
l consider the sublime future of our children,
and even if we do not reap what we have sown...
l will still salute with enthusiasm the revolution of March 1 8...
which brought to France and Europe
prospects none of us could have hoped for just 3 months ago.
Therefore, fall in, citizens, and stand firm facing the enemy.
Our ramparts are as strong as your arms and hearts,
you know that you are fighting
for your freedom and for social justice,
for this promise which has eluded you for so long.
lf your chests are exposed to Versailles bullets or shells,
the assured prize
is the emancipation of France and the world,
the security of your homes, and the lives of your wives and children.
'' l say ''''Bravo'''', because at least''
Delescluze makes everyone face his own responsibilities.
We're the Commune, we made it, we should defend it.
Citizen Delescluze belongs to the Committee of Public Safety...
so l don't know.....
he belongs to a centralized power at the same time.
lt's thesecond Committee of Public Safety,
so what's going on? We from the Sub-Committees support them
because they represent the people,
but it's something of a contradiction. This hierarchy,
with people who manipulate and centralize power
and give orders that sometimes get us,
our friends and brothers,
killed on the field because of tactical errors.
Who's really calling the tune here?
Us, the Committee of Public Safety,
the Sub-Committees? Who?
lt's up to us to regain power, it's our Commune!
Well, it's slipping away from us!
No. Everyone can take action.
We must stop delegating our authority and power.
We're active. We support the Commune,
but we must organize. Not each man for himself.
l agree, especially now.
We must re-focus our efforts. You support the Sub-Committee, l don't.
They always screw things up.
lt's very easy to criticize attempts
to reorganize the National Guard.
But the real problem is that the Central Committee and
the Sub-Committees always give counter-orders.
You mean the Sub-Committee members who come from our neighbourhood.
You don't recognize their authority?
l know them, we led the struggle together.
But now we're at war, shit! We've got to win this war.
But they were with us.
We must focus our energies... orders must be centralized.
l don't mind being a hero,
but it's all a bit obscure.
lt's totally obscure, there's no coherent strategy.
We never know what to do. This, that...
We'll develop a strategy
if organizations stop screwing things up.
Wouldn't it be easier to make decisions
in a state of urgency if things were centralized,
rather than orders and counter-orders
left, right, and centre: Public Safety, Sub-Committee, etc.?
That's renouncing the power the Commune gave you!
- We made March 1 8. - We must adapt.
We can't delegate, or quit.
The Commune has abandoned its power and rights
by electing a Committee. That's bad.
And the Sub-Committee was with us
when we took power.
Sorry, but the people up there, l've never seen them here myself.
The Sub-Committee led us to where we are today, a situation...
not only beyond us, but increasingly difficult on a military level.
What we are witnessing
is a free-for-all
regarding who's going to take power,
make decisions, send orders.
One person disagrees and sends a counter-order, and so on.
The mess isn't the lack of authority,
but too many authorities.
Gentlemen,
the criminal insurrection
which dared compound the agony of the foreign war
with an equally painful civil war,
and a particularly disastrous one,
had also caused problems in our foreign relations.
Thankfully,
recent negotiations
have removed all uncertainties.
A final peace treaty has been signed with Germany!
Africa,
which we are struggling to help,
will now be provided for.
Moreover,
l can say that the dangers threatening our colony
have been partly averted.
One of the dispatches,
all of which as Head of Government l have the right to see,
even when not personally addressed to me,
contains these words, written by a son to his father,
one of our most valued Generals:
'' ''''l'm fine. Superb 8 hour battle.''
'' ''''Al-Mokrani, head of the insurrection, killed stone dead.''''''
Thus, gentlemen,
the danger which threatened our beautiful African possession
has passed,
and will hopefully, in a few days,
have completely disappeared.
When the Commune is crushed,
100,000 soldiers leave for Algeria to suppress the Muslim revolt.
They carry out threats made by a General in the 1 847 campaign:
'' ''''l will enter your mountains; l will burn your villages and your crops;''
'' l will cut down your fruit trees...''''''
The resistance lasts until January 1 872,
when the French seize the last rebel bases
in the oases of Touggourt and Ourgala.
'' Yesterday our area looked like a real desert;''
it was surrounded by the National Guard arresting
all young or young-looking men.
lt was desolation everywhere.
l don't know why our street was spared,
since people were being arrested elsewhere.
Some streets had house searches.
The concierge said our turn would come on Monday.
Your father and Suzanne saw the dressmaker,
who told them she had had great difficulty
trying to save a young man of 20 in the Faubourg Saint-Germain.
The 5th and 6th Districts
are also being searched,
and the men of the 5th immediately drafted.
Since last night, the wind brings the sound of the cannon,
making us believe that the Army is in Paris.
But even though shells
reach the Boulevard Malsherbes,
the troops, whom we await so impatiently,
have not yet arrived.
The Proletarian Club has opened a debating venue
'' at the Sainte-Marguerite Church;''
it's the second Church requisitioned by the Commune
in the 1 1 th District.
A red flag hangs beneath the Church warden's pew,
with this inscription:
'' ''''lt is forbidden to touch this flag''
'' ''''on pain of death.''''''
Things are looking better now. The Commune has obtained,
or rather, imposed a contract for me.
l've had to lower my prices.
Still, l think l'll be able to do a bit more for my workers.
But will it be enough to satisfy them?
lt is hard for them.
How do you feel about what she said?
lt's true we have work. But it's much more difficult than before,
and with less pay.
Also, when you start getting old,
you worry about retirement.
What will l do?
You, Jeanne, last week you were out of work.
Yes, and l can't just always criticize.
lt's true l have a job. But the boss is paying us only half.
lf not, she says, the Commune wouldn't give her the contract.
Frankly, l'm not so sure.
lt's not fair. We work 1 2 hours a day for the war effort.
We're paid peanuts,
and when we get our money, usually we have to wait.
lt's completely absurd.
Our salaries were already low.
lt's all topsy-turvy. The Commune is in power.
And the boss says they're only paying half.
On May 4, following workers' complaints,
Frankel ordered an inquiry into the clothing trade.
lt showed that the Commune is signing cut-price contracts
with entrepreneurs who lower the price of salaries.
Mr Frankel, please!
Salaries have been cut considerably since the Commune.
Any comments?
ln support of the workers,
we've led an inquiry into this serious matter.
Since April 25, exploiters have been
fraudulently contracting with our supplies Office.
As l told the Commune:
'' ''''This vile haggling diminishes the Commune's dignity.''
'' ''''Let us not forget that the March 1 8 revolution''
'' ''''was won by the working class.''
'' ''''l fail to see the Commune's raison d'etre,''
'' ''''if we who advocate social justice,''
'' ''''do nothing for this class.''''''
What are you going to do now?
We passed a decree authorizing the review of fraudulent markets.
We'll do all we can to end these abuses,
which are beneath our revolution.
Despite war and division, the Commune pursues its social work.
Other decrees are passed in favour of the workers:
banning of fines and salary deductions,
access to objects pawned for less than 20 francs,
alimony for abandoned women with children...
Citizens please, we would like to speak.
So, the rats are leaving the ship!
'' ''''The members of the Commune Minority''
'' ''''had decided to read, at the regular May 1 5 meeting,''
'' ''''a declaration which could have removed''
'' ''''misunderstandings in the Assembly.''''''
We need unity!
'' ''''The meeting was cancelled''
'' ''''because most Majority members were absent.''
'' ''''lt is therefore our duty... please...''
'' ''''to present the public with our beliefs,''
'' ''''and to reveal the points separating us from the Majority.''''''
Your treachery!
'' ''''Through a special and specific vote,''
'' ''''the Paris Commune handed over its power to a dictatorship''
'' ''''called Public Safety.''''''
You're the dictators!
'' ''''By this vote, the Commune Majority has declared itself irresponsible''
'' ''''and handed over our obligations to this Committee.''''''
'' ''''The Minority''
'' ''''affirms to the contrary:''
'' ''''we owe it to the social and political revolutionary movement,''
'' ''''to accept all responsibilities''
'' ''''and abandon none.''''''
May 1 8. The Women's Union holds a meeting
to establish trade union federations for women.
They decide to meet again on May 21.
This meeting,
crucial for the future social development of women in France,
will never take place.
l want to talk about the film l'm doing with Peter on the Commune.
lt's quite a new way of working.
lt's a process, there's a beginning and an end.
lt's about the Commune, and we speak of revolution.
As actors in this film,
we all had to build our own democracy,
move forward in this process,
leave space for others, and find our own.
And l find there's a parallel with the Commune.
Because l think it's very difficult
to be democratic
when desires are so strong.
When people are driven by such strong expectations,
the crowd makes it very difficult to go deeply into things.
ln this film we were sometimes driven by this joy
which swept us away.
And sometimes disappointments brought us back down
to find our place again. l found all that fascinating.
l would like to add
that just before the camera started filming,
we voted on whether to have men with us here or not.
l voted against, as l believe we don't have the same concerns.
Even if some men do understand us, it's not the same.
And that's not being anti-men. Not at all. We like men!
But l think that when it doesn't affect you,
it's difficult to speak for others.
And it's time that women start speaking for themselves.
lt's time we stop being represented, and start being.
Men and women aren't the same.
But l think we're entitled to the same things:
respect and dignity.
lt would be nice to get to that point.
Here we are in 1 999,
and the Commune echoes,
because we're still at the same point.
We've traded privileges for the power of money.
Sure, there have been changes, women work now.
l think they're still being had,
because now they work outside, as well as in the home.
lt's still the old ladies taking care of the kids
and everything.
Of course, there are people who share,
but we can't say we've made it.
We're being taken even more, because we think we've got it made.
That makes it even worse.
Because we have a bit of comfort and semblance.
Before, it was clear.
They fought during the Commune because they were really crushed.
Whereas we got screwed by comfort.
We talked about the question of film
and TV production, etc.
What about the distribution of a work like this?
lt really bears a lot of hope.
lf our small group could do this, with modest resources,
it would be wise and important to explain this process.
lt asks relevant questions. To help us question ourselves.
lt's disturbing too. We also need to question everything,
including ourselves.
To find answers like: we must act, control our destiny!
We must move ourselves.
This experience is full of hope, and in that sense,
extremely positive.
We should distribute not only the film,
but also the life that took place around it.
USA's number 1 export industry
is not aeronautics, computers or cars,
but the entertainment industry:
films and TV programmes.
TV is now a global presence:
the number of TVs per citizen
has doubled from 1 980 to 1 995.
Since 1 976, Hollywood foreign profits
have risen from 30% to 50%.
ln 1 996, the US film industry
held 76% of the European market
and 83% of the Latin American one.
Foreign films in the USA
make up less than 3% of the market.
'' ''''l don't want my house to be completely surrounded by walls,''
'' ''''l don't want my windows to be sealed.''
'' ''''l want the cultures of every country''
'' ''''to enter my home as freely as possible.''
'' ''''But l refuse to be crushed by any one of them.''''''
Gandhi
Resistance is a form of violence.
Not the same violence as going to the barricades or being crippled,
but escaping the comfort we're used to
is quite a violent move.
How far are you prepared to go? lt still happens -
maybe not in France right now -
but there are violent street fights against police forces.
lt can happen.
Once you start thinking about it, where do you stop?
The illegal immigrants' cause made me react.
Talking about confrontations,
last month the security police evicted us violently
from the Vendome Square.
They didn't have helmets or shields, so they looked human.
But they were stronger and had orders to use force
to move us. Even if this is a democracy,
we weren't free to demonstrate, we had to be crushed.
So we were hit, pushed around,
beaten and suppressed.
But this forces us to react even more.
Like when you're cornered.
What surprises me, is that unlike some of you,
l feel l discovered something, something happened to me
to make me commit myself.
l wasn't born with this,
some things were important to me like respecting others,
hospitality, tolerance, openness, cultural diversity.
Trying to understand
why things are accepted or even valued in one society
and completely denigrated in another.
When you're bicultural, you ask yourself these things.
Then you apply it to people
of your own culture.
l saw that these principles of tolerance and openness
were not applied to people
of another culture, or rather of another class, the poor really.
The problem for French immigration isn't the foreigners,
but the poor in France.
l'm a foreigner, l lived in the 1 6th District.
No problems between Saudi Arabians, lranians and old French.
We got along fine.
The only differences were on the economic scale.
So when illegal aliens started saying,
'' ''''Enough, your society is killing us off'''',''
it forced me to take into account my own egotism,
of the luck l had,
which l really didn't want to waste.
l live in the rich part of the world, l've had an education.
Do l sit on it all, or stand gaping until l die?
Or will l make the effort to get out of my shell
and meet people who don't necessarily share my point of view.
Once again it's that question
of struggling alone to confront this famous barricade,
finding out one's limits and desires,
also maybe learning how to ask others for help
to overcome this famous barricade.
May 21, the Versailles troops enter Paris
through an unguarded gate.
Delescluze abandons all organized resistance
'' and calls for a ''''revolutionary war''''.''
He puts up posters throughout Paris:
'' ''''Citizens, enough militarism,''
'' ''''no more brass hats trimmed with braid!''
'' ''''Give way to the people,''
'' ''''to combatants with naked arms!''''''
At the Town Hall square,
the objects to be taken from the pawnshop
are chosen by drawing lots.
Until May 24, despite the proximity of the war,
crowds of Parisians go there
to profit from a decree
allowing them to withdraw objects
pawned for less than 20f.
Well children,
we won't have the history class
we planned for today.
You can hear what's going on outside.
And we'd like to know
if you're aware of what's going on.
Serious events are happening
outside this classroom.
What's happening?
Celine isn't with us anymore.
Do you know why she left?
Where is she?
Why?
Doesn't anyone know where Celine went?
Somebody know?
She went to fight.
On the barricades!
With her brothers, exactly.
Are they going to die?
People risk their lives.
Do you know why?
Because of the Versailles troops.
Why, what are they fighting against or for?
The Communards want equality,
the people in Versailles want inequality.
On May 22, Thiers' army starts murdering
'' prisoners in the ''''liberated'''' areas.''
During the next days,
thousands of Parisians, men, women, children,
are shot or bayoneted on the spot.
Thousands more are sent to summary military courts,
given arbitrary sentences,
and sent to the firing squad.
Troops invade Commune TV.
The broadcasts cease.
Gerard Bourlet decides to use his radio microphone
to cover events in the 1 1 th District.
What's going on here?
We're queuing for our stuff.
l can't hear!
We were told we could recover our things now.
She doesn't want to!
Why not return their stuff, a decree has been passed.
lt's been passed,
but only for items pawned from end of October to beginning of November.
Forget the decree. l need my mattress, my things.
The stuff's been here a year, and we can't get it.
Citizen Jourde,
Joachim, what's happening here?
What's the situation?
Ask Jourde why he didn't scrap the pawnshop.
Ask him!
- We can't scrap it. - Why?
lt's necessary! lt replaces the moneylenders.
We can at least return the people's stuff,
for the barricades!
They will get their things.
l'm sorry, 800,000 items must be returned.
There are 3 offices, 3 shops.
We can't return more than 4,000 a day.
We need a method.
Will the pawnshops be shut?
We'll replace them one day.
Now the priority is to defend and supply Paris.
We don't yet have one institution
to replace the pawnshop, to avoid usury,
transfer profits to state care, to hospitals,
to pay for popular savings.
Let me finish. lt's important to say
that the money from the pawnshops
allows working people to be reimbursed
at least to save small amounts towards future difficulties.
Poverty feeding poverty!
And the Bank of France?
lt's got nothing to do...
Future seems difficult right now!
- The Bank of France? - Why not money from there?
There's almost nothing there.
They evacuated the money during the siege. Sorry.
Not for the few millions there
should the Commune risk a slump in the currency rate
and in our national economy.
Marion, an example of inequality vs. equality.
Rich people are allowed to do things that the poor can't.
- Do you think that's fair? - No.
No, it's not fair.
Will you give us an example?
They have many privileges?
Yes, can you or someone else
give me an example of these privileges?
The rich don't pay taxes but the poor do.
Do you know who pays for this school?
The state.
Yes, the state.
Do you know why
we're here today?
To learn to read and write.
And to learn about what's happening!
Any changes in this school
since we've arrived?
There's more...
Go on.
Before, we learned to be good housewives and all that.
Now we learn...
'' more important things. Also you tell us what's going on;''
before we didn't know what all the noise was about.
What's happening here?
They're breaking and burning everything. What'll we do now?
Who's breaking everything? Who?
The Communards. They'll screw up the whole economy.
They're barricading. The Versaillais are coming!
But they're burning everything. Then what'll we do?
What'll you do when the enemy's here, and no one's left?
Nothing. The same thing happened in '48 and for what?
Only misery and destitution.
We're fed up with all these Communards. Really!
That's what you really think? Really?!
Absolutely, because they're breaking everything anyway...
We've filmed in your cafe,
people drank, spent money, and now you've had enough!
Now you've had enough!!
We don't want trouble,
and that's what's happening now!
We're going...to fight.
l'd rather fight
than wait for their soldiers to come and kill us.
- They won't spare the school. - For sure!
They'll come here.
They'll come and hurt us.
Even if we're weaker, we can manage if there are many of us.
lf one very strong person and thousands of kids fight,
it's the children who'll win.
You shouldn't try to stop us
from going to the barricades!
The first large-scale massacres.
The wounded of the St. -Sulpice Hospital
are brutally killed by the regular army
under General Lacretelle.
Dwellers in a slum
are murdered by General Bocher's brigade....
The French educational system
- which denied us any financial help -
maintains silence on these and other Commune events.
This film is dedicated to French filmmakers
who were prevented from completing films
on this subject.
Do you know what's happening in Paris?
l was at the barricades in 1 944 at the Liberation.
l'm ready to go again for my children's freedom.
What are you doing?
We're building barricades, it's really urgent!
Would you have gone to the barricades in 1 871?
Absolutely. We had real power all together.
The people could have won this Commune.
We should have done everything to win it.
ls there a way out of this situation?
Of course. We will fight and go on fighting.
We'll win, that's why we're here.
Would you have gone?
Yes. And today
we must go on fighting. They've established a world...
Why fight?
...of goods and capital, and we're fed up with that.
We can't stand it anymore.
- And you? - No, l wouldn't have.
l wouldn't go today either. lt's always the same:
a nice idea of freedom, used for one's own ends.
Here, fighting between a Central Committee and Commune.
Today, it's the same...
That's not important. The thing is to fight to stay free.
Free to choose our future, to do as we want, to act.
But it's not possible...
Why not?
Systems manipulate us - we just carry out orders, become products.
Automated products, never waking to revolt.
l don't know. Today it's easy to say yes or no.
lt's a war of the poor who have a luxury - utopia!
Utopia's a reality no one wants to see.
History will tell!
Rebels have knowledge.
l can't hear!
We can die, as long as we can express ideas.
Being here means we used our brains. Even if we must die.
l might not have gone then, but what counts is expressing ideas.
Today the revolution is economic.
We tried to revolt against God. We failed.
lt's not economic, the Versaillais are right here!
The only way is to die.
At least we struggled.
How can you fight on an economic basis?
- Burn down supermarkets. - You would do that?
Yes.
Same ideas, other methods. To get out of this shit.
There's nothing to lose.
People are ready to die when they have nothing.
lt's freedom or death.
'' ''''Only force will guarantee freedom'''', Blanqui said that.''
What doyouthink? Not Blanqui!
l don't know.
l'm a literary person, a romantic. l don't know what l'd do now.
Power has changed. lt's across the Atlantic, it's economic now.
lt's a different fight. A cultural and economic one.
Money is power now.
They judge people on what they earn, not who they are.
lt's money, full stop. lt wasn't like that before.
You're wrong, forceneverguaranteed freedom.
lt never guaranteed freedom, on the contrary.
Today...
lt's fight Versailles or die, what's your choice?
Like the resistance against the Germans.
Whose side are you on?
Everyone can resist in their own way, every day.
Revolt is still possible. ln spite of economy and all that.
lf we listen to each other.
lf we leave space for others.
That would change a lot.
History is violence, all the time.
The last barricades were in 1 968.
Just over 30 years ago.
You're comparing these 30,000 deaths and '68?
ln a way. '68 should have gone farther.
lf people had died in '68,
there would have been a stronger power shift,
more benefits with an all-out struggle.
You talk about 30,000 dead in 1 871,
what about those who die today despite all this wealth?
We've as much cause for revolt.
But we fell asleep at some point.
What's going on?
Over there? Seems some of them are more than ready to fight.
They're singing!
- They're blind to death. - Let's go!
What's happening here?
We're at the barricades, to stomp on the Versaillais,
we're here and we're going to go all the way, to death. There!
We're going to fight. Move your ass!
- We've got work! - Join us, take a gun. Come fight!
For freedom.
Versailles is finished. Thiers is dead!
Enough of this rotten life. Enough!
We don't even earn enough to eat.
lt's crazy!
We must fight!
You'd do the same thing?
Yes. l prefer to fight.
l'd rather fight.
This is no way to live.
Let's fight!
Boot out the bums!
What do you think?
l don't know! l'm afraid of the barricades.
We've got nothing to lose!
Given the latest tragic developments, TVN's editorial board
has decided to devote a special programme
on the events in Paris.
l've asked our political editor, Mr Francois Foucart,
to speak about the terrible massacres
in the Commune prisons.
lt seems, my dear Francois,
that the hostages rotting in the Commune gaols
have all been executed. The news came this morning.
Yes. A series of insane,
irreparable and awful crimes have just been committed.
And the Commune will have to bear witness to History.
lt has now been confirmed
that the Archbishop of Paris, Mgr. Darboy, has been shot.
Executed, assassinated in a cowardly way.
Abbot Deguerry from the Madeleine,
court magistrate President Bonjean,
and other priests.
All shot in the most cowardly way at the Roquette Prison.
The rapid advance of the Versaillais,
their bloodthirsty behaviour,
set the Communards against the hostages.
May 26, Colonel Gois,
escorted by National Guard and rebels,
executes 51 hostages in Haxo Street.
Eugene Varlin tries in vain to stop them.
The 66th National Guard Battalion,
based in Popincourt,
defends the Madeleine barricade
next to Mme Talbot's flat.
lt is decimated by the advancing army.
Survivors flee towards Popincourt...
where they meet Charles de Beaufort.
We're still in the 1 1 th District.
People have seized Beaufort.
l don't know what he's done.
The men now distrust their officers.
There's the coward!
You and your gold decorations!
Happy that the army got us at the Madeleine?!
And you'll finish off the job, you scum?!
Not enough medals?
He must be eliminated!
That's him, l recognize him! He's a traitor!
Shoot him! Bloody murderer!
- You play Marguerite Lachaise. - Yes.
You know what happened to him?
Well, yes...
That he was killed?
He was killed a bit later.
A court-martial had acquitted him....
How do you feel about it?
You were inciting the crowd just now.
Well, l think this character, Marguerite Lachaise...
l meanyou!
Personally, l'm against summary execution.
People should have the right
to defend and explain themselves.
He wasn't a traitor, but unfortunately
he was still killed.
And Marguerite Lachaise said that
since he had been acquitted, killing him would be murder.
Before that, she thought he was a traitor,
because he had insulted the National Guard,
was an aristocrat, etc.
lt was a terrible situation,
the community in danger...
Anger was building in her and all around.
There had to be a scapegoat, a release.
There were others on the Commune side.
More or less 1 00 murdered.
But though the Commune murdered 1 00,
the other side massacred nearly 30,000.
Where does violence come from?
Where does it lead?
What to do when people are angry?
How can you stop this anger and violence?
Today, violence is everywhere.
Economic violence. Countries, or continents like Africa
going to the dogs, sacrificed in the name of global economy.
All the impoverished in our own country.
The unemployed, some of whom are here.
The homeless.
And the illegal aliens
we want to send off.
lt's a catastrophe.
And increasingly more socially destitute.
Those who live in inhuman housing estates,
who can only respond to this violence
by their own physical violence,
and theft. And it keeps growing.
How will it end? What can we do?
The Versailles troops are advancing!
They've already reached the Bastille!
We were going to have biology, but...
Come on! We must protect ourselves!
We have to block the doors.
We must do something!
We can't go on with class.
Let's go to the barricades.
We can't allow that.
But remember what we said 2 days ago?
- We can block the doors. - With tables!
We can do that.
Why not the barricades?
Stop praying, Frederique!
lf God exists, why a war like this?
Stop it, it won't help.
When my father died, l inherited his faith. So l pray.
Faith...what for?
'' During the ''''Bloody Week'''',''
Mr and Mme Talbot flee their 1 1 th District flat
to take refuge with their daughter,
not far from the Luxembourg Gardens...
Before her departure,
Mme Talbot writes
describing the arrival of the Government forces:
We cried, we applauded, we assured them
that there were no traitors.
This great joy
was disturbed by gunshots
up the street, near the Boulevard.
But what despair
and horror,
when we saw regular army soldiers
bringing back a Battalion officer
who had spent two days among us,
to shoot him.
l'm recording. What's going on?
Strengthening the barricades. lt's win or die.
What did you say?
Save the Commune, shoot all draft evaders and cowards!
lt's our duty to save the Republic.
Stop asking questions! We need help.
- Build the barricades! - What's happening?
l'm showing them how to use a rifle...
l'm...we're defending the barricade.
Would you do the same today?
Sure, with people like that
who've treated us like dogs for centuries.
We must react.
There's no choice. But we'll go all the way...
Today, what would you do?
To defend ourselves? The same!
ls there room for utopia today?
Not utopia, reality.
Here at the workshop, we're still mending guns.
Many workers at the barricades?
All the working class support the National Guard.
Their struggle is our struggle.
Citizen Verdure! A Commune delegate fighting?
Defending the1 1 th. God!
We've had over 700 killed at the Pantheon.
l don't see the other elected members!
We need to fight ignorance,
...including orders like
slaughtering in the hospitals.
Where are the others?
We don't know! There are about 1 0 of us here
trying to regroup, gather news.
Come on, they could be here anytime.
Freedom or death!
What areyoudoing here?
- Anyone from the Town Hall? - Us, why?
Some people say you...
Couldn't find a gun?
People say you're to blame for this situation.
You'd rather a General who'd bring back the Empire?
No, maybe l prefer...
We saved the Republic, organized the people,
helped them speak up, and learn.
You withheld weapons?
We found weapons where we could.
We requisitioned weapons. We tried,
but also had orders and counter-orders.
Sure, we had our problems.
But we believe in our ideals.
Where were the other cannon hidden?
Never in the 1 1 th.
On the Buttes Chaumont. We weren't in charge.
The problem today is global.
lt's economic. We must strengthen the rights of countries
that are oppressed by capitalist ones.
Today the problem goes beyond a simple barricade.
People are oppressed in capitalist nations as well.
'' Oppression for poor nations;''
and for the poor in rich ones.
Shit, we're human beings!
lt's always the morals of the bourgeoisie.
They destroyed the workers' fighting spirit.
l hate war. But l hate our enemy even more.
They despise us, have no mercy, so neither do we.
lf there are any barricades in Paris in the year 2000,
l'll be there fighting.
We're defending ourselves. They're not far.
We must resist to the death.
What would you do in such a situation?
The same thing.
l'd take up arms.
But today it's up to each person to be his own barricade.
What about what's going on now?
Now when? Today?
lt's the same. Not the same form but the same alienation.
l'm ready to defend what l believe in, no matter what.
And it's not to set people against each other,
or to enrich the industrialists and the stock market.
The minorities aren't responsible for today's war.
lt's the big capitalist industry.
What would you do today?
l don't know if this kind of barricade would help to fight
economic globalization. l'm not sure.
What then?
l'm scared now.
l don't know where my enemies are.
l can't see them.
We don't know
who they are, they're all over.
We can no longer build barricades like this.
We have to fight the media.
We have to use the same weapons: computers, lnternet, TV.
lt's about fucking time!
Not to fight means dying inside.
We bring the Commune with us to the barricades.
lt's our choice and our freedom.
Thanks to the struggle.
That's all l wanted to say.
Think you'll survive this?
l don't know but...l have faith.
l couldn't fight if l didn't.
Heard about what's happening in Paris?
What's happening to the wounded Communards?
Yes, but l'm free to fight.
By doing that,
l can escape manipulation. lt's the first time.
The biggest pain in the ass,
is that you're still here recording,
watching everything but not giving a fuck.
Whether it's a film or reality, you just stand there.
And l'd like to kill that!
You think l don't give a fuck?
Often you don't, otherwise you'd be with us.
You hide behind your TV and watch us die off.
TV is slavery.
ln our country,
the entire media... is in the hands of 4 groups,
whether it's radio, press, or TV.
lsn't that censorship?
You have to join us! Drop your microphone.
Fight with us for utopias.
There are still some left to defend.
Give your microphone to everyone.
We're fed up with corruption at the expense of the poor,
the nightly charity collections on TV.
The Commune Council abandons
the central Town Hall after setting fire to it,
and retreats to the 1 1 th District Town Hall,
where the walls are covered in blood.
Use those in front there!
We should stack them up like this...
We can get out through the window.
Don't waste ammunition!
l wrote my mother 8 days ago.
l said Paris was heroic, never saw such devotion.
History will tell
that Paris was fundamental in the struggle for freedom.
We'll be skinned alive. They'll drag our corpses through the mud.
They'll kill prisoners, wounded.
Survivors will die in penal colonies.
History will see the truth, and say:
they saved the Republic!
The Commune holds its last session on May 25.
At 7 p.m., on the Boulevard Voltaire,
Delescluze, wearing hat and frock coat,
red sash around his waist,
climbs a barricade - and is shot down.
The Versailles army advance
towards the remaining bastions of resistance.
All the children of Paris are here.
lt's monstrous!
Stinking reds!
You lot, with me!
Come out of your holes!
Long live the Commune!
Shut your mouths!
We'll never be quiet! Never!
Gentlemen!
Until now,
each time l came to you with news,
l could only say we were nearing our goal.
And l was speaking the truth.
Today,
l can tell you much more:
we have reached our goal!
Come on you bitch!
Whore!
Eyes down!
- Name? - Clementine.
Name?
Boidard.
- What did you do? - Public school, and l'm proud!
Long live the Commune, you sod!
Gentlemen, we'll have order here.
Name?
l can't hear what she's saying.
The Commune!
l'm the Commune you want to kill.
Estelle Thaler.
There!
- What did you do for the Commune? - Everything!
- l'll die for the Commune. - Vermin!
Vermin yourself!
Ah, here's a likely lad!
Your role in the Commune? Your name?
The cause of justice,
order,
humanity
and civilization has triumphed,
thanks to our dutiful and brave army!
Thanks to you, too!
General-in-Chief,
corps and divisional commanders,
officers of all ranks,
and above all soldiers -
each one has done his duty, fully.
You must be informed...
that this victory was difficult,
very difficult.
'' ''''Nigger'''', the Algerian Spahi''
fighting alongside General Eudes,
joins the National Guard Battalions
defending the Palais de la Legion d'Honneur.
On May 24,
he is arrested by a Versailles patrol, and immediately shot.
100,000 men have been working
with France's highest ranking generals.
Our brave soldiers have earned the highest esteem,
and the strongest admiration from abroad.
You won't win!
You won't win...
But after victory,
we must punish!
We must punish legally,
but unrelentingly.
All week long, we've had extremely confused rumours
concerning the repression
of the insurrection by our troops.
Our control room has just received
some spectacular and ghastly footage.
l feel it is my duty to show it to the viewers.
Scenes showing certain streets in Belleville littered with corpses
and flowing with blood.
l suggest we see this together.
l'd rather not!
l think it preferable not to show pictures
pandering to the basest instincts of the viewer.
lt's a disgusting form of voyeurism.
Here's one!
l did nothing!
Come on, get out!
Kill them! Kill them!
Down with the Commune!
Crush them!
Shoot them! Kill them!
Throughout Europe,
the spectre of the Commune justifies a repressive policy
towards social movements,
not only by Bismarck and the monarchies
but also by conservative republics,
existing and to come.
Terrible things
are happening in Paris. And we don't have
the moral right to flatter our lowest instincts.
l'm afraid that in the future,
things will go from bad to worse,
and that whatever form it will take, the media
will be a spineless affair,
seeking to sell its merchandise
by appealing to the lowest instincts.
Mirroring the anti-Commune sentiment in the USA,
the New York Times writes:
'' ''''Let Versailles turn Paris into a mass of ruins,''
'' ''''let the streets become rivers of blood,''
'' ''''let all the population perish,''
'' ''''so long as the Government maintains control''
'' ''''and demonstrates its power...''
'' ''''May they crush all signs of resistance,''
'' ''''whatever the cost,''
'' ''''so as to give Paris and France''
'' ''''a lesson they will remember and enjoy''
'' ''''for centuries to come.''''''
l only show these scenes to underline
that this blood bath
might seriously compromise the new regime's future.
What do you think?
Will Mr Thiers be strengthened by this ordeal?
l'm convinced of it.
You know my feelings. l've always been a Bonapartist
and supported the Empire.
But as things are today,
despite the royalist majority at the Assembly,
l'm convinced that Thiers
will play his game well.
He'll propose a Republic of law and order.
l would like this to be
a serene Republic, firm but generous.
l want to forget all this.
lt's absolutely awful...
l will never forget this day.
l'm completely...
lost.
We're living in...
a truly horrible world.
l didn't think Thiers was behind this massacre,
and l still don't.
ln the film, l played
an upper middle class bourgeois,
a Versailles supporter by ideology.
Who of course thought
that all those responsible for a civil war are criminals.
And that contempt for institutions,
in the way the Communards, for example,
rejected elections in the end, etc.,
is something very serious.
Therefore,
l had to adopt an extremely radical position in the film.
l think that what happened in 1 871,
and what's happening now
is rather the same thing
in that there is an urgency for a new social contract.
And that today, as in 1 871,
we think that the role of economy,
the dominance of the market, has a price, a cost.
And that it's even normal that there be people
who pay for this cost.
Whereas l think that, as at the time of the Commune,
what people want and wanted,
isdignityandequity.
That's what l had to say.
'' ''''Bloody Week'''' lasted 5 days.''
During 5 days we witnessed human butchery.
ln the film l was asked to give substance,
to give flesh to a character who'd be hostile to the Commune.
So, l did that, l cried out
that they must all be killed.
But it's thanks to the Commune
that we moved forward on all ideas of democracy,
on the refinement of democracy in a practical sense,
of struggle against social inequalities, against exclusion.
Today we still have outcasts, and many social inequalities.
But at least we know what it is,
what the words mean.
And l'm convinced that this is thanks to the Communards.
What the army did is scandalous,
the graves at Saint-Jacques where they buried people alive.
l find Vavre's atrocities
at the court-martial in Chatelet unacceptable.
General Gallifet's cruelty towards the prisoners,
and Lacretelle's massacre of the wounded
at the Saint-Sulpice Hospital.
l'm ashamed of the army, l'm ashamed for my brothers.
We killed Communards.
lt's quite natural. They're shit!
They think they're French. But they're nothing really.
They want anarchy. Dough. They want it all.
l killed...without remorse.
France needs to become strong again.
To regain its army,
its officers, its values.
This was the beginning, l hope it will continue.
l regret nothing.
lt had to be done.
We killed women and children.
l didn't think we French
'' could fall so low in order to build a ''''mighty'''' France.''
As a soldier, l don't regret what we did.
But l couldn't do it again.
lt really wasn't a nice thing to see.
No, never again.
l have something to say.
Once more, the army has gone overboard.
lt went too far.
l'm very disappointed because
even if the army is a tool for repression and conquest,
l always thought that it should also...
serve as an example.
We should all behave as righteous, honest people,
here to do a job, and to do it as well as possible.
That's not what happened.
We witnessed scenes of very personal sadism.
lt's very worrying.
ln the end,
those who were the most brutal in these past days,
were those hoping for the marshal's baton.
l feel strong compassion for people from both sides
and for man in general. This recent example proves again
that man is capable of the worst extremes,
of tearing another to pieces, at the same time,
he can drink a glass of wine with his enemy,
and be best friends -
just give him a friendly tavern and a nice sunny day.
That hurts me a lot.
Fire!
Reload!
Take aim!
Murderers!
They can't always hide what they did.
They can't always lie.
The Algerian rebels will be interned with the Communards,
and accompany them from one prison to another:
Oleron lsland and Re lsland citadels,
castle-prison at Thouars,
prisons in Belle-lle, Avignon, Saint-Brieuc and Calvi.
Those sentenced to hard labour
end their journey with the Communards,
in New Caledonia.
Unlike the Communards who are liberated by 1 880,
amnesty for the Algerians will only be passed in 1 895
24 years after the uprising.
Very few of them will ever see their native land again.
Let us love each other
To share a drink
Whether the cannon is silent or roaring
Let us drink! Let us drink!
To universal independence!
'' ''''Bloody Week'''' was enforced by France's highest ranking generals.''
The worst atrocities were carried out at the order
of General Courtot de Cissey, Second Army Corps Commander
and General Felix Vinoy, Reserve Army Commander.
4th Army Corps General Felix Douay
'' let a colonel of the ''''loyal'''' Guard,''
run the Chatelet Theatre Court-Martial.
The latter alone will be responsible
for the death of thousands of people,
who will be shot in the Luxembourg Gardens.
Courts-martial were established
at the Gare du Nord, the Luxembourg Palace,
the Military Academy,
and the Roquette Prison.
Executions took place in the chic Parc Monceau,
the Tuileries terrace,
in the Lobau barracks, and other killing fields in Paris.
Using a brand new machine gun,
the French army will execute
20,000 to 30,000 men, women, and children,
many of whom had no connection with the Commune, in record time.
Varlin is dragged through Paris.
'' ''''Under a hail of blows,''
'' ''''his young face, full of fraternal thoughts,''
'' ''''became minced flesh, the eye hanging out of its socket...''
'' ''''He was sat down to be shot.''
'' ''''Soldiers defiled his corpse with the butts of their rifles...''''''
Summary executions were followed
by a huge roundup in the proletarian areas.
The official registers note 43,522 arrests.
The military tribunals pass 5,000 deportation sentences
and 95 death penalties.
6,000 Communards choose exile.
This film was made with the participation
of more than 200 citizens
from Paris and its suburbs,
from Picardy, Nord-Pas-de-Calais,
Limousin, Burgundy,
'' and a group of ''''illegal aliens'''' from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.''
The working process of this film included
group discussions and personal research,
with the cast able to develop their characters
according to their own experience and motivations.
What they say is largely based on
their personal beliefs and feelings.
Subtitles by Patrick Watkins
Processed by C.M.C. - Paris