La Marseillaise

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La Marseillaise ★★★½ 1937

Sweeping epic by Renoir made before he hit his stride with “Grand Illusion.” It details the events of the French Revolution in the summer of 1789 using a cast of thousands. The opulent lifestyle of the French nobility is starkly contrasted with the peasant lifestyle of poverty and despair. The focus is on two new recruits who have joined the Marseilles division of the revolutionary army as they begin their long march to Paris, the heart of France. As they travel, they adopt a stirring and passionate song that embodies the spirit and ideals of the revolution known as “La Marseillaise,” now France's national anthem. In French with English subtitles. 130m/B VHS . FR Pierre Renoir, Lisa (Lise) Delamare, Louis Jouvet, Aime Clariond, Andrex Andrisson, Paul Dullac; D: Jean Renoir; W: Jean Renoir; C: Jean (Yves, Georges) Bourgoin.

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