As a tangental nod to the emergence of the Occupy protests and their spontaneous democratic structures, here's Peter Watkins' epic (5 hour) docudrama, popular education ensemble theater, and anachronistic media critique, La Commune, Paris 1871. The worker cooperatives begin to organize late in hour 3, though of course the excerpt is more meaningful if you've been following the tale for a while.
Here 's a taste, where "CommuneTV" interviews Parisians behind the barricades to find out what their demands are.
"La Commune is the name given to the French revolutionary government established by the people of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). On March 17 and 18, Parisians led an uprising against the national government, which fled the capital and re-established itself in Versailles. The radicals established a proletarian government in Paris, called the Central Committee of the National Guard, and set March 26 as the date for the election of a municipal council. This council became known as the Commune of 1871, and its members as Communards. Most Communards were followers of Louis Auguste Blanqui, a revolutionary held prisoner in Versailles by the head of the National Assembly, Adolphe Thiers. Other Communards supported the school of socialism expounded by the French philosopher Pierre Joseph Proudhon and members of the International Workingmen's Association, of which Karl Marx was then a corresponding secretary.
For the film LA COMMUNE we travel back in time to 1871. A journalist for Versailles Television broadcasts a soothing and official view of events while a Commune television is set up to provide the perspectives of the Paris rebels. On a stage-like set, more than 200 actors interpret characters of the Commune, especially the Popincourt neighborhood in the XIth arrondissement. They voice their own thoughts and feelings concerning the social and political reforms. The telling of this story rests primarily on depicting the people of the Commune, and those who suppressed them.
Deliberately, this film is an attempt to challenge existing notions of documentary film, as well as the notions of 'neutrality' and 'objectivity' so beloved by the mass media today. The film is not intended as an apologia on behalf of the Paris Commune. But at the same time, it attempts to show that the Paris Commune, for all its human frailty, its internal conflicts and its blundering, was an event of major importance, not least because of the way in which its leading reformers tried to work with social process, by a direct involvement with the community and its needs."
Disc #1 -- La Commune
1. Opening Titles [1:22]
2. Presentation [8:49]
3. After the Siege of Paris [5:26]
4. The National Guard [10:22]
5. Defending the Cannons [12:56]
6. The "Communal" Television [13:16]
7. The Priest's Sermon [8:46]
8. A Secular School [12:12]
9. March 28th, 1871/La Marseillaise [10:06]
10. Thiers' Army [3:57]
11. Secret Deliberations [5:30]
12. Seperation of Church and State [7:07]
13. First Attacks on the Versailles Army [11:58]
14. The Cruelty of the Versailles Army [9:28]
15. The Women Want to Organize [12:05]
16. The Strategy of Thiers' Army [9:34]
17. April 11, 1871/The Communal Danger [8:51]
Disc #2 -- La Commune
1. Opening Titles [1:31]
2. The Women Want to Get Involved [8:43]
3. Creation of the Cooperatives [11:50]
4. The Women's Union [14:54]
5. Today and the Commune [7:23]
6. The Undocumented Workers [10:23]
7. People Must Change [7:35]
8. The Reporter of TV Versailles [4:48]
9. The Public Safety Committee [16:42]
10. The First Statement [9:43]
11. The Situation is Serious [12:55]
12. Frankel and Wages [12:14]
13. May 21st: The Bloody Week [9:09]
14. The Barricades [6:18]
15. The Violence [7:37]
16. The Commune and "Our Barricades" [10:05]
17. The Repression: 30,000 Deaths [8:49]
18. The Shame [20:39]
Disc #3 -- The Universal Clock
1. Going Against the System [7:31]
2. Standing up for Your Vision [9:20]
3. The Universal Clock [5:41]
4. Social Policy [6:47]
5. Meaning of Commitment [11:42]
6. Bleeding Eyes [7:12]
7. Good Will Towards Others [8:33]
8. Grand Utopia [10:10]
9. Repression of Cinema [7:11]
10. Credits [2:10]
Comments
The play is indeed very interesting. There is nothing to be ashamed of with this play, it is one of a kind. - O2 Media