Danton Page #6

to be such, l admit to them...

ln fact l proclaim them

l admit to them, but only them

Another of my faults is being

popular and strong...

...when only anonymity and pettiness

can guarantee a long life

lf you wish to survive,

do not be loved

That's one of our newly invented

laws

One of those laws that is all the more

powerful for being unwritten

Woe to the strong who are

loved by the people

Long live the mediocre,

the taciturn...

...the bitter, who skulk in offices

The Revolution is like Saturn,

it devours its own children

What forces us...

What fate compels us to condemn

rather than forgive?

To kill instead of save life?

What brought forth this bloodbath...

...and where will it end,

if it ever will end?

l thought l could calm the storm

of the Revolution

I believed it was desirable, I still do

But in your cold eyes l can already

read of my inevitable death...

...to which you condemned me

before entering this room

l wonder:
was l wrong?

Some men disagree with me

Their thirst for ideals

knows no bounds

They no longer see people

around them

They see only speculators,

villains, traitors

Dazzled by the Revolutionary

ideals...

...they have forgotten the Revolution

itself

Their dictatorship is more ferocious

than its precursor

Fearing the return of tyrants,

they have become tyrants

Fouquier, you said the people

wanted blood

Liar! lt's a lie!

lt's not the people who want blood,

it's you

The people want only to live

in peace

Don't saddle them with

your thirst for blood

You've betrayed yourself, Danton -

betrayed!

Only a conspirator, an enemy of

the government, could thus insult...

...the People's Tribunal

The people have only one

dangerous enemy

The government

Don't stop the trial!

Set Danton free!

Call the guards

Soldiers, look! Seven scars

on my chest

Shoot me in the back

People of France! Do not

abandon your defenders

They kill your freedom before your

eyes and you let it happen

Danton, come here

So you've been arrested too

So there is justice

The Tribunal's creator

condemned to death!

I'll die, but so will you

How can you bury the living

in a hole like this?

Where is he?

Here

You have his confession?

l never said this

l did it only to avoid disaster

What disaster?

Sign the statement

Sign it

- But it wasn't a plot

- Then what was it?

Just this

Desmoulins' wife thought

it would help...

...if Danton's friends got together

Such a list amounts to a plot,

doesn't it?

lt wasn't a plot

You will sign this statement

unless you wish to die

We have unveiled a plot, all Paris

is involved, thousands of people

What plot?

Organised by Desmoulins' wife

and Danton's friends

Many took part, a great many

They were planning to blockade

the courtroom tomorrow

We're done for

Well, Robespierre, this trial

was your mad idea

What now, Maximilien Robespierre?

What do you want?

What do you want?

- What do you want?

- You ask us?

We've won against Danton

Open your eyes, citizens

Your necks are safe, you've

been spared the blade

Listen, any plot poses a threat...

...to the safety of the Convention

ln that case it must submit to

the Committee's decision

We must move fast to get

this decree passed

What decree?

The Convention must bar Danton

from speaking at the trial

You must warn the Convention

about the plot

l can't, l have no strength left

l'll go and get it then

Danton insists on calling witnesses...

...but that is out of the question

You know we're innocent but

it doesn't matter to you

lt doesn't matter because you're

just following orders

But you, Fouquier, you know well

what those orders are, admit it

So l too am to have the honour

of tasting the kiss of steel

But mark my words, Fouquier...

...you may cut off my head but the

man who issued these orders...

...will soon be rotting beside me

He knows that if he kills me

he will die too

You want to murder me without

leaving any trace

You won't let reporters take notes

The clerks are sitting idle

with their arms folded

They too have been given orders

to write nothing

Am l to vanish into thin air?

No! l will not!

l shall talk and continue talking to

the end, because l am immortal

l am immortal because l am the

people, the people are with me

And you murderers, you will be

judged by the people

l'm talking now...

...and l'll go on talking

Perhaps the air in this room will carry

the echo of my voice, which you muffle

Delegates of the Nation

Here is the Convention's latest

decree

The Convention has voted

the following decree

The Tribunal will conduct the trial

without interruption

Any accused disrupting

the course of justice...

...will be barred from

the proceedings

We have unearthed a conspiracy...

...to set free the accused and

bring down the Republic

The Desmoulins woman is in

the streets inciting the people

Beware!

This room harbours agents of

subversion

lt's a lie! They want Lucille's death

lf you oppose justice

you'll be barred

l ask you:
have we ever opposed

the Tribunal?

- Have we ever abused it?

- Never!

Yes, you did

- Well said, Georges

- Thank God it's over

Glorious Tribunal...

...nest of thieves, blackmailers

and pimps

l have one thing to say to you:

you're not fit to spit at

ln obedience to the decree...

...l bar from this court...

...the accused, Danton

Take him away

Murderers!

You won't silence us, Fouquier

The accused, Lacroix...

...barred

Allow me to bar myself

Me too, it might as well have

started this way

Now go to the devil

Are you convinced that the accused

took an active part in the conspiracy?

Do you find Fabre, Chabot, Delauney,

Basire and their accomplices guilty...

...of participation in a plot...

...to corrupt the nation's

representatives...

...in order to discredit and destroy

the government?

We do

We will proceed to announce

the sentence

Lacroix, Danton, Herault,

Philippeaux, Westermann...

...Desmoulins, Fabre, Chabot, Delauney,

Basire and their accomplices...

...are condemned to death

Their goods are confiscated

for the benefit of the Republic

Execution is to take place in Paris

within 24 hours...

...and notice posted throughout

the Republic

Without me it will all collapse,

there'll be nothing but terror

What shame on the Revolution

- Hiding your fear?

- No, l'm hiding nothing

l'm scared too. l thought l could look

death in the eye, but l can't

lt will all collapse in three months

at the most

Three months, no more

No, wait

l don't feel well

You're about to enter history

and you feel unwell?

Let him be

Steady, l don't want to cut you

l remembered what old Guillotin said:

''You feel nothing when

the blade drops

''Just a pleasant, cool sensation''

What a fraud l am

For years l yelled ''Long live virtue!''

with the rest of them, and they got me

To each his own defence

l was had by the civilians

Get on with it, my life has been short

but beautiful

l have no regrets

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