That Night in Varennes
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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That Night in Varennes (La Nuit de Varennes) is a 1982 French and Italian drama film directed by Ettore Scola It is based on a novel by Catherine Rihoit. It tells the story of a fictional meeting between Restif de la Bretonne, Giacomo Casanova, Thomas Paine and Sophie de la Borde (a lady in waiting to the Queen). They are all traveling together in a coach that is a few hours behind the one that is carrying King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in their attempt to escape from Paris during the French Revolution.
The film was entered into the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.
Plot
In Paris in June 1791, the libertine writer Restif de la Bretonne is the witness of the departure of a mysterious coach, leaving at night from the Palais Royal. Intrigued, Restif starts with Casanova the pursuit of the company. He soon discovers that the coach's occupants are nothing less than members of the French royal family.
Selected cast
- Jean-Louis Barrault as Nicolas Edmé Restif de la Bretonne
- Marcello Mastroianni as Casanova, Chevalier de Seingalt
- Hanna Schygulla as Countess Sophie de la Borde
- Harvey Keitel as Thomas Paine
- Jean-Claude Brialy as Monsieur Jacob
- Andréa Ferréol as Madame Adélaïde Gagnon
- Michel Vitold as De Florange
- Pierre Malet as Emile Delage, student revolutionary
