Kirpianuscus great performances. a slice of history. gems-scenes. the bitter atmosphere of a fall of an world. a film for memories. with slices of beautiful dialogue and a splendid Mastroianni, the testimonies and voices and words of a night. the tension and the royal couple. and the smoke of a room, drinks and small portraits. short, a film who preserves, in your memory, for long time, its delicate flavor. and it is enough.

JasparLamarCrabb A really meaningful film from Ettore Scola. Scola captures France during the nearly surreal last moments of the reign of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. A group of disparate travelers take a coach through the French countryside (all for different reasons) and all come to various ends by nightfall. Jean-Louis Barrault is Nicolas-Edme Rétif de la Bretonne, the writer whose work consisted mainly of his sexual escapades. Hannah Schygulla is one of the Queen's ladies in waiting. Marcello Mastrioanni is a sad and decaying Chevalier de Seingalt (aka Casanova). It's a great movie full of insights into life, change, fear and loneliness. Barrault is excellent and Schygulla, looking absolutely ravishing, gives what has to be her best non-Fassbinder performance. The great, and ironically cast, Mastrioanni is brilliant. He's really sad, particularly when hiding out in a bathroom stall trying to pull himself together with lipstick & powder. Scola's direction is perfect and while the film could have become a boring talk-fest, it's never dull. Also featuring Harvey Keitel as the American Thomas Paine, Laura Betti as a foolish opera singer and, in a cameo, Jean-Louis Trintignant. The breathtaking cinematography is by Armando Nannuzzi.

Henryk von Babenberg I watched this film years ago shortly after it was released and being a movie-buff, enjoyed it greatly.Now, finally the film has been released in its entire length on DVD and blu-ray in France (some 25 mins. were cut for the VHS release for some reason) and I jumped at the possibility of watching this rare masterpiece again.I was not disappointed in ANY way. Although the story line is largely fictional, it does center round a real incident, namely the attempted escape of the French royal family in July 1791 and although we never actually SEE the royals, apart from a short glimpse of their feet, the whole story revolves around them and the French revolution.Onboard a stagecoach which is following the same route between Paris and the northern borders of France, we find an illustrious assembly of people, among them an Austrian countess and lady-in-waiting to the Queen (Hanna Schygulla), a philosopher/writer (Jean-Louis Barrault), an American freedom fighter, Thomas Paine (Harvey Keitel), and bordering at a later hour, the ageing Casanova, (Marcello Mastroianni). Last but not least, a widow on her way home to her estate (Andrea Ferreol), a judge, and an opera singer (Laura Betti).Along the hot and dusty way they argue about and discuss the French revolution and each and everyone present their opinion on "the new world" (as the film is originally titled in Italian), i.e. the new France after the revolution.Mastroianni who plays the role of the old, half-blind Casanova, is nothing short of fantastic. Along the way, in turn each of the women, even the Countess's hairdresser (Jean-Claude Brialy) as well, proposition him and offer him their hearts and towards the end you, the viewer, are totally and utterly prepared to do the same - he is simply stunning, seldom have I seen a more dignified and charming performance.Towards the end they catch up with the royal coach which has been stopped at Varennes by "the people" and so the film ends.If you do not want to watch this for the partly political content, at least watch it for the wonderful, dignified, elegant performances by everyone and enjoy a film dialogue which has seldom been so wittily and intelligently presented as it is here, lines delivered by superb actors and actresses, thoroughly enjoying themselves throughout. Please also refer to the glowering review below by Asa_Nisi_Masa2 from 2005, which whom I fully agree, a truly remarkable film.9* out of 10 - I will be sure to watch it again and again !

Graham Davis Seemed more like a way to work in as many glib facts about revolutionary France into one movie as possible. Overlong. Most of the puns in the dialogue were neither humorous, linguistically interesting, or even original. Character development is rather pathetic, and I could not care less about anyone in the film.The Revolution may have been prevented had the French in 1789 known of this future pile of cinematic dreck that was to be made. Possibly the only good thing about this movie was having the opportunity to disparage it so in this comment; but, even this opportunity does not erase the horrible stain of this film on my previous opinion of French cinema as being halfway decent. Avoid.