The French Revolution

If I came across a blog about a documentary, I'd be like: Spare me the critique and give me the bullets I need to know so that if the subject ever came up at a cocktail party, I'd sound smart. That said, I gave The History Channel's The French Revolution 5 stars because not only did I enjoy it, it was relevant to Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, which I had just seen.

Now the bullets:

1. The French Revolution happened mostly because the people of France were starving and felt neglected by the monarchy who lived lavish lives at Versailles. A few opportunistic men with ideas born out of the Enlightenment took it upon themselves to makes some changes.

2. The Revolution changed the political course of French history by eliminating said monarchy and bringing about more democratic forms of government.

3. Maximilien Robespierre was the mastermind behind the Revolution (there were other names, but he's the main guy). He started out with noble intentions, even wanting to abolish the death penalty, but as the Revolution got going he became a terrorist, calling for the executions of tens of thousands of "enemies of the revolution". In the end he was executed by his own colleagues, who feared being executed themselves.

4. Louis the XVI was the incompetant king who did nothing to stem the fury of the Revolution. In the end he was executed for his neglect.

5. Marie Antoinette was the last Queen of France. She was a major reason for the revolt. She epitomized the part of royalty that was hated by the French. She bathed in gratuitous luxury while the people starved. The stark contrast between her life at Versailles and her precipitous fall to the Guillotine is particularly intriguing. (Sidebar: Sofia Coppolla's Marie Antoinette ends at the beginning of the Queen's fall. It only shows, in extreme technicolor, her decadent life. If you are female and have not yet seen this movie, rent it, invite your girlfriends over, get a bottle of champagne, and get fat on the mouth-watering, girly eye-candy that is this movie.)

6. The Guillotine was invented at the beginning of the Revolution, precipitating the executions at an incredible rate.

I'm sure if I'm missing an important piece of the puzzle, or if any of this is historically inaccurate, my mother will promptly call me with some constructive criticism. But if you have any interest in finding out why Marie Antoinette had her head chopped off, this documentary is an easy one to swallow.