The Death of the Duke D'Enghien (1909) User Reviews (2)

From Image to Narrative

[boblipton · 5/10 · 21 August 2018]

In brief, the Duke D'Enghien was an officer in the Austrian forces when he was seized by Bonapartist spies, transported to France and, after some time, condemned to death and shot by orders signed by Napoleon under charges that there was a conspiracy to restore the Bourbons with the Duke as King.

Napoleon's enemies denied this and offered this as proof of his tyranny. Napoleon's supporters accepted the claim, and said this was a wise policy to discourage enemies of France.

What have I got to say about what happened in another country two centuries ago? I have no opinion except to note that clearly this was still a hot topic more than a century after the fact. I also think it's a clear indicator of how far films had come in less than a decade and a half. Had this movie been made in the late 1890s, it would probably have been less than a minute in length, directed by Georges Hatot, and have been a tableau vivante affair, possibly based on Conde's painting. A decade later, Albert Capellani made it a narrative.

The interpretation is so convincing

[deickemeyer · 31 January 2015]

An exceedingly well acted and photographed picture of a historical episode in French history, which occurred during 1803-1804, when Napoleon was first consul. It relates graphically the fate of the Duke D'Enghien, who was supposed to be plotting against Napoleon and planning to place a Bourbon on the throne. Napoleon assumed that the Duke was the Bourbon prince who was to succeed to the throne, though he had no proof. Spies reported the Duke's absence for days at a time, but he was much in love and was really at the home of his inamorata, or engaged in the pleasures of the chase. Nevertheless, he was condemned to be executed, and even though some excuse for pardoning him was sought, none was found and he was shot at Versailles. The action is very vivid. The characters do their work in the spirit of the piece and occasion, and one imagines for the time that the actual scene is transpiring before one's eyes. The Pathes have been particularly happy in their reproductions of dramatic incidents in French history, and this picture is no exception to the rule. The interpretation is so convincing that one acquires almost unconsciously a keener understanding of the men who were instrumental in enacting the roles here reproduced. - The Moving Picture World, December 31, 1909