As France's republican government fled to Versailles in 1870, determined workers and radical intellectuals barricaded Paris and installed La Commune, a rapturous attempt at a utopian society. Peter Watkins's monumental and exhilarating masterwork keeps the radical spirit alive, audaciously mixing past and present to debunk the notion that history is available through a singular representation. Several hundred nonprofessional actors were charged with inventing their roles, beautifully reanimating the ill-fated utopia. This staging relies on serpentine tracking shots that glide between spirited arguments in the street, school lessons, and marching drills to reveal the intensifying strife. Over its six-hour transit, this “impassioned hubbub,” as J. Hoberman calls it, generates great immediacy. The urgency is heightened by two opposing news stations offering up their hasty commentary on the unfolding insurrection, as well as scenes in which the cast breaks out of 1871 to comment on the present moment. Infectious and heady, La Commune is itself evidence that revolutionary possibilities still linger.

Part One: 1–4 p.m., followed by intermission; Part Two: 5–8 p.m.