Loosely based on poet André Chénier's tragic life ,one of the innocent victims of the revolutionary tribunal (along with,among others ,great scientist Lavoisier),the screenplay has undergone some changes.To secure a romantic ending,the heroine (Antonella Lualdi) sacrifices her life to follow Chénier (Michel Auclair)on the guillotine ;actually she was not executed and ,to put it mildly,she did not care that much about her mate who wrote " La Jeune Captive" about her.
The movie was actually an opera ,but as the actors (Lualdi,Auclair and Vallone ) were not singers ,instead of having them dubbed ,director Fracassi opted for spoken parts ,using only the music for the soundtrack.Historically,the movie is not very convincing -about as much as Griffith's silent "orphans of the storm ",but the three principals are gifted thespians and give this romantic love story substance.
The movie was actually an opera ,but as the actors (Lualdi,Auclair and Vallone ) were not singers ,instead of having them dubbed ,director Fracassi opted for spoken parts ,using only the music for the soundtrack.Historically,the movie is not very convincing -about as much as Griffith's silent "orphans of the storm ",but the three principals are gifted thespians and give this romantic love story substance.
