With Reign of Terror, also known as The Black Book, Anthony Mann has done something which I had previously thought impossible: he made a short, concise, and gripping thriller about the politics behind the French Revolution. Mann frames the story as a battle between the corrupt Maximilien Robespierre and the virtuous members of the French Revolution who oppose his bloody reign. The central plot device is a black book which holds the names of people that Robespierre is planning to execute. If the names get out, then the other leaders of the French Revolution will turn on Robespierre and send him to the guillotine. The film is surprisingly well-scripted and shot and contains some scenes of remarkable tension. One sequence where Robespierre tracks down a couple who have stolen the black book to a countryside farm is stunning in its execution. Some of the suspense is worthy of Hitchcock. But the film's ultimate triumph is how it condensed one of the most complicated events of the 18th century into such comprehensive terms. Mann understood that at the core of the French Revolution were a circle of fiery egos and megalomaniacs. He was wise to make the film about them. Very wise, indeed.
8/10
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