After serving in the trenches of World War I, Jean Diaz recoils with such horror that he renounces love and personal pleasure to immerse himself in scientific research, seeking a machine to prevent war. He thinks he has succeeded, but the government subverts his discovery, and Europe slides with seeming inevitability toward World War II. In desperation, Diaz summons the ghosts of the war dead from the graves and fields of France to give silent, accusing protest.
This film is not exceedingly well acted, but has the additional charm of being taken from the actual history of the man whose personality dominated the Committee of Safety in the early days of the French Revolution. It's tragic but enthralling, and full of the atmosphere of those more than troublous times of the French Revolution, when blood was shed like water and men seemed turned to beasts.
In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.
