If the revolution had been televised: The productive anachronisms of Peter Watkins's 'La Commune' (Paris, 1871)

The politics of filmic reconstruction and reenactment as forms of historical representation are explored in the light of the 1999 Peter Watkins film 'La Commune' (Paris, 1871) that is situated in relationship to debates regarding the contemporary media's versions of the past. It is argued that the film's anachronisms are intentionally placed to question assumptions about objectivity, authenticity and temporality that define History as a discipline.