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Every Revolution Is a Throw of the Dice

Name: Every Revolution Is a Throw of the Dice
Director: Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet
Released: 1977
Duration: 11 min

Representation Score

7.7/10

Good

1977

Director

Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet

Runtime

11 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

This film is a radical experiment in form rather than a study of human identity. It replaces traditional character arcs with a typographic and linguistic recitation of Mallarmé’s poetry. Consequently, it lacks the narrative framework needed for specific identity-based representation. While the film is intellectually progressive in its rejection of bourgeois cinematic spectacle, it remains largely neutral regarding demographic diversity. Its subversion lies in its materialist philosophy and its refusal to engage in gendered or racialized storytelling clichés. Ultimately, the work prioritizes the materiality of the spoken word and the natural landscape over the depiction of specific social groups.

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Category Breakdown

Does Every Revolution Is a Throw of the Dice have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film focuses on linguistic experimentation rather than character-driven narratives, and does not depict specific LGBTQ+ identities or romantic orientations. The absence of straight-centered clichés is due to formalist constraints rather than intentional representation.

How does Every Revolution Is a Throw of the Dice portray gender?

Fair

The narrative structure avoids traditional gender roles by using nine fragmented speakers, thus disrupting conventional masculine and feminine archetypes. This approach provides a neutral, non-patriarchal experience.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Every Revolution Is a Throw of the Dice?

Fair

The film serves as a formalist study of sound and environment, minimizing the visibility of racial identity. There is no indication of a diverse, non-Anglo-Saxon majority cast within the available synopsis.

How does Every Revolution Is a Throw of the Dice represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The work critiques traditional Western cinematic institutions and Hollywood storytelling styles. It prioritizes intellectual rigor and an anti-capitalist critique of art commodification, challenging established systemic structures through formal innovation.

Does Every Revolution Is a Throw of the Dice include disability representation?

Fair

The film does not feature characters with visible or invisible disabilities as central plot points. Its non-narrative nature avoids using disability as a mere plot device or for inspiration porn.

Present on Screen

Disrupts conventional gender hierarchies by avoiding traditional hero and heroine archetypes.
Provides a sophisticated anti-capitalist critique of Western cinematic institutions and art commodification.
Avoids common pitfalls like 'inspiration porn' by eschewing character-driven plot devices.

Limited or Absent

Lacks specific depictions of LGBTQ+ identities or romantic orientations due to its formalist focus.
Provides no evidence of a diverse, non-Anglo-Saxon majority cast among the speakers.
Offers no active ability to act or representation for characters with disabilities.

Official Synopsis

A tribute to Mallarmé that not only asserts the continuing relevance of his work but also confronts its literary ambiguities with political and cinematic ambiguities of its own. In outline, the film could not be more straightforward: it offers a recitation of one of Mallarmé’s most celebrated and complex poems (it was his last published work in his own lifetime, appearing in 1897, a year before his death) and proposes a cinematic equivalent for the author’s original experiment with typography and layout by assigning the words to nine different speakers, separating each speaker from the other as she or he speaks, and using slight pauses to correspond with white spaces on the original page.

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