MovieChat Forums > The Life of Emile Zola (1937) Discussion > When Dreyfus is stripped of his rank...

When Dreyfus is stripped of his rank...

posted 14 years ago by Hypatia42
7 replies | jump to latest

This is quite minor, but I have a question about the scene where Dreyfus is stripped of his military rank. The officer approaches him, rips off Dreyfus' regalia, removes his sword, and breaks the blade in half over his knee.

Surely this is an error in the film's props. Surely no sword, even those presented for dress ceremony, would be so weak as to snap over one's knee.

Was this just a dramatic extra thrown in by the director? Or was there a legitimate military tradition of breaking a sword (did it involve a special kind of prop weapon?), or is there a tradition of simply removing the weapon and destroying it in some other fashion?

I recognize that films often preferred dramatic action to historical accuracy, but this just seemed ludicrous to me.

[–] kneecapboy 14 years ago

I noticed that too! And couldnt work out if it was a mistake or just really, really flimsy

[–] bjnevin 14 years ago

Well, it certainly fits in with this famous picture, depicting the event:

http://www.tabletmag.com/wp-content/uploads/images/dreyfus_090309_380full.jpg

Of course, I'm not sure if this picture is accurate but perhaps the swords WERE a little flimsy, seen only as part of the uniform rather than actual combat material...

[–] Nemesis7293-1 14 years ago

The breaking of the sword is a genuine historical occurrence in such situations. I think you may have an erroneous idea of the strength of a real sword. A sword can be very tough in combat or fencing, but lengthwise, any blade, especially one as long as a sword is more than brittle enough to be snapped in half. Steel, or even iron, is a crystalline substance and crystalline structures are very strong in some ways and very weak in others. A sword blade is almost as vulnerable to breakage as a glass rod of the same length. Snapping the sword was the emotional coupe de grace in stripping a soldier of his rank.

[–] oldblackandwhite 14 years ago

Nemesis7293-1 is correct in his statements, however, for what it's worth:

In Leonce Patry's interesting memior of the Franco-Prussian War, The Reality of War, he stated that he liked a good club if it came to hand-to-hand combat, because he couldn't keep up with a revolver, and his infantry officer's sword was made of "pot metal" and just for show.

He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good... St. Matthew 5:45

[–] LudwA 10 years ago

ah i wondered the same thing, excellent thread with good insightful answers :)

[–] crlnrgbrght5 10 years ago

How does one break a steel blade over his knee? He'd have to be pretty strong.

[–] Clatskanie 10 years ago

The military used a saw to cut a slice into the blade to ensure that it broke quickly, cleanly, and evenly. I believe that all European and American forces employed this ancient technique.

LL