"The Commune (Paris 1871)" was released last year in France and will be shown here at last on Sunday 21st January at the Edward Lewis lecture theater, Uni of London, Cleveland Street, at 2pm. (£5)
The Paris Commune of 1871 (and the Siege which preceeded it the year before) may rightly be described as the precursor of modern revolutions. Just as in the Spanish Civil War, all the left wing groups of the day were involved in an insurrection which lasted 2 months, left Paris in flames, almost got Bakunin killed and allowed Marx to refine his own theories.
Anarchists, Marxists and independent leftists such as Auguste Blanqui ( perhaps the forerunner of Che Guevara ) took part in the struggle in equal measure, womens battalions fought alongside the mens, and for a while, looked set to bring the French revolution to the workers.
Unlike the student uprising of 1968, this event left 25000 Parisians dead.
Peter Watkins gave this film its premier at the Museum Orsay, Paris, last spring. You may recall his last work to be given coverage here "The War Game" (1965) which attempted to portray the realistic effects of a nuclear conflict. For this he was blacklisted by the BBc and the establishment in general. He is to be saluted for his dedication to the ideal and a determination that would have demoralised so many others.

Some background reading;

Marx: The Civil War in France
Lissagaray: The Paris Commune
Stuart Edwards: The Paris Commune 1871