Napoleon

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the most ambitious film ever made...
Review: Abel Gance's Napoleon is a triumph of style, technique, and inspired performances from the lead to the extras in the crowd scenes.

The original plan was to create six films highlighting all of Napoleon's life. But Gance spent the entire budget on this one and it really shows.

From the opening scene depicting a snowball fight, I was immediately impressed with the sheer number of techniques Gance used to make it more enegetic. From "Russian montage" (rapid edits at a blinding speed) to mounting the camera on snow sleds, boats, and even a horse to put the viewer in the middle of the action. Gance also invented the idea of widescreen by mounting three cameras on one tripod.

Perhaps the single finest scene in the film has the intercutting of Napoleon in a small boat at sea fighting through a typhoon as the French parliment is falling apart (with the camera attached to a pendulum to simulate the ocean waves). Few scenes pack so much incredable energy as this one.

I was also very impressed with Albert Dieudonne's performance as Napoleon. He seems to channel the spirit of Napoleon himself through his eyes. And the film goes to great lengths establishing the future emperor as a man of destiny. All this, in spite of the fact that Dieudonne is clearly too old to play the young (20 or so) Napoleon.

It's a shame that this film still isn't on DVD.

If you're a lover of films, this is a must-have for your collection. The four-hour length of the movie may seem daunting, but it can be watched in 2 two hour viewings.

Rating:
Summary: Impeccable and Inspiring Portrayal of Napoleon the Man
Review: Abel Gance's Napoleon was the best film I have ever seen about Napoleon because of its realistic portrayal of this great man.
Albert Dieudonne's portrayal of Napoleon was so impeccable, for a minute, I thought that Dieudonne was Napoleon.
The most unforgettable scene in the whole movie, in my opinion, was Napoleon addressing his troops from high up in the mountains
with Le Chant de Depart, the stirring French revolutionary war song playing in the film's soundtrack. This scene so lifted my spirits up, I felt like enlisting in Napoleon's army and fighting for him.

I am indebted to Carmine Coppola, the composer of this film's soundtrack, for introducing me for the first time some of the most beautiful and inspiring French revolutionary song tunes I've ever heard, Le Chant de Depart, Ah Ca Ira, and La Carmagnole. These melodies together with the world famous La Marseillaise greatly added authenticity to the period which this film realistically portrayed.

Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Film Ever Made
Review: And I'm not just saying that...I have spent a lot of time, perhaps too much time, compiling my list of the ten greatest films ever made. I put this at number one. The raw emotion, the fabulous direction, the extraordinary editing, and the amazing technical achievements (split screen, multiple exposures, extensive camera movement,etc...) make this a very extraordinary film, years ahead of its time. Most stunning is the finale, which has three projectors suddenly coming to life, giving us a Cinerama-like experience. How many films do you know actually change their aspect ratio for the finale? Because it is on VHS, the film's finale actually has to "shrink" down to get bigger (so the very wide screen can fit on the square TV), but it is still impressive.
There is another 2000 restoration out there by Kevin Brownlow that is supposed to be far superior to this one. However, this version is the only one available on video. Want it on DVD? Sorry, only in Australia. Some legal wrangling may prevent the 2000 version from ever being shown here in the USA. So if you want to see it, get one of these VHS copies. Only ten left. And you won't find them anywhere else (believe me, I tried). Let me repeat this word of warning -- you will not find them anywhere else. This is it!
I have my precious copy and hope to treat it with great care. What a masterpiece!!!

Rating:
Summary: Detailed history of Abel Gance's film masterpiece "Napoleon"
Review: British film preservationist and historian Kevin Brownlow's detailed history of Abel Gance's "Napoleon". Covers Brownlow's initial interest the film at an early age, and his 25 year quest to reconstruct it. Offers a detailed history of the production of the film, its many versions as produced by Gance, and the films triumphant return at Radio City in 1981. An essential book in the history of film. Lots of detailed information about Abel Gance available nowhere else.

Rating:
Summary: WHY THE "CENSORSHIP"
Review: Cinematically I agree with all of the superlatives offered up by previous reviewers.My major reservation is with the way Abel Gance bowdlerizes the story of Napoleon. Unlike the Russian moviemakers of the 20s who were under significant political pressure to minimize the unsavoury aspects of the Revolution I am not aware that Gance was under any sort of similar political pressure. Consequently I find the decision (presumably his) in a film almost four hours long (!) not to make any reference whatsoever to the Russian campaign, Waterloo or the exiles quite bizarre. Perhaps another reviewer knows of a reason behind this omission but absent that I think that this is a serious enough flaw to disqualify Napoleon from being a candidate for the greatest silent film.

Rating:
Summary: A follow-up to my previous review...
Review: Having now had a chance to properly digest the offerings of the Coppola version (courtesy of the Australian DVD) I can now add to my previous review. (I'd also like to correct a mistake in my previous review: I said that the original triptych has a ratio of 3.66:1. It is in fact 3.99:1 - a further reason that a proper widescreen transfer is needed.)

Apart from the 90+ missing minutes, the main fault is the image quality. Some of my favourite shots are ruined because of the bad quality of the film stock available for the 1980-1 version. There are stunningly beautiful shots of Napoleon being chased along the coast: the sun is burning through dark clouds right at the top of the frame, hills loom out of the mist across the sea, whilst a dark mass of land forms a black strip at the bottom of the frame, as Napoleon and his pursuers ride across the screen beneath this incredible sky. These shots are some of the worst quality in Coppola's print. Many sequences were not made from original 35mm prints - only 17.5mm elements existed. As such, the 17.5mm had to blown up to the size of 35mm, with corresponding image deterioration. This is the reason why many scenes look far worse than they do in the latest prints (many better 35mm elements were available thanks to Brownlow and others' discoveries in the early and mid 1980s, but again Coppola/Zoetrope never bothered to incorporate these into their version).

There are also numerous examples of incorrect tinting (the original tinting and toning patterns being unclear back in 1980-1 until more discoveries of original prints in the 80s, which Coppola/Zoetrope decided to ignore, along with numerous other improvements). Another of my favourite shots is of Napoleon standing right on the edge of a rocky coastline - Gance has an incredible shot of the tiny silhouetted figure of Napoleon standing exactly in front of a setting sun behind him - the sun alone in a huge bank of cloud and Napoleon's isolated figure on top of these great rocks, the sea crashing beneath him. The scene looks much worse in this version because the tinting is a kind of pinky red, not the much more unobtrusive colour in the authentic version. The tinting here wasn't done using the traditional dye-bath methods used for the latest print by the BFI - the dye-bath gives a much subtler (and more beautiful in terms of actual colour) permeation of colour than other methods of coloration. Much of the tinting in this 1981 print seems far too vivid and often spoils some of the detail - something that dye-bath tinting and toning avoids.

I'm also reminded just how damaging running the film at a faster speed is. As I mentioned in my last review, Coppola sped the film up to 24 fps instead of showing it at the intended/correct speed of 20 fps. As a result, all the acting and the camerawork immediately becomes distorted (the swinging camera on the pendulum rope in the double storm sequence has lost some of the incredibly hypnotic rhythm it has at normal speed). Such a basic and fundamental thing as fps speed (often a key issue in silent films as they were often shot at slower fps rates) seems elementary to showing this film properly, but even this is ignored in the Coppola version.

Another damaging element to this version is the music - the Carmine Coppola music really is inferior to the Carl Davis score. There are hardly any moments of climax or great emotion at all. The double storm sequence loses much of its impact because of the music, as does the scene where the ghosts of the Convention appear before Napoleon and demand he carry on the Revolution. With Davis, there are incredibly sinister sliding strings and then the Marseillaise worked in to the score as the scene continues, concluding with a rousing finale. With Carmine Coppola, there is just vaguely rumbling organ music for the whole scene - no climax, no Marseillaise, no excitement. Davis also does something far more organic and complex with the classical music he uses - he works it into his own music and vice versa. For example, the Double Storm sequence uses a large amount of Beethoven's 6th, but it is subtly manipulated and expanded so that the climax is an immensely thrilling expansion of the original music and matches the images perfectly. Unlike Coppola, Davis also makes an effort to stick to historically contemporaneous music. He set himself the date of 1810, which he tried not to go beyond in terms of musical borrowing (whereas Coppola uses music by later composers like Berlioz and Mendelssohn). Carmine Coppola doesn't successfully combine his own music and historical music - there is no sense of perfect editing and organic musical melding as there is with Davis. My other main objection to Carmine Coppla's score is that it is always inferior to the images on screen - with Davis, the music remains brilliant and equal to the images for the whole of nearly 6 hours. The Davis score is thrilling, often intensely emotional, and vibrantly exciting in a way that Coppola never manages. Once you have listened to Davis' score, the Coppola simply cannot sustain your interest or emotion.

A proper release of this film is desperately needed on DVD. The possibilities for extras are huge (not a single extra being present on any DVD release of Napoleon at present). Further missing sequences might be included - such as the two other triptych sequences no longer in the film (in any version). Gance originally had three sequences edited for the triptych widescreen (the Victims' Ball, The Double Storm, and Entry into Italy), but the first two were destroyed by Gance himself when he lost all hope of seeing his film in one piece again. The reconstructed second triptych (by all accounts an intensely thrilling example of Gance's mastery of editing and visual imagination) does apparently exist in France, but another copyright issue means it hasn't been seen anywhere else. Gance also shot some scenes in Napoleon in colour (yes, colour in 1926) and in 3D (yes, 3D in 1926), although he didn't use this footage in the final cut (although rumours persist that some of these sections still exist somewhere in France...). There is also a long-lost scene that formed part of the Toulon section, where civilians are shot by firing-squads - examples of intensely imaginative rapid cutting and camera movement. An alternative single-screen ending was also made, which includes an extra scene with the character of Tristan Fleuri not in the triptych ending.

This film not only deserves a proper DVD release, but needs to be shown in cinemas. The effect of suddenly having a huge 60-foot wide image flood onto the screen when the triptych appears is quite simply a heart-stoppingly amazing moment - surely one of the greatest moments in all of cinema. The curtains are drawn and suddenly the Army of Italy appears spread out across the screen - words cannot do justice to this experience. That Coppola wanted to ban performances of this great work because they quite rightly refused to use his vastly inferior version and his father's music is monstrous. He would have denied the audience and future audiences this momentous experience, and that is unforgivable. The best version of Napoleon must be made available. The battle over this masterpiece is not over...

Rating:
Summary: an awesome masterpiece with futuristic effects.
Review: I first saw the movie Napoleon in the theater and I was amazed at the effects Abel Gance was able to come up with that appear to be the way movies were to be seen today for widescreen effects. The montage at the last twenty minutes of the movie when the screen appeared regular size for a theater then the side curtains go up to make the battle scene appear lifesize and the eagle with wings spread across the screen when the montage appeared was pure genius. I would highly recommend this movie for any silent movie buff or anyone interested in Napoleon.

Rating:
Summary: Transcends the silent movie genre.
Review: I had heard so much about this movie that I bought it sight unseen. When I first viewed it, I expected to watch tape one and, a couple of days later, tape two. I watched the entire movie in one sitting, tranfixed by the acting, the movie making skills, and even the sound track music. At the end, when the screen picture suddenly shrunk, I wondered what was wrong, and then the Cinerama effect of three cameras burst onto the screen (30 years ahead of Cinerama itself). The acting is nothing like the silent movie cliches we're all used to. It is subtle and utterly engaging. Some of the dialogue placards are totally unnecessary, but that's a small quibble. The use of color to enhance ideas was engrossing. The blue tint to the snow ball war makes everything seem colder, and the change to amber when Napoleon sees the spirits of all of those who have preceded him in the revolution urging him on to Italy ... well, I got goose bumps. I can't wait for the DVD to emerge, particularly if it includes even more footage than the Kultur VHS.

Rating:
Summary: Casablanca? Citizen Kane? FORGET IT!!! NAPOLEON!
Review: I have always been an admirer of Napoleon, loving his great battles and his work as an estadist. And this movie is, perhaps, the greatest ressemblance of the frech conqueror. Abel Gance was ahead of his time. He was ahead of everything. The edition, coloring, and...music (thanks Carmine!)makes this movie the greatest ever. I always thought that Casablanca or Citizen Kane were tops, but...none of them surpass the quality and artistic touch of Abel Gance's Napoleon. More than a classic...THE CLASSIC

Rating:
Summary: Napoleon
Review: I just want to comment upon one of the reviewers objecting Abel Gance's Napoleon masterpiece tells only about the young Napoleon and his achievements during the Revolution, the picture ending with the 1796-97 Italian campaign, without references to Austerlitz, the Empire, Russia, Waterloo, etc.
This fact is not related with censorship; it is due to the conditions of the production of the movie. Initially Gance planned six films shot altogether (like Lord of the Rings to-day) focused about "peaks" of the Napoleaon saga : Revolution, Egypt, Austerlitz, the rise of the Empire, the Russian campaign, Saint Helen. The production of episod 1 fastly exceeded in terms of length (six hours) and budget the whole initial six episods. New producers came in. They subordinated their taking the picture over to Abel Gance finishing just the first episod that was completed in 1927. After a very successful premiere the film was a flop, chiefly because the theaters were reluctant investing in the triple screen. Then in 1928-29 cinema began to talk, and such epics became affordable only in Hollywood (or USSR). Nevertheless Gance managed to shoot the second episod "Austerlitz" in color and sound in 1960 (Pierre Mondy playing Napoleon with the most famous French actors of the time). It was moderately successful and not convincing at all, Gance's magic touch was gone.