Abel Gance’s silent film ‘Napoleon’ was revolutionary – The Hollywood Reporter

Albert Dieudonné as the French general in Abel Gance’s “Napoleon,” which was restored for five hours and received a general release from Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope Pictures in 1981.

MGM/Photofest

Napoleon Bonaparte has been catnip to Hollywood for almost as long as movies have existed. Besides wearing his funny hat is Joaquin Phoenix, who stars in Ridley Scott’s film NapoleonIt will be released on November 22nd. But the best Napoleon film remains the first.

Napoleon It is a 1927 silent film written, directed and produced by the Parisian-born film pioneer Abel Gance. He conceived a six-part epic about Bonaparte’s life but completed only the first part. And that was enough, as the six-hour film follows the character of the leader (played by Albert Dieudonné) from his early life through the French Revolution, ending with his invasion of Italy in 1792. It was a technical breakthrough, introducing techniques such as rapid cutting, cutting Manual, cameras and overlay.

Gans also invented a system he called Polyvision, the Imax system of its day, which used three cameras and three projectors to get a panoramic effect. After several screenings in Europe, MGM bought the film, shortened it to approximately two hours, and gave it a limited release in the United States in 1929, when it received a quick response from audiences more enthusiastic about the new talkies. (The 1935 version attempted to add a soundtrack but “failed to accomplish”). THR he said in his review, pictured below. “The sound system made the noisy movie noisier.”)

However, over the decades, the film has been recognized for its greatness. It was given a five-hour restoration at the 1979 Telluride Film Festival in the presence of a frail 89-year-old Gance — a triumphant if belated acknowledgment of his towering contribution to cinema.

This story first appeared in the November 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to subscribe.