Napoléon

Also known as: Napoléon vu par Abel Gance

Genre: historical adventure film (silent; in black and white)

With: Albert Dieudonné (Napoléon Bonaparte), Vladimir Roudenko (Napoléon as a child), Edmond Van Daële (Robespierre), Alexandre Koubitzky (Danton), Antonin Artaud (Marat), Abel Gance (Saint-Just), Gina Manès (Joséphine de Beauharnais), Philippe Hériat (Salicetti), Pierre Batcheff (General Hoche), Nicolas Koline (Tristan Fleuri), François Viguier (Couthon), Max Maxudian (Barras), Annabella (Violine Fleuri and Désirée Clary)

Director: Abel Gance

Screenplay: Abel Gance

Release: 1927

Studio: Ciné France, Films Abel Gance, Isepa-Wengeroff Film GmbH

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.9/10  

 

‟The destiny of an empire often rests upon a single man.”

  

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Story-line: at Brienne College in 1783, a stern young man shows remarkable leadership and strategic prowess during snowball fights with other students. Later, as an army lieutenant, he embraces the fledgling French Revolution – spearheaded by Danton, Marat and Robespierre – against the reigning monarch and becomes a national hero when France must defend itself against neighbouring kingdoms opposed to its Republican ideals. Said young man, who would later figure in history books worldwide, was a Corsican named Bonaparte… Napoléon Bonaparte.

Pluses: superb performances by Albert Dieudonné and Vladimir Roudenko (playing Napoléon as a fiery, self-assured fellow), Edmond Van Daële (a cunning Robespierre), Alexandre Koubitzky (the popular, passionate Danton), the renowned Antonin Artaud (Marat), Abel Gance (an utterly ruthless Saint-Just) and Gina Manès (a somewhat conceited Joséphine), masterly and dynamic direction, a clear, richly detailed and action-packed screenplay replete with historic references and revelatory snippets (Nelson’s presence at sea, the Suez Canal), remarkable picture composition and cinematography, strong editing, convincing special effects, fine production values and an omnipresent musical score (by Carmine Coppola) that adds to every mood or event.

Minuses: (1) some critics have panned the acting as over-the-top but, IMHO, Napoléon was always a rather hyper dude. (2) Although expertly restored by Kevin Brownlow and BFI National Archive in 2000, the print obviously shows its age – as when you see Napoléon riding his horse at 80 mph! (3) The movie ends with the triumphant Italian campaign of 1796 – giving us a much too glorious portrait of Napoléon as a man – although it does not hide his creeping megalomania and the abuses committed by revolutionary leaders and angry mobs desperate for change. That being said, Napoléon’s on-screen aggrandizement is understandable: Gance’s picture (originally clocked at 480 minutes) was the first segment of a larger (!) work he never completed because his audacity scared off would-be backers.

Comments: at almost three times the length of an Olympic marathon (333 minutes), Abel Gance’s epic stands out in movie history as a stupefying experiment in filmmaking. Always an innovator, Gance was the first to use superimposed images and polyvision (involving three projectors). NAPOLÉON was his only masterpiece – although some of his other works were also worthwhile – but his pioneer spirit would mark the seventh art for all time to come. Breathtaking, relentless, unequivocally modern even a century later, NAPOLÉON is cinema on steroids. The sheer magnitude of this opus will overwhelm you.

 

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