Napoleon
Original title: Napoléon vu par Abel Gance
- 19271927
- 5h 30m
IMDb RATING
8.2/10
7.8K
YOUR RATING
A film about the French general's youth and early military career.A film about the French general's youth and early military career.A film about the French general's youth and early military career.
IMDb RATING
8.2/10
7.8K
YOUR RATING
- Awards
- 5 wins & 1 nomination
Videos2
Max Maxudian
- Barrasas Barras
- (as Maxudian)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
A massive six-hour biopic of Napoleon, tracing his career from his schooldays (where a snowball fight is staged like a military campaign), his flight from Corsica, through the French Revolution (where a real storm is intercut with a political storm) and the Terror, culminating in his triumphant invasion of Italy in 1797 (the film stops there because it was intended to be part one of six, but director Abel Gance never raised the money to make the other five). The film's legendary reputation is due to the astonishing range of techniques that Gance uses to tell his story, culminating in the final twenty-minute triptych sequence, which alternates widescreen panoramas with complex multiple- image montages projected simultaneously on three screens. —Michael Brooke <michael@everyman.demon.co.uk>
- Taglines
- Abel Gance's 1927 Masterpiece [reissue]
- Genres
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaThe snowballs in the snowball fight scene were actually balls of cotton. During shooting one of the child extras threw a real one with a rock in it. It hit Vladimir Roudenko square in the face and broke his nose.
- GoofsOne of the Corsicans in the inn states "Our fatherland is Italy with the Duke of Savoy". The Duchy of Savoy had ceased to exist in 1713 (eighty years earlier), when the Duchy acquired the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Duke then bore the title of the King of Sardinia. Italy was a geographic place not a political entity at this time.
- Alternate versionsThere are apparently at least 19 different versions of this film, starting with the original 6-hours cut (in a "triptych" format, requiring three projectors on three screens, called Polyvision). It has been shown in various formats and different running times, including a 1934 version re-edited by director Abel Gance and featuring an added soundtrack.
- ConnectionsEdited into Napoléon Bonaparte (1935)
- SoundtracksThe Thrill of Being In Love (Love Theme of Napoleon and Josephine)
Music by Carmine Coppola
Lyrics by Italia Coppola (USA version)
UK version: score by Carl Davis (based largely on works by Beethoven)
Top review
Excellent -- but where's the DVD?
I saw this back in '81 or '82, on the Big Screen at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, with Carmine Coppola conducting a live orchestra -- there has never been anything like that in all my movie-going experience! The closest that's come since was _Intolerance_, restored, with another live orchestra performing under the baton of the composer, Gillian Anderson (no, not the one from the X-Files). That, too, was an occasion to remember ... but where is Napoleon on DVD?
As many other reviewers have said, Napoleon was a relevatory experience. Certainly, other films to that point had used most of the devices Gance employed so brilliantly (except, of course, his three-screen-wide "Polyvision"), but then sound came in and the requirements of the microphone killed the recently mobilized camera. The camera became very static for at least the next ten years of films -- dynamic camera movements only returned when sound mixing came in to being, and scenes could be shot MOS (mit out sound), with foley and overdubbing replacing the missed sounds.
For this reason, Napoleon is important to see -- as a technical achievement. But Gance's artistry wasn't limited to gimmicks. His pacing, editing, and direction of the actors (including Dieudonne as Nappy -- looking amazingly Rod-Stewart-like) is excellent as well.
Highly recommended -- and when the DVD comes out -- hopefully, with the fuller, five-hour restoration, and Coppola's music on one track, with a reconstruction of the original music on another (and perhaps Gillian Anderson has a score of her own to share?) -- you'll owe it to yourself, as a student of Film, to see it, over and over again.
As many other reviewers have said, Napoleon was a relevatory experience. Certainly, other films to that point had used most of the devices Gance employed so brilliantly (except, of course, his three-screen-wide "Polyvision"), but then sound came in and the requirements of the microphone killed the recently mobilized camera. The camera became very static for at least the next ten years of films -- dynamic camera movements only returned when sound mixing came in to being, and scenes could be shot MOS (mit out sound), with foley and overdubbing replacing the missed sounds.
For this reason, Napoleon is important to see -- as a technical achievement. But Gance's artistry wasn't limited to gimmicks. His pacing, editing, and direction of the actors (including Dieudonne as Nappy -- looking amazingly Rod-Stewart-like) is excellent as well.
Highly recommended -- and when the DVD comes out -- hopefully, with the fuller, five-hour restoration, and Coppola's music on one track, with a reconstruction of the original music on another (and perhaps Gillian Anderson has a score of her own to share?) -- you'll owe it to yourself, as a student of Film, to see it, over and over again.
helpful•222
- Bry-2
- Jan 6, 2003
Details
Box office
- Budget
- FRF 20,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $39,448
- Runtime5 hours 30 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
- 4.00:1
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By what name was Napoléon vu par Abel Gance (1927) officially released in India in English?
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