• Napoleon Returns

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      There is no other movie like Napoleon. Abel Gance’s silent 1927 masterpiece is a truly legendary work of cinema, for which the director pulled out all the stops technically, experimenting with camera, screen width, and editing in ways that still blow the mind today. Gance’s original cut, shown over two days in Paris, is said to have been more than nine hours long. Various shortened versions showed all over the world after that premiere, but most of the original footage has long been lost.

      The Oscar-winning historian Kevin Brownlow, who has been committed to reconstructing the film for decades, talked to us about Gance’s visionary filmmaking, on the eve of a handful of screenings of his latest, five-and-a-half hour restoration of the film, at the historic Paramount Theater in Oakland, California, March 24, 25, and 31 and April 1.

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      Director Abel Gance as Saint-Just in Napoleon

      “Abel Gance was given the money to make six pictures about Napoleon’s life,” says Brownlow. “And he used the money for all six to make the first. I think he felt he had to produce something so staggering that the public would forget they hadn’t seen Waterloo, or Saint Helena and the rest. That’s why he gave them such an astonishing picture.”

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      “There has never been a film involving so much camera experimentation: footage exists showing cameras mounted on sleds, on cables, on overhead pendulums, and even on the back of a horse.”

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      “Gance tended to use multiple cameras on his films. On Napoleon, he had dozens. He had enough cameras that he could produce enough negatives to make a completely different version.”

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      Napoleon climaxes with a sequence in which the screen becomes a triptych, three projectors working in tandem to stretch the total aspect ratio to 4:1. The format by which this was achieved, called Polyvision, was devised especially for the production.

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      “Even the large screen was too small for Gance. He had the idea that if he put one camera looking to the left, one looking ahead, and one to the right, he’d have an enormous panorama,” says Brownlow.

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      Before he died in 1981, Gance himself was instrumental in helping Brownlow piece Napoleon back together. When Brownlow presented a four-hour-plus version at the Telluride Film Festival in 1979, Gance was in attendance. (The above photograph of the two was taken in 1967.)

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      “Gance anticipated making more films about Napoleon,” says Brownlow. “But it was not to be. Had this one made a great deal of money, Gance might have gotten to make more.”

    Next
    Large_disaster

      Intro  

    There is no other movie like Napoleon. Abel Gance’s silent 1927 masterpiece is a truly legendary work of cinema, for which the director pulled out all the stops technically, experimenting with camera, screen width, and editing in ways that still blow the mind today. Gance’s original cut, shown over two days in Paris, is said to have been more than nine hours long. Various shortened versions showed all over the world after that premiere, but most of the original footage has long been lost.

    The Oscar-winning historian Kevin Brownlow, who has been committed to reconstructing the film for decades, talked to us about Gance’s visionary filmmaking, on the eve of a handful of screenings of his latest, five-and-a-half hour restoration of the film, at the historic Paramount Theater in Oakland, California, March 24, 25, and 31 and April 1.

     
     
     

    Photo Galleries, Interviews

32 comments

  • By RJfour
    March 23, 2012
    08:07 PM

    I think I saw this in Mpls at the Walker Art Museum in some form...many years ago!! 70's?
    Reply

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  • By ColemanShedman
    March 23, 2012
    08:34 PM

    No current plans for it to tour or for a release. Everyone is talking about it but no one can see it. What is the point of restoring/preserving films if no one can actually see them?
    Reply

  • By John Robert Hammerer
    March 23, 2012
    10:07 PM

    this is going to new york, either in theaters or on blu-ray. if not, expect me at your offices shortly...
    Reply

  • By Milo_Mindbender
    March 24, 2012
    12:29 AM

    Got my tickets for this Sunday....
    Reply

  • By Dex
    March 24, 2012
    01:33 AM

    This has been at the top of my most wanted unreleased films for awhile. Should be the Blu-ray release of the year, .. seriously psyched.
    Reply

  • By Phil
    March 24, 2012
    03:04 PM

    From the Spring 2012 issue of Cineaste magazine: "Special presentations of this sort are often used to kick off a series of screenings or the eventual release of the film on home video. Brownlow and [Patrick] Stanbury [Brownlow's associate at Photoplay Productions], however, were both quick to thwart any speculation that this presentation signals an eventual tour, or a DVD or Blu-ray release. There are, alas, no subsequent screenings of Napoleon planned due to the expense and challenges of its presentation; as Patrick Stanbury explained, "It's a very complicated thing to mount, and not many theaters would be suitable for this..." And while both Brownlow and Stanbury agree it would be wonderful to arrange a DVD or Blu-ray release, the enormous cost of preparing a home-video edition of Napoleon means there is no immediate prospect of this happening." Sounds daunting to me. Criterion, can you just sit back and let this go by? Well, I say you can't do it, either. Now prove everyone wrong and get to work!
    Reply

  • By Robert
    March 24, 2012
    04:31 PM

    I hate to be the sobering voice of bad news but from everything I've read and how I understand it, I think that there are too many barbed wire hoops to clamber through in order to get this film released on any sort of home video format. Still, I'm with everyone else, it would be nice to own a beautiful edition to study, though this strikes me definitely as the quintessential cinema going experience; if you can, try and see it screened at all costs. The way they are hyping this upcoming screening - and I wish it were exaggerated - this is a once in a generational experience. The last time it was screened in the US was 30 years ago, and it may be just as long before we get a chance to see it again.
    Reply

  • By Shaun Pearson
    March 24, 2012
    06:31 PM

    You're forgetting one glaring piece of evidence though Robert in favor of a Criterion release. They rarely promote films unless they offer them for sale or are planning a future release. Lots can happen though - let's keep our collective fingers crossed. And all the hype over seeing it on the big screen is for a very lucky few who have access to the very few screens showing it. Most of us need a DVD/Blu-ray release if we ever hope to see it. Maybe TCM will air it.
    Reply

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    • By godzilla
      March 24, 2012
      08:24 PM

      I repeat my earlier comment...no Blu-ray! This movie must be seen as it was intended to be seen. Criterion cannot simply release this to DVD as though it were another People's Choice movie. They need to take it on tour, even if it is only a shadow of it's original version. I saw this film on 16mm back in the 70's and I've been hoping that someone would take on it's resurrection. That you, Criterion. Now give this film - and it's creator - their due.

    • By Shaun
      March 27, 2012
      03:19 PM

      ...and to heck the 95% of people who can't get to a big city? Whatever buddy! Besides, I obviously welcome the theatrical release. I was simply countering the statement by David that it would never be released on ANY format, ever. I'm hoping this makes it to some sort of home-viewing medium. Reading comprehension - it's a skill.

  • By David Leamon
    March 25, 2012
    10:34 AM

    Saw this film years ago and still think about it to this day . An amazing monumental film and am hoping it comes to my area in its new restoration .
    Reply

  • By jmdecombe
    March 25, 2012
    12:17 PM

    What a delightful experience! A fantastic movie as an ode to Napoléon's genius, supported by an amazing orchestra in the fabulous Art Deco setting that is the Paramount Theater in Oakland. The crowd thoroughly enjoyed it and it all ended in a long standing ovation. Cinema the way it is meant to be experienced...
    Reply

  • By Gabe
    March 25, 2012
    04:10 PM

    Is there any date for blu ray release?
    Reply

  • By Silent-Freak
    March 27, 2012
    09:30 AM

    I hope this happens. This is just screaming Criterion!
    Reply

  • By Mark74
    March 27, 2012
    12:13 PM

    Wow. I've never seen it, it looks simply incredible.
    Reply

  • By dasboot4211
    March 27, 2012
    10:08 PM

    I have only seen this movie masterpiece twice. Once in film school in all it's glory and then on VHS tape. All I can say is that the long wait is finally over. A cinema legend returns, Abel Gance's NAPOLEON. Thank you ,thank you, and thank you Criterion. Movie fans you are about to be treated to a wonderful feast for the eyes. Really ,and I'm not trying to be cliche about this, there is nothing like Napoleon. Everyone enjoy.
    Reply

  • By Locho
    March 28, 2012
    08:51 AM

    I still own exactly one VHS and it is the double-tape release of Abel Gance's masterpiece. Granted it is not the best way to view Napoleon, but at least it is a glimpse of Gance's genius. I am hoping that the showing in California is successful so this version does tour so I can see it on the big screen, but, please Criterion, release the best version you can. Until then, I still dust off the VCR once a year and enjoy the grainy masterpiece.
    Reply

  • By Art Young
    March 28, 2012
    09:00 PM

    I have it on BETAMAX from MCI - and thus haven't been able to watch it for years. It's all very well to show it in theatres (as was done a couple of years ago with "Metropolis"), but it's not the type of film that's going to hit the local multiplex. By all means, put it on disc, charge a top price for it (with some of the money going to fund more restorations), ANYTHING - just get it out where we can see/own it! Quite frankly, at this point I'd even accept a re-release of the MCI version or that Korean copy.
    Reply

  • By E. D. Tremper
    June 02, 2012
    09:43 PM

    Keep in mind that many like myself, who have never seen the film in any format, are concerned less about the "viewing compromises" than we are about simply being able to see what we are being told is one of the greatest films ever made. It isn't as if we can simply accept that we'll have to try and catch a live presentation (if we ever get the opportunity) after we've gotten this much hype about it. We need to SEE it!!!
    Reply

  • By TimH
    June 25, 2012
    12:22 AM

    I saw it in January 1981 at Radio City Music Hall with Carmine Coppola conducting a 50+ orchestra. At the end, a telephone was brought on stage and we were told that Gance was at the other end, listening to our loud and prolonged cheers. It was an amazing, magical night.
    Reply

  • By Raulmanny
    June 29, 2012
    01:26 PM

    I want to see the movie too, however this is a must see on a theater, like I did w/ the re-release of Lawrence of Arabia
    Reply

  • By Rik
    September 25, 2012
    07:53 AM

    I managed to miraculously buy a LEGITIMATE DVD of a KOREAN release a decade or so ago....there was an English subtitle which mercifully replaces the Korean Script. It has the wonderful Coppola soundtrack. I would miss the musical sections about the Marseillaise and the Terror under Robespierre Marat and Danton. I understand the new score is good but I know it would never replace the perfection that is the Coppola score esp in these parts. WHEN WILL IT BE RELEASED on BLURAY or 4K with several loss-less or DTS - MS audio tracks so you can choose the recent OR the Coppola score remastered in GLORIOUS 5.1. I'd settle for a theatrical release via the FATHOM events sponsored by TCM. WHY KEEP THIS GEM HIDDEN???? Release and get it over with. It's all about greed, money and ego I'd venture. I can hear some LAME excuse. Any excuse would be lame. Would you lock up the Sistine Chapel? Silence KODOD drumming?Box up the Mona Lisa? Break apart the Pieta? Close the doors of St Peter's? NO. This is in the ratified air that transcends mere art art. It is a moment in time that is something that everyone should aspire to see. So whoever "owns" the rights - get over it and release it - ONLY in a high resolution video and a dts -MA 5.1 soundtracks that I would love to edit for this release.
    Reply

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