Napoleon Film Review: Abel Gance 1927 - FILMS N THAT #9 

Well I feel that despite that I still got a sense of the character from the 5 1/2 hour long cut - Sam

I would have loved to see that

I'll have to check those out! Not seen many other Gance films actually. We did look at the hays code at uni but I just thought the nudity was out of place in Napoleon! It was just a bit weird...

I'm glad you touched upon a link there between this film and Star Wars. In many ways I like to think of it as an early attempt at an action epic. The events its based on may be historical, but the larger than life figures, action set pieces and as you say, the portrayal of Napoleon as the 'Chosen One' give the film a monomythic hero tale's quality that I can't help but connect to something like Star Wars. Whereas Star Wars was only really intended to be a standalone film, Gance tried to turn Napoleon into a franchise of sorts. It's just a shame we never got the sequels as were intended. A bit of a stretch, but I do recall in one scene a market vendor selling carved wooden idols of Napoleon, perhaps the film might have even patented the first action figure tie ins had it been a success. - Sam

It did cross my mind as ironic that Gance was aiming for six films and ended up with one, where Lucas also had a bigger story arc (as shown in his original "Journal of the Whills", for example) but ended up with a six film franchise (prior to the sequel trilogy) when SW turned out to be a box office hit. I certainly agree that it's an early attempt at an action epic, and there's no end to the parallels with the fate of the SW universe. In addition to the parallels in the light and sound effects that you pointed to, Gance not only revisited the film (which George Lucas does a lot too, whence the changes to the DVD releases), he also (eventually) did make a sequel, an "episode IV" called AUSTERLITZ (I like your idea that NAPOLÉON was actually two films, so we'll call it Ep I and II) that starts in 1802 and ends on the evening of Austerlitz (1805). A further irony is that the sequel insists on the Emperor as a man of peace (a view defended by AJP Taylor and others, and which isn't incompatible with being a military genius) forced into war against his wishes by a third (third of seven, from 1792 to 1815) coalition that aimed to destroy the ideals of the Revolution and restore the Old Régime. I say "irony" because you referred to him as a general, rather than as a statesman and military commander (in Churchill's words, "the great Emperor and warrior"). Although we don't get to see him become First Consul, First Consul for Life, and then Emperor, we do see scenes that show his passion for science and mathematics, a real-life trait that adds comic relief as well as grandeur and pathos to at least two scenes in the film. I'd say which, but I prefer to avoid spoilers. Along with other moments that show him in a chivalrous light, deeply depressed, impoverished or inlove, it brings out the civil side of him. There are obvious reasons why Napoleon is often seen as a brilliant war time leader, whether from friendly sources or hostile ones. But it's also interesting that Gance chose to take the story up again at precisely the moment when Napoleon succeeds in getting the British government to sign a peace treaty (which the hard liners in the Tory party immediately set about sabotaging), and just at the moment when he founds the Legion of Honour, signs a Concordat with the Pope (putting an end to war with the Catholic Church) and so on. It's a lasting claim to fame that, when you add it to his other constructive efforts, explains why Gance chose to start in 1802, not 1803, 1804 or 1805. Napoleon's role in making the ideas of the Revolution palatable again (much of the country having suffered from the side effects of 1792-1799) and reconciling the French with each other shows Gance still going all-out with the Chosen One theme, and even putting a few Easter eggs in AUSTERLITZ for those who'd seen NAPOLÉON. Although the carved wooden dolls, busts and so on of Napoleon were already a tie-in in the 1790s, and marble busts of the Emperor are even cited in Vincent Cronin's biography (Napoleon, 1994 ed, HarperCollins) as being the item most in constant demand from the Tuscan marble quarries that his sister Elisa set to work again, it's not implausible to imagine figurines, dolls and statuettes based on the film. I think that some were actually made, independently, but I'll look that up myself before being categorical on the subject. The figurine shown in NAPOLÉON struck me as familiar, and I realised that I'd seen it before, as an engraving by Raffet (I mentioned Easter eggs - if you look up prints by Raffet, I've noticed he likes to slip dogs into his pictures). Something else you said struck me, in view of some of the foreshadowing that Gance does. In one scene where he takes flowers to Josephine, we see him playing with her children (he later officially adopted her son and married her daughter to one of his brothers), his future wife accidentally tramples the flowers. Anyone who knows that she went on to break his heart would get the hint, but it does rely on either A) as you said, familiarity with the era and the characters, or B) seeing the episodes that Gance didn't get to film. As a last thought, before this becomes a draft for a future academic paper, it's worth mentioning that Kubrick put years of work into a similar project that was supposed to span Napoleon's entire life, and then had to use the money and some of the planning to film BARRY LYNDON because WATERLOO (1970) gave his backers cold feet. Apparently Steven Spielberg has taken the idea up - ironic, when you think that it was his idea that Darth Vader be Luke's father - as a mini-series, so it'll be interesting to see what Mr Spielberg brings to the table after Gance and the host of other directors who've contributed to making Napoleon the Great the most portrayed historical figure in the history of film.

Films 'n' That i want to know: is a wig? and the kid actor, is dead? thx

@@janicstone6020 yes

​@@NapoleonCallandi knwo this is a six year old comment but I really want to know what you think of the new film by Ridley Scott

That'll be why the images don't line up perfectly then! I didn't know that thanks for letting me know! Rob

It is the most complete version of the film and amazing that it took this long for it to come out! Definitely worth getting hold of somehow. Glad you like our videos! Sure we'll do that, we've been meaning to do a Bresson film.

Thanks Kieron! I realise after making this video that's it's just 3x 4:3 which as you say is 4:1!

@@FilmsnThat so innovative considering the year it was released. Filmmakers and audiences were only just getting their heads around one frame let alone 3 stiched together fairly seamlessly. Have you done Dziga Vertov Man With a Movie Camera? Unbelievable complex editing techniques in that

That's what I love about watching films from the birth of cinema. There's no guidance on what you should do so they try all sorts of things that you don't see today. We've not done that film on here but I have seen it. It's pretty much entirely experiments for what can be done with cinema.

@@FilmsnThat that's why I'm glad that you guys are shining a spotlight on these movies. I am hoping that there will be a renewed interest in the earliest films as an antidote to modern big budget blockbusters

Thanks Kieron, me too! We probably will do MWAMC at some point as it's an important film to talk about.

We did a review on it, all the posters are films we've talked about on the show.