Napoleon
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VHS Movie Reviews of Napoleon
Movie Review: Dated, but Still Fascinating
Summary: 4 Stars
One of the saddest stories in film history is the blighted career of Abel Gance, a filmmaking genius whose work is virtually unknown and unavailable, even today. Gance, to some degree, was the master of his own fate, since he seems to have lost his nerve after *Napoleon* flopped in America. That we have *Napoleon* at all today is thanks largely to besotted fan Kevin Brownlow, who spent years combing flea markets and film archives for any scrap of the original--a fair bit, we are told, was irretrievably lost, but the bulk of the film is here (the offical BFA print is about 45 minutes longer than the version released by Zoetrope, by the way).Why not 5 stars? Maybe because a video version cannot hope to reproduce the awesome power of the three-screen ending--even wide-screen TVs don't give you the overwhelming sense of marching with Napoleon's army at the film's end. I was fortunate to have seen this film in a symphony hall with a live orchestra on its re-release, and the video is a pale souvenir of that experience. Maybe, also, because there are long stretches that don't quite hold up as well as they did in 1927--the political stuff is thrilling, as are the battle sequences, but there is, for example, a lengthy sojourn in Corsica with Napoleon's family that goes nowhere, and is pretty conventional silent-film fare. Gance's film suffers at times from naive hero worship and slushy sentimentality, even as it is cinematically daring and revloutionary. Still, at over 4 hours, you expect some bits to drag--see this film, if you can, for the recreation of the French Revolution (including an audacious silent-film rendering of the first public performance of "La Marseillaise"!), for the exellent "double storm" sequence, and for the glorious finish. See it, also, for some unforgettable character sketches--Robespierre and Antonin Artaud's Marat are brilliant, as is Gance's own portrayal of the ruthless St Just. With all its flaws, it's still astonishing, especially set against Kevin Brownlow's own story of the restoration.
In the DVD age, it would be nice to see a DVD version of the BFA Napoleon, as well as what's left of Gance's other magnificent silent films.
Movie Review: A genuine classic
Summary: 5 Stars
Remarkable, engrossing epic that was something of a life work for its inspired director Abel Gance. Re-issued after restoration, with much fanfare, in 1981. The story deals with Napleon?s youth and early successes, rather than his Empire days. Indeed the making of this movie was an epic seemingly as long and inspired as its subject. Among a torrent of innovations, Gance had cameras mounted on moving objects such as firing cannon; shot a segment in color and another in a ?3-D? process similar to those popular in the 1950s (but in 1927!) but decided that he didn?t like these effects after all; and pioneered wide-screen film, with three adjacent cameras making contiguous images, in outdoor segments seen in the later parts of the 1981 release. The hell of it is, this film is not about film technique but rather about the story and the actors. Gance himself appears as the revolutionary leader Louis Antoine de Saint-Just; Albert Dieudonn? in the title role is possessed by his character, whom he well mimics in appearance; and you won?t forget Robespierre, peering at the world and his colleagues through his sinister dark glasses. Although released on black-and-white film, many scenes are tinted (in, naturally, the Tricolor blue-white-and-red), with some of the three-camera wide-screen segments underscoring this point via simultaneous Tricolor tinting.Though I don?t know this for certain, it would not surprise me if this movie showed up on top-10 lists of many serious film buffs. That is, film buffs who have actually seen a few films besides the latest Tom Cruise, and therefore have basis from which to comment. (...). Film buffs long familiar with major films like Intolerance and Battleship Potemkin and The Red Balloon and the Warners 1940s _films noirs_ and Bondarchuk?s War and Peace (the largest feature film ever made, by several measures) and La Ronde and 8 ? and Shadows of [Our] Forgotten Ancestors and Witness for the Prosecution and All Quiet on the Western Front and Olympia and Grand Illusion and the Powell-Pressburger spy dramas and Green for Danger and Mon Oncle and A Man for All Seasons and It Happened One Night, that sort of thing.
Movie Review: Why I didn't give it five stars
Summary: 4 Stars
I've read the other reviews. I agree with them, and I won't bother to repeat what they say. This is a great film. However, I chose to award the film four stars instead of five because of Gance's tendency to fixate and belabor. For example, the snowball fight scene at the beginning made its point long before Gance allowed the scene to end. Even people who don't have short attention spans might justifiably wonder when the movie is going to move on. Gance stops and smells the roses so much that in four hours he gets only up to Napoleon's first major campaign. Other directors could have gotten us up to Moscow and back in four hours (although perhaps they could be criticized for not stopping to smell the roses enough). If you are looking for a film whose plot sweeps you along, this is not it. (Don't get me wrong -- the music, scenery, costumes, camera action, etc. do sweep you along -- but not the plot.) If you are looking for a film that picks and finely crafts one scenario after another, this is it.Movie Review: Casablanca? Citizen Kane? FORGET IT!!! NAPOLEON!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have always been an admirer of Napoleon, loving his great battles and his work as an estadist. And this movie is, perhaps, the greatest ressemblance of the frech conqueror. Abel Gance was ahead of his time. He was ahead of everything. The edition, coloring, and...music (thanks Carmine!)makes this movie the greatest ever. I always thought that Casablanca or Citizen Kane were tops, but...none of them surpass the quality and artistic touch of Abel Gance's Napoleon. More than a classic...THE CLASSICMovie Review: Vive la France!
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the really great screen gems, the 1927 silent Napoleon is both stunning and quite memorable. Made between the wars in war torn France, it is heavily patriotic much in the same vein as Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky...drawing from past events and characters to encourage nationalism, which isn't always a bad thing!It portrays Napoleon as a very human yet distinct messianic figure, full of prophetic utterances, images, and even a call to enter the promised land at the end of the film! The acting ranges from very good to typical silent film fare...a bit theatrical, since the actors spent the majority of their careers on the stage in the early days of cinema. But overall, it is quite good with memorable characterizations, especially the part of Napoleon as both child and adult.
The camerawork is amazing, close-ups, extreme long shots,superimpositions, hand held, on horseback, or swinging over a riotous crowd...and of course, the "polyvision".
There are so many vivid images here..from the young dejected Napoleon trying to sleep on a cannon on the school attic in winter, Toulons, Napoleon asleep on the field of battle while being promoted, a sea storm worthy of most films for the next half a century and intense battle sequences. There are moments that are intensely patriotic and prophetic along with several that are genuinely comical.
The score added by Carmine Coppola in the early 80's is also quite memorable. A score for a four hour silent film requires something of near Wagnerian proportions, and Coppola does well in creating a coherent score filled with French patriotism and some of the classics as well as his own inventions. The opening titles are vivid. A vigorous drum corp approaches steadily as a horn fanfare builds dramatically and with growing dissonance, building in intensity and finally blazing out in a glorious major chord....and the strings don't appear until the Napoleon theme, proud, youthful and full of optimism.
This is one of the great cinematic feats of the century, as well as being one of the great restorations of all time. It is great to watch....and hear!