Napoleon (1927) + Extras

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.



Audio commentary with Paul Cuff
Dr. Paul Cuff is the writer of “A Revolution for the Screen: Abel Gance's Napoleon” and gives a 5.5 hour commentary track - possibly a record for a solo audio commentary? Even with the lengthy time, Cuff is able to talk for the entire duration with very little overlapping material in the process. He is knowledgeable about the real Napoleon and the French Revolution and gives insights into the differences between reality and fiction, extensive notes about Gance and his direction, as well as biographies on the actors. Also mentioned are information about lost scenes or scenes from the shooting script but never filmed, and how the film inspired many other films, especially the children and pillow fight scene being directly homaged in “Zero de conduite” by Jean Vigo and “The 400 Blows” by Francois Truffaut.

Extras:
– "The Charm of Dynamite" (1968) documentary (51:34). This BBC TV Documentary on Abel Gance was directed by Kevin Brownlow and aired in 1968. Narrated by Lindsay Anderson, there are extensive clips from “J’accuse” and “La rue” though it basically spoils the whole story for that film. Also included are footage of Gance visiting England in 1965 with interviews and clips of his masterpiece “Napoleon”. Not only does it feature clips from the film, but it also has behind the scenes footage which we can see how intricate and creative the camera setups were and how difficult the shooting was. The documentary has been transferred from the original 16mm film negative and looks wonderful. Scratches are non-existent except for the scenes of the film clips used.
– Tryptich Left Panel (21:20)
– Tryptich Centre Panel (21:20)
– Tryptich Right Panel (21:20)
– Single Screen Ending (15:17)