Word: abel
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...four-and-a-half hours, Abel Gance depicts the simultaneous birth of Liberty and Despotism...
Paris, 1927. Abel Gance's four-and-a-half-hour monument to nationalism opens at the Theatre de l'Opera. Gance expects that his techniques and innovations will revolutionize film. He is particularly proud of Polyvision, used at the end of the film. The screen widens, and on three separate panels, three different film sequences run simultaneously: the physical, emotional, and intellectual portrait of a nation. In the last frames, the Imperial Eagle, wings stretched to encompass the globe, fills all three screens. Gance is already planning the two sequels to Napoleon--provided he can get the funding...
...film is well-received, but history turns nasty on Abel Gance. Six months after Napoleon, Al Jolson does a little softshoe number; talkies are in, Polyvision is out. In desperation and disgust, Gance burns part of the footage. Who cares now where the life of the Corsican Eagle ends up? The reels are dispersed across the globe...
...statement of a man's life isolated in the flow of history, it stands as a testimony to Napoleon. As a tapestry of a bloody time begetting yet another, it is unparalleled. Now, as in 1927, Napoleon reflects the vision of an era, through the unique vision of Abel Gance.Mamaroneck, N.Y., 1921 Abel Gance congratulated by D.W. Griffith after the American premiere of J'accuse...
...When I began working on the score," Coppola continues, "I have two ideas I tried to integrate. Abel Gance was concerned with presenting a man, not a documentary. He wanted to involve his audience. So while I knew that the music had to be contemporary, I decided to rely on the Revolutionary and Romantic music from Napoleon's France...