Abel Gance (1889–1981)

Here I found the most stunning photography and projection of any film I can rermember. Abel Gance is using innovating techniques like rapid cutting, superimposition etc., that influenced filmmakers hence and that make the film unforgettable, in particular the crowd scenes, like the battle scenes during the siege of Toulon, the tumultuous meetings of the National Assembly etc. Albert Dieudonné, as Napoleon, gives a magnificent performance. This restored version of the film will be released on DVD in a week’s time, but it really needs to be seen on a large screen, as large as possible.

The English Wikipedia entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napol%C3%A9on_(1927_film) gives a fairly comprehensive summary of the scenes starting with the young Buonaparte at Brienne College and ending with the Italian campaign 1796. (The location of the Montenotte battle site can be revisited here: http://www.historydata.com/places/montenotte.php ).

In a BBC Radio4 broadcast on Sunday 13th Nov. 2016 (available as a podcast) Kevin Brownlow talks about his 50 year quest to restore Abel Gance's silent masterpiece Napoleon to its present five and half hours, and about his still continuing search for missing scenes and the composer Carl Davis talks about his approach and the difficulties he faced and still faces.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b081tdpf or http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/b081tdpf

I have chosen a poster that was drawn by Kevin Brownlow’s father for one of the first screenings of some film material he arranged for friends (https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/movie-poster-of-the-week-abel-gances-napoleon )

Other interesting websites:

http://www.brentonfilm.com/news/kevin-brownlows-napoleon-to-make-long-awaited-de...
http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/N/Napoleon1927.html
and http://www.silentera.com/info/napoleonRestoration.html… (plus d'informations)