CONSENSUS #17. Napoleon (1927)

 

SYNOPSIS: This is the famous silent movie masterpiece that covers Napoleon's life from boyhood through his victory in Italy. Director Abel Gance creates a tour de force that is a must see for cinephiles.

BACK-STORY: “Napoleon” is a silent classic written, directed, produced, and acted in by Abel Gance. It is a French film that was released in 1927. It was planned as the first of six episodes, but only the first was made because of cost. Just this first one was originally over six hours long (in one of the many versions). In spite of its importance in cinema history it did not do well in the U.S., partly because audiences were making the transition to “talkies”. The film rose from the dead in 1981 when, after twenty years of searching the world for copies of the movie, silent film historian Kevin Brownlow (the first film historian to win an Academy Award) restored the movie. Recently it was shown in Oakland sponsored by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival to rave reviews.

Belle and Blade  =  N/A

Brassey’s              =  5.0

Video Hound       =  4.4

War Movies         =  N/A

Military History  =  #37

Channel 4             =  #67

Film Site                =  yes

101 War Movies  =  yes

Rotten Tomatoes  =  no 

HISTORICAL ACCURACY: “Napoleon” is not meant to be a documentary. Since most people do not know much about his childhood and early career, you get the basics here. Gance certainly gets the personality right. He also does a good job in filtering in the Reign of Terror and its personalities.

The Brienne College section rings true. Napoleon was treated as an outsider. However, he did not win the big snowball fight. Just kidding. His return home is well done. His mother did love him and the family did revolve around him. He did get caught up in the island’s politics, but they were boring and confusing so I can’t vouch for the movie’s accuracy. I’m pretty sure he did not escape in a dinghy and almost die in a storm only to be picked up by a ship carrying his brothers which was spared Nelson’s destruction because of a clueless British captain.

The Toulon section is fine. Napoleon did come into his own at the siege. He did push for the attack on the redoubt which cracked open the British position. He was in the thick of the fighting and was actually bayonetted (which is strangely not shown in the movie).

Napoleon did get put under house arrest during the Terror, but was not imprisoned. I found no evidence that Josephine was put in prison. I’m pretty sure they were not spared the guillotine because someone ate the documents. The scene at the Victims’ Ball is based on the legend that relatives of guillotine victims would get together to celebrate their survival after the death of Robespierre. These were supposedly wild affairs that were orgiastic in nature so the movie is pretty close, if they ever occurred.

The whole Josephine romance smacks of whatever the French equivalent of Hollywood is. The movie does accurately depict that she was Barras’ mistress before he passed her on to Napoleon. Napoleon was infatuated with her and did write her copious love letters.

The Army of Italy part is too simplistic. The basics are right. The army was in bad shape and greatly outnumbered. Napoleon did show a lot of “l’audace” by going on the offensive. It would have been cool if Gance had chosen to reenact the Bridge at Lodi incident when Napoleon led his troops across a fire-swept bridge and thus cemented his charismatic hold over his men. Speaking of which, where was the “whiff of grapeshot” episode. A modern filmmaker would not pass up the opportunity to blast a mob with cannons.

OPINION: You don’t have to go to film school if you see this movie. Plus it is slightly shorter than film school. Gance throws the kitchen sink at this movie. Quick cuts, close-ups, hand-held, superimposition, multiple exposures, POV, blurred action. The only thing I did not see was slo-mo. The variety is amazing. There is even a variety of tinting. Some scenes are blueish, some are brownish, and some are greyish. The cinematography is mesmerizing. Some scenes build to a crescendo of action. The bells and whistles overcome the flaws, of which there are a few. Some scenes are too long. The first half (up to the death of Murat) is stronger than the second half.

And then after all this, he closes with the famous triptych section. Gance called the technique “panavision”. It anticipated Cinerama by thirty years. The Italy invasion scenes are projected by a trio of projectors on a widened screen. Here variety comes to the fore again. Sometimes it’s a widescreen view. Sometimes the left and right images are mirrors of each other (why?). Other times three different views are on screen.

The acting is typical for a silent movie. Those facial expressions! And the close-ups. Basically their faces express like the Japanese inflect in their samurai movies. I had a hard time not laughing a few times. They are so earnest! There is some intentional comedy of the slapstick variety. Both Roudenko and Dieudonne are excellent as Napoleon. The rest of the cast is satisfactory. The score is worth noting. The version I watched used the score developed by Carmine Coppola (Francis Ford Coppola’s father) which incorporated classical music sources. It fit the movie very well and adds to the experience.

The theme of the movie is destiny. Napoleon is destined to rule. Gance was obviously a big fan of his. The movie is patriotic and hagiographic. It would have been interesting to find out if that would have continued throughout all six movies.
 
In conclusion, I certainly enjoyed it and feel good about having seen it. It truly can be called a must-see for all cinephiles and I envy those who were privileged to see it in Oakland. What an experience that must have been! This project has taught me to watch movies more critically as to direction and cinematography. I am still an amateur in these areas, but even I can see the brilliance of Gance’s work. Most war movies you don’t notice the director’s technique and that’s okay, but sometimes you want to marvel at the craft. This movie is marvelous.