Abel Gance"s Epic "Napoleon" Screens in San Francisco
Documenting Film and Film as Document
All movies -- documentary or narrative, or a combination of the two -- are documents of their time. Preservation and restoration of films that reflect the political and social issues and mores prevalent during the eras in which they were made is extremely important.
Kudos to Kevin Brownlow, the Academy Award-winning film historian, documentarian, and archivist, for bringing back to light filmmaker Abel Gance's legendary silent epic, Napoleon.
Abel Gance's Napoleon, a dramatic and emotionally-charged narrative feature starring Albert Dieudonne in the title role, with Vladimir Roudenko playing Napoleon as a lonely, vulnerable boy who, in the opening sequence, leads an army of students in a snowball fight. That battle is soon followed by another, a pillow fight during which Gance split the screen into nine sections, each of which had to be filmed separately -- with the sections blocked off inside the camera. The scene remains, to this day, an extraordinary cinematic feat. One, among many.
Gance's perspective on the character of Napoleon is also of interest. Its an overwhelming positive profile that might be interpreted as a reflection of prevailing thought during the era in which the film was made, but that might not be quite accurate. This is actually the first of six films Gance had planned to make about Napoleon, but the others, which might have brought the warrior down a notch or two, were never produced.
The Brownlow version of Napoleon will have its US premiere in Oakland, California's historic 3000-seat, Art Deco Paramount Theater in four special screenings presented by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (SFSFF) on March 24, 25 and 31 and April 1, 2012.
The presentation also marks the U.S. premiere of the film's new orchestral score, composed by Carl Davis, who will conduct the Oakland East Bay Symphony at the screenings.
The screenings mark the first time in nearly 30 years since Napoleon has been shown in America, in any form and with full orchestra. This is the first time the Davis score will be presented in America.
Napoleon climaxes with a grand finale in "Polyvision," a system that utilizes three specially-installed synchronized projectors to expand the regular viewing screen to three times its normal width. "Polyvision is the technology that preceded Cinerama, which was not introduced until a quarter of a century later.
SFSFF's screenings will begin in the afternoon, with the almost six hours-long film shown in four parts, with two short intermissions and a dinner break.
The Brownlow Restoration
The Brownlow restoration, produced with his partner Patrick Stanbury at Photoplay Productions in association with the British Film Institute, is the most complete version of Gance's masterpiece since its 1927 premiere at the Paris Opéra.It has taken Brownlow and associates more than three decades to overcome the technical challenges and raise the funds necessary to complete the restoration and ready it for presentation.
Brownlow's restoration of Napoleon has been an ongoing process. The restoration's first iteration was screened at Telluride Film Festival in 1979, with Abel Gance, then 89 years of age, watching from a nearby hotel window.
During the early 1980s, a four hour version was screened at San Francisco's Castro Theater, and that version was toured by Francis Ford Coppola, screening in New York City's Radio City Music Hall and other selected venues around the U.S. and abroad. That touring version also presented the "Polyvision" finale and had a score composed by Coppola's father, Carmine.
Brownlow did additional restoration work in 1983.
The current restoration reclaims some 30 minutes of footage gathered from archives around the world. Its format is a unique 35mm print that was processed using the original dye-bath techniques, thereby accurately recreating the color tints and tones of the initial release prints and giving the images extraordinary vividness.
San Francisco Silent Film Festival
The four-screening presentation of Napoleon is SFSFF's most ambitious project to date. The festival, world-famous for presenting silent films with live music and renowned for the high artistic quality and technical integrity of its presentations, was founded in 1994 to demonstrate the artistry, diversity, and enduring cultural value of silent movies, and to make sure these rare and vulnerable films remain accessible to current and future audiences.With its enticing presentation that blend artistry, scholarship and showmanship, SFSFF has a worldwide following of film lovers, filmmakers, historians, archivists and other industry personnel who attend its flagship festival, held annually in July, and special events -- such as the four screenings of Napoleon -- scheduled throughout the year.
More information about SFSFF, the annual schedule of events and reservations for Napoleon visit the SFSFF Website.
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