36. NAPOLEON (1927)

Running Time: 235 minutes
Directed By: Abel Gance
Written By: Abel Gance
Main Cast: Albert Dieudonne, Edmond Van Daele, Alexandre Koubitzky, Antonin Artaud, Abel Gance

SILENCE FALLS AGAIN

NOTE: With "Napoleon" we come to the issue of running time, yet again, as the film actually has a slew of different versions, each with different lengths. I managed to finally track this one down on the net, so I really didn't care which version I came across, I was watching it no matter what. Anyway, I found the 1981 reissue of the film by Francis Ford Coppola, which clocks in at nearly four hours. THE BOOK cites the film as 378 minutes, but also notes that as the running time of the original version, a version that's basically obsolete at this point. In 2000, film historian Kevin Brownlow restored the film, which clocked in at 333 minutes and a version that most people will tell you to track down, if you can find it, as it's essentially the most complete version that exists. In my case, I was just fine with Coppola's version. 

It's kind of cool that three years to the month since I started my journey through the pages of the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" book, I return to where it all started, the genre of silence. Ever since I saw and fell in love with Abel Gance's "La Roue" back in October 2009, I've been trying...and trying...and trying to track down his second and last feature from THE BOOK - "Napoleon". Last night, while making my umpteenth attempt at finding it somewhere on the net, a Google search paid off and got me one leap closer to journey's end.

I just wish it would have been good...

I didn't like "Napoleon" folks, not even the slightest little bit. Well, I take that back because, in fact, "Napoleon" started out with a glimmer of promise. We zoom in on Napoleon Bonaparte as a school age child, engaging in a snowball fight with his childhood enemies. Bonaparte as a child last about twenty-five minutes, before we're thrust into his adulthood and his military career. I'm not even going to get into the whole film and the full plot synopsis for the simple reason that I just spent four hours with this film and I can't even bear to relive it for five more minutes. My one saving grace is that I stumbled upon a version that was only 235 minutes and not a version that exceeded 300 minutes, for that may have literally bored me to death. "Napoleon" is LONG....too long, in fact and it drags like snail carrying a backpack full of bricks. I tried to imagine myself watching this film back in 2009, put into place between "The Jazz Singer" and "The Kid Brother" and asked myself, "Would I have liked it then?" "Do I just not like it because it's been so long since I've seen a silent film?" The answer was a resounding "no" on both accounts. "Napoleon" wouldn't have had a hope in hell of making my first TOP 20, no more hope than it has of making my sixth TOP 20.

The one thing I will give to Abel Gance and his filming of "Napoleon" is the innovation that was used and it didn't take a film historian to realize that Gance was using some techniques that were ahead of their time. Perhaps none more mesmerizing than the finale and the use of widescreen, as Gance used three cameras, setting up three side by side shots and creating a widescreen effect, a technique that he hoped would enhance the climax of his feature. Had I enjoyed the film more, I'm sure I would've literally been in awe of Gance's innovation. He uses some other editing techniques that you wouldn't give a second look to today, but that probably had audiences eyes popping in 1927.

RATING: 2/10  I'll give it two notches for innovation, but in reality it SHOULD get a '1' and probably will come RECAP time. I just didn't like this picture in the slightest.

MOVIES WATCHED: 535
MOVIES LEST TO WATCH: 466

September 24, 2012  12:36am

19. La Roue/The Wheel (1923)

Running Time: 273 minutes

Directed By: Abel Gance

Written By: Abel Gance

Main Cast: Severin-Mars, Ivy Close, Gabriel de Gravone, Pierre Magnier

'THE WHEEL' OF FATE KEEPS ON TURNING

All strapped in to watch a four plus hour French silent film, I wasn't all that enthused, as my experiences with anything over three hours in this book, has been anything but good so far. I'm glad to say that I was very pleasantly surprised.

La Roue or The Wheel opens with an absolutely spectacular train wreck, more dazzling that anything I'd ever expect to see for this time period. We find our protagonist, Sisif, a master engineer, sorting through the wreckage and putting forth a real "take charge" kind of attitude. Suddenly he spots a very young girl, motherless and crying, he takes her by his side and places her under a rose bush while he tends to the wreckage. Afterwards he takes her home, and along with his son, Elie, raises her as his own. Her name is Norma.

Flash forward fifteen years...

Norma and Elie are all grown up and get along quite swimmingly as brother and sister. Sisif, wishing to protect Norma, never tells her or Elie that they're not blood siblings. Instead of the "take charge" man that we met fifteen years prior, we are now faced with a drunk, gambling, fighting main character, one that seems to be facing some very serious personal demons.

We find out soon after, that Sisif has fallen in love with Norma, and while he thinks it's deplorable, he simply cannot deny his urges and feelings, and spends most days away from Norma, saying that he's afraid to face her one on one, as she may see his heartache in his eyes. Elie, now a violin maker, has also, it seems, fallen in love with Norma and before the men cannot control themselves any longer, Sisif sends her off to be married to rich, high class Jacques de Hersan, a man for whom Norma has much disgust for.

While Norma is away and very unhappy in her new life, Elie and Sisif grow closer. Sisif eventually confides in Elie and spills the beans that he and Norma are not true siblings, which seems to make Elie's love for her grow even more. One day while working on the trains, as he did everyday, Sisif is nearly blinded as a co-worker accidentally falls asleep on one of the compressors and sends a face full of steam into Sisif's face. Sisif, no longer able to be an engineer for the express railway, with his eyesight as bad as it is, goes to work on a funicular train, and he and Elie live contently, yet still constantly haunted by the thoughts and images of Norma, and her love that escaped them.

Time passes and Norma finds out where her "brother" and "father" are living, so she urges her husband for a vacation to the area. Elie sees her in the city, while trying to sell some of his handmade violins and decides to send her a special violin of his own. He constructs the instrument and on the inside lining writes a love note, proclaiming his love for her and telling her that they are not true siblings. Hersan intercepts the violin, before Norma and discovers the love note inside, smashing the violin and rushing to Elie and Sisif's home to confront Elie. The fight, high up in the snow capped mountains and, Elie falls over the cliffs, clinging to a tree branch. With his free hand, Elie manages to fire a shot at Hersan, killing him. Elie later falls to his death, before he can be rescued by Sisif and Norma, who followed Hersan.

That's not quite the end of the story, but if you've noticed I don't like to give away the endings in my reviews, as I don't want to spoil the film for anyone reading this.

This movie had some amazing sequences. The train wreck at the beginning, so spectacular for 1923, with some fast cuts of the train wrecking and explosions and catastrophe. According to the book, there were several cinematographers, that brought some absolutely captivating images to the screen. A favorite shot of mine, was when Sisif builds a cross and carries it to the site where Elie was killed on the anniversary of his death. Some absolutely stunning camera work of Sisif carrying the cross along the snowy slopes of the mountains and the pain in his face as he went to his sons death place. The characters in this story are so fleshed out and there are times when you just wanna pop through the screen, give 'em a pat on the back and say "Hang in there, It's all gonna work out". Such a sad, sad tale of love and loss of love. Probably one of the more depressing movies that I've seen, but still fantastic nonetheless.

RATING: 8.5/10 As I've said before, this is basically just my knee jerk reaction of a rating. I would love to buy this movie someday and take another crack at it, as it's something that you can really sink your teeth into and has many enjoyable aspects.

NEXT UP: The Thief of Baghdad...Expect the review for this, probably Saturday, as I'm awaiting it's arrival from Netflix. Later.

October 1, 2009 3:00pm