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Napoléon, vu par Abel Gance (1927) : the case for enthusiasm
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Cuff, Paul (2013) Napoléon, vu par Abel Gance (1927) : the case for enthusiasm. Studies in French Cinema, Volume 13 (Number 2). pp. 95-109. doi:10.1386/sfc.13.2.95-1 ISSN 1471-5880.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1386/sfc.13.2.95_1
Abstract
This article explores the impact that the ideological and restorative history of Napoléon, vu par Abel Gance/Napoleon (Gance, 1927) has had on its critical reception. From its very conception, Abel Gance envisioned his film as being both populist and radical, uniting avant-garde experimentation with commercial appeal. Designed as a multi-part film and released in numerous different editions, the sheer scale of Napoléon has caused endless problems for exhibitors and restorers. The film’s technical innovation (particularly its triptych widescreen sequences) proved too impractical for widespread distribution, whilst its blend of subjectivity and objectivity, historicism and fantasy, narrative and spectacle, proved equally difficult for critics to comprehend. The endless attempts to control and reshape Napoléon illustrate the intrinsic hybridity of its form and content. It is a work which refuses to fit into recognized categories of cinema. When the first major restorations of Napoléon appeared in the 1980s, scholars repeated many of the same reservations raised in 1927. This article argues that both critics and producers have failed to understand this ‘excessive’ film on its own terms; instead, it seeks to illustrate the need for a more sympathetic approach to Napoléon’s unique textual and contextual challenges.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divisions: | Faculty of Arts > Film and Television Studies | ||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Studies in French Cinema | ||||
| Publisher: | Intellect Ltd. | ||||
| ISSN: | 1471-5880 | ||||
| Official Date: | 2013 | ||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | Volume 13 | ||||
| Number: | Number 2 | ||||
| Page Range: | pp. 95-109 | ||||
| DOI: | 10.1386/sfc.13.2.95-1 | ||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
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