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| "A rich feast of images and emotions" - Mick Lasalle of the San Francisco Chronicle |
Napoleón is considered one of the best and most innovative motion picture films in the silent film era. Directed by the great Abel Gance, tho French film is known for its amazingly fluid camera movement, since most films at that time used static camera shots. The real title is Napoleón vu par Gance, which actually means "Napoleón as seen by Gance."
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| Napoleón as a child |
There were new, numerous and innovative motion picture techniques used in Napoleón that made it one of the most memorable and incredible silent films in history. These were the techniques used:
- underwater camera - In one scene, the camera is placed underwater and on the surface of the sea, giving the audience the sensation that they were actually in the scene and in the water. It integrated the audience in the film.
- superimposition - It is the technique where a video or image is placed on top of another already-existing video or image. In the film, there is a scene where two different scenes are played at the same time, one on top of the other. This gives deepness and intensity to the scene and makes the film more innovative and unexpected.
- point of view shots - In many cases in the film, there were scenes where the camera was placed on the chest of cameramen and shot scenes as if the audience was experiencing and observing the scene with the same eyes as the camera, and actually being part of the scene. This happens in many occasion, including the point of whew when riding a bicycle, on a sled, of a pendulum and even on a running horse.
- fast cutting - Mostly at the end of the of the film, there were scenes in which included fast cutting, from the face of Napoleón to a French flag, back to Napoleón to the galloping horses and more. The impressive aspect about it is that it was an surprisingly fast, giving a more dramatic feeling to the moment. It was very effective when the French Army is proceeding to invade Italy.
- close-ups - In various moments in the film, there were many close-ups. One that can be seen in when Napoleón's army is riding horses towards Italy. Not only you gat to be riding a horse, but there are also close-ups towards Napoleón's face, the other soldiers's faces, the horses's legs moving and more. Also, at the beginning of the movie, when the children are throwing snow balls, there is actually a couple of close-ups towards the kid's faces. This gives more emphasis and intensity to the scene. It it also another way to include the audience in the film.
- hand-held camera shots - This is basically the same as point of view shots. The cameramen grabbed the medium sized camera and shot the scene as if the audience is actually the camera. Like in the scene of the horses and the snow ball fight, this actually absorbs the audience and integrated them into the scene.
- location shooting - Unlike in many movies at the time, the scenes of Napoleón were shot in real life sites and locations instead of artificial and designed sets. From the real snow during the snow fight to the ocean and the real buildings, basically all of the silent film (if I am not mistaken) was shot in real sites.
- film tinting - In the silent film there is the use of film tinting, or hand coloring. I do not know if there is another scene were film tinting is used, but do I know that at the end of Napoleón hand coloring was done. At the end, were three different projections of different scenes appears, the one at the left was painted blue, the one at the right was painted read and the one in the middle is left untouched. This was made to symbolize the French flag, since Napoleón's army was going to invade Italy for the name of France. A very effective technique indeed. It made the ending more intense, powerful and meaningful to the audience. In addition, the symbolization gave the ending a more concrete and emotional feeling. Film tinting was used in such an innovative way by such an amazing director.
- camera movement - One of the techniques used in this silent film that made it so impressive and eye-catching to the audience is the fluent camera movement. Not typically used in films at that era, this technique of camera movement was constantly used during Napoleón. Being on the same scene or moving from one scene to another, the camera (usually hand-held) captured the complete sets of the scene by moving from one place to another, depending on the action. One of the oct impressive scenes is when Napoleón and his army are heading towards the border of Italy on their horses. Using close-ups and point of view shots, the camera would move from Napoleón to the men and horses galloping behind him. Also, in the snowball fight, the camera would move from one side of the little war to another. It is also important to know that the movement itself was fluent and not rough or uncoordinated. It was planned with perfect detail, giving the film a stronger sense of realism and interactiveness.
- multi-screen projection (polyvision) - The other technique, maybe the most important of them all, is the multi-screen projection or polyvision. In order to give the ending even more intensity, power and emotion, Gance used three film cameras and placed them next to each other. Creating a more epic final, he used three projections of three scenes, placed them simultaneously and arranged them horizontally. The end of Napoleón consisted of these three projections, showing different scenes in each one, with fast cuts, point of view and hand-held shots, close-ups and even film tinted scenes. This technique was called the "triptych sequence". Napoleón is greatly known for being the first film where this incredible technique was used. Gance did so on purpose, he himself saying with the purpose of creating a "climactic finale". With the combination of all these techniques used in three different projections but at the same time making them balance each other and fit them together in harmony, Abel Gance creates one of the most unforgettable and impacting endings ever made in silent film history. With the final effect of film tinting to create the French flag, Napoleón ends with a powerful, emotional and life-changing scene of three different projections.
Other techniques used were split screen, kaleidoscopic images and multiple camera setups.
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| Napoleón (Vladimir Roudenko) |
This masterwork film was presented for the first time at the Palais Garnier (which was the home of the Paris Opera) on April 7th, 1927. This silent film was actually the first of six films that Gance was planning to create about the life of Napoleón. Unfortunately, he spent so much money on this first film that his budget prevented him from doing the other 5 films. Napoleón was only presented in 8 cities in Europe, when the media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer bought the rights to the film. However, when it was presented in London, it was drastically cut in length, shortened and constantly edited, since the original Napoleón lasted about 6 hours. Also, since the ending was composed of three projectors showing three connected images on adjacent screens, the original scene was changed and only showed the central image. Being constantly changed and edited, the essence of Abel Gance's work could not longer be seen like in the original movie. Edited, the silent film was put on limited release in the U.S.
However, the original Napoleón was restored in 1981 by Kevin Brownlow, a silent film historian. To be more specific, the restoration premiered in US at the Radio City Music Hall, New York, on January 23rd to the 25th, 1981. As a young man, Brownlow discovered fragments from the original film and decided to look for the missing pieces of the puzzle. This search took him about fifty years. He discovered the multiple projection screens and that it originally lasted about 6 to 7 hours. He also contacted Abel Gance himself and interviewed him about Napoleón and for a book he was writing about silent films and its era called A Parade's Gone By. By 1981, a four hour long restoration was achieved, and the musician Carmine Coppola created a score for that new version. A second score was also composed by the silent film musician Carl Davis. Surprisingly, there was more discoveries of other parts of the original film on 2004. With this they created a five and a half hour long restoration of Napoleón. Being a rights dispute about the score that will be used with the film, there has only being a few presentations of this restoration since 2004. There was actually a presentation of Napoleón at the Art Deco Paramount Theater (San Francisco Silent Film Festival) in Oakland, California, on March 2010.
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| Abel Gance is "the greatest French film maker of all." - Kevin Brownlow |
However, the original Napoleón was restored in 1981 by Kevin Brownlow, a silent film historian. To be more specific, the restoration premiered in US at the Radio City Music Hall, New York, on January 23rd to the 25th, 1981. As a young man, Brownlow discovered fragments from the original film and decided to look for the missing pieces of the puzzle. This search took him about fifty years. He discovered the multiple projection screens and that it originally lasted about 6 to 7 hours. He also contacted Abel Gance himself and interviewed him about Napoleón and for a book he was writing about silent films and its era called A Parade's Gone By. By 1981, a four hour long restoration was achieved, and the musician Carmine Coppola created a score for that new version. A second score was also composed by the silent film musician Carl Davis. Surprisingly, there was more discoveries of other parts of the original film on 2004. With this they created a five and a half hour long restoration of Napoleón. Being a rights dispute about the score that will be used with the film, there has only being a few presentations of this restoration since 2004. There was actually a presentation of Napoleón at the Art Deco Paramount Theater (San Francisco Silent Film Festival) in Oakland, California, on March 2010.
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| Abel Gancer (left) with Kevin Brownlow (right) (1967) |
As we can see, Napoleón is one of the most important and significant silent films in all motion picture history. From superimposition to triptych sequence, this film is a wonder that truly inspires, impacts and changes the audience. The use of innovative and never before seen technology made this film one of a kind and the base of most other motion picture films. Equipped with powerful images and effects to wonderful scenes and shots, Napoleón will always be considered one of a kind and one of the best films in motion picture history. Although it suffered suppression and editing, such an incredible and mind-blowing film could not be hidden forever. Napoleón will live on, inspiring new people everyday.
Here are some videos that I strongly encourage you to watch. Not only they show and inform you about Napoleón, but also because you will be able to appreciate the techniques that I mentioned before much better. Go ahead and take a look:
^ Napoleón Trailer 2012 (Restored) ^
^ We can see some of the effects mentioned. ^
^ Kevin Brownlow talks about Napoleón and the techniques used. ^
More of the effects mentioned can be seen here.
^ Jeffrey Brown interviews Kevin Brownlow ^
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Woah... A lot of information here. I have to admit that I was completely absorbed in this research. I want to watch the film so bad! Well, anyways, this is most of the information I found about Napoleón, its history and composition. I truly hope you like this as much as I do!
Have a good weekend!
Sincerely,
Michelle
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If interested in learning more about Napoleón, some of the information in this post and more can be found in these sites:
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