Abel Gance "Napoleon" Screening With Live Orchestra in March/April 2012.

July 20, 2011 6:16 PM

Abel Gance "Napoleon" To Be Screened With Live Orchestra in March/April 2012. Kevin Brownlow partially restored version of Abel Gance's 1927 epic "Napoleon" was released in the late's 70's and early 80's. Initial viewing were shown with a live orchestra. Francis Ford Coppola had the distribution rights in the US and had his father, Carmine Coppola score the film. Brownlow's friend Carl Davis scored the European version. This along with other distribution issues lead to problems holding up any future release of any newer versions in this country until now.
posted by goalyeehah (12 comments total)

I would never say I have a "bucket list." This would be on it.

I have heard both the Coppola and Davis scores. Both are unique, brilliant and uphold the spirit of the film. Hearing a full orchestra with Davis conducting is going to be off the charts for me.

I was also hoping something like this was going to happen when Coppola and Brownlow both received honorary Oscars this year.
posted by goalyeehah at 6:21 PM on July 20, 2011

My grandfather died last week, and my mother, the eldest of 8 children, was tapped to do the eulogy. Grandpa hadn't been quite so vibrant in the last few years, and mum had found the task of juggling her own emotions and putting them onto paper a bit tough. I had had some trouble myself, in the first moments of grief I couldn't quite get past the last experiences I had of my grandfather, the ornery fellow who flipped me the bird at thanksgiving in 2010 for speaking in French to my sister's (French) in-laws.

After a few days the man I remember from the 90's, when I was a teenager, did start to come back. Chief among the memories were grandpa's stacks of magazines and stacks of vhs tapes, all recorded off of television, with hand scrawled stickie notes detailing the contents. When I was about 15, my interests shifted from archaeology to film, and my grandfather shifted with me. Rather than sending along to me weekly magazine articles clipped from Smithsonian or National Geographic of the latest Mayan ruin or Egyptian tomb to be uncovered, I started getting videotapes. And one of the first among them was Abel Gance's Napoleon.

It's a trick of the cosmos, I suppose, or Grandpa saying hi somehow to see this here, because I haven't thought of the film in years, until last week, when it ended up in my Grandfather's eulogy. I hope this version makes it East.
posted by jrb223 at 6:38 PM on July 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

I was forced to take a silent film class in college. I went in reluctantly, having had the same exposure to silent film that any recent high school grad might have had. The professor was excellent, though, and I found myself really enjoying the class.

The second to last film we watched was Napoleon. It was brilliant, majestic, sweeping, epic... the whole class was moved.

The last film we watched was The Jazz Singer. It was awful. The class was stunned.

I left that class with a deep appreciation not only of silent film, but of the real impact that sound had when it was introduced to the industry. It was a beautiful way to illustrate the point.

I'd love to see this film the way it's supposed to be seen. Chances of it coming to Phoenix are, I'm afraid, kind of dismal.
posted by MrVisible at 6:39 PM on July 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

The timing is such that there's no way I can go, but damn, I want to. Here's hoping we get a DVD version with one or both scores.
posted by immlass at 8:20 PM on July 20, 2011

I saw it with the live orchestra many years ago and I've forgotten almost everything about it other than it was impressive and looooong. It's 330 minutes long.

So if you're planning on going, eat something before.
posted by twoleftfeet at 8:44 PM on July 20, 2011

Got my ticket already. No need to subsist on popcorn and Junior Mints for 5 hours... there's a dinner break built into the showing.
posted by memewit at 10:11 PM on July 20, 2011

Oh man, I just saw the preview for this at the Goldwyn theater in Beverly Hills (before "The General," introduced by Brownlow!!!) -- and even those short, trailer-size snippets, seen on the big screen, blew me away.

I really, really hope I can make one of those four shows next year!
posted by estherbester at 10:18 PM on July 20, 2011

As Leonard Maltin's write up of this mentions, Napoleon's finale is crazy-complicated from a technical perspective (and must have been mind-boggling in 1927!). It required three synchronized projectors to create a single triple-wide image (like Cinerama would a couple decades later). I haven't seen anything in the press on this new restoration about whether or not they'll be retaining that aspect of it (I suppose in this day and age they could do something with anamorphic lenses to approximate it and make a print that would be easier to tour around for other screenings) - but if it's retained I'd seriously consider a trip to Oakland in the winter.

This is a film that makes full use of the technical qualities of film, and can only be gestured at through other media.
posted by bubukaba at 12:36 AM on July 21, 2011

I'd love to see this. I wonder what the chances of a NYC viewing or DVD release is?
posted by yeti at 5:06 AM on July 21, 2011

I'm delighted to say I saw this in 1979 at the Landmark Theater in Syracuse, NY and remember it vividly. The various techniques used by Gance are astonishingly innovative, and the famous "triptych" sequence really is impressive. Being in the wonderful old movie palace put the icing on the cake. I'm so glad others will now be able to enjoy this!

Great silent film + beautiful theater + live orchestra + appreciative audience = AWESOME EXPERIENCE
posted by kinnakeet at 5:49 AM on July 21, 2011

Here are some exciting technical details about how this version of the film was projected in the UK, including some breathtaking photos of the tryptic finale being projected from the film onto the screen.
posted by bubukaba at 11:34 AM on July 21, 2011

Here is the press release (PDF); it contains information about the theater (The Oakland Paramount) and the Polyvision finale.
posted by Daddio at 7:01 PM on July 21, 2011