In this documentary narrated by Abel Gance and directed by his former assistant (and filmmaker) Nelly Kaplan, the great director reminisces about his career which started in the silent era. With ‘Mater Dolorosa’ (1917) and especially ‘La dixieme symphonie’(1918), ‘J’accuse’ (1919) and ‘La roue’ (1921-23), Gance became a leading member of the French avant-garde. His work was characterised by dramatic excess (La dixieme symphonie), formal inventiveness (La roue), and technical innovation (split screens, complex camera movements, experiments with sound), all trends which find their apotheosis in ‘Napoleon vu par Abel Gance’ (1927), a five hour epic comparable to Griffith’s ‘The birth of a nation’ (1915) in its combination of reactionary ideology and formal brilliance.” Reference: Ginette Vincendeau. The companion to French cinema. BFI Publishing, 1996.
Credits: Director, Nelly Kaplan ; music, Michel Magne.
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
X001098
Language
French
Subject category
Foreign language films
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)