© Photoplay Productions Ltd
There’s always a difficulty in separating art from its creator. Mainstream examples are Roman Polanski and Woody Allen, sparking petitions to boycott their work. Elusive personalities like Michael Haneke’s and Jacques Rivette’s still inform their filmographies, despite little biographical knowledge. And if there were further details on the Pre-Raphaelite members I’m sure we could find connections to their mythical figures who inhabit those inflamed canvasses.
A less difficult task seems to be separating content from form. Both must compliment one another to forge the desired dialogue. In Abel Gance’s Napoléon (1927) the director enshrines France’s legendary Emperor, projecting shameless hagiography. The motif for this is found in gilded rims of light beaming forth from Albert Dieudonné’s raptorial stare. Upholding French revolutionary ideals of equal rights; welding nationalist sentiments and a borderless Europe (such a vision saturates our current geopolitical affairs with a forlorn hue), here is an honourable leader.
A less difficult task seems to be separating content from form. Both must compliment one another to forge the desired dialogue. In Abel Gance’s Napoléon (1927) the director enshrines France’s legendary Emperor, projecting shameless hagiography. The motif for this is found in gilded rims of light beaming forth from Albert Dieudonné’s raptorial stare. Upholding French revolutionary ideals of equal rights; welding nationalist sentiments and a borderless Europe (such a vision saturates our current geopolitical affairs with a forlorn hue), here is an honourable leader.
Stanley Kubrick appears to be the only person to rebuke this crudity. Consensually, we cannot disregard its inexhaustible artistry . Nearing the end of the silent era, Gance issued a manifesto for all filmmakers, then and now, showcasing the visual possibilities of their preferred medium. (Another luminary to contest this is Dziga Vertov with 1929’s Man with a Movie Camera). Such a stately accommodation of techniques in one feature makes me wonder where the director’s creative curiosities would have gone if his planned five sequels had been realised.
© Photoplay Productions Ltd
As our eyes zig-zag along those triptych panoramas and propulsive movements, could audiences of 1927 have been inspired by its violently superficial storytelling? Being enamoured by this vastly inventive epic is all part of supporting the eponymous saviour. But its idolatry rubs out reality’s variegated shades. Perhaps the bumbling flirtations of a smitten Bonaparte is the only colour applied to a figure Gance sends to empyrean heights.
Gance himself has accompanied the reconstructed Emperor in this blinding realm, matching Napoléon’s innovations with history’s grandiosity. A technical triumph rusted by megalomania and the unruly patriot game?
Gance himself has accompanied the reconstructed Emperor in this blinding realm, matching Napoléon’s innovations with history’s grandiosity. A technical triumph rusted by megalomania and the unruly patriot game?
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