Napoléon (on-screen title: Napoléon vu par Abel Gance, "Napoleon as seen by Abel Gance") is a 1927 French silent epic historical film, produced and directed by Abel Gance, that tells the story of Napoleon's early years.

The only film to use Polyvision (for the finale), it is recognised as a masterwork of fluid camera motion, produced in a time when most camera shots were static. Many innovative techniques were used to make the film, including fast cutting, extensive close-ups, a wide variety of hand-held camera shots, location shooting, point of view shots, multiple-camera setups, multiple exposure, superimposition, underwater camera, kaleidoscopic images, film tinting, split screen and mosaic shots, multi-screen projection, and other visual effects. It continues a decade later with scenes of the French Revolution and Napoleon's presence at the periphery as a young army lieutenant. He returns to visit his family home in Corsica but politics shift against him and put him in mortal danger. He flees, taking his family to France.

Plot

thumb|thumbtime=5|Napoléon, as reconstructed by [[Kevin Brownlow]]

The scenario of the film as originally written by Gance was published in 1927 by Librairie Plon. Much of the scenario describes scenes that were rejected during initial editing, and do not appear in any known version of the film. The following plot includes only those scenes that are known to have been included in some version of the film. Not every scene described below can be viewed today.

Act I

Brienne

In the winter of 1783, young Napoleon Buonaparte (Vladimir Roudenko) is enrolled at Brienne College, a military school for sons of nobility, run by the religious Minim Fathers in Brienne-le-Château, France. The boys at the school are holding a snowball fight organised as a battlefield. Two bullies—Phélippeaux (Petit Vidal) and (Roblin)—schoolyard antagonists of Napoleon, are leading the larger side, outnumbering the side that Napoleon fights for. These two sneak up on Napoleon with snowballs enclosing stones. A hardened snowball draws blood on Napoleon's face. Napoleon is warned of another rock-snowball by a shout from Tristan Fleuri (Nicolas Koline), the fictional school scullion representing the French everyman and a friend to Napoleon. Napoleon recovers himself and dashes alone to the enemy snowbank to engage the two bullies in close combat. The Minim Fathers, watching the snowball fight from windows and doorways, applaud the action. A young army captain, Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (Harry Krimer) has written the words and brought the song to the club. Danton directs de Lisle to sing the song to the club. The sheet music is distributed and the club learns to sing the song, rising in fervor with each passage.

Beginning in late 1979, Carmine Coppola composed a score incorporating themes taken from various sources such as Ludwig van Beethoven, Hector Berlioz, Bedřich Smetana, Felix Mendelssohn and George Frideric Handel. He composed three original themes: an heroic one for Napoleon, a love theme for scenes with Josephine, and a Buonaparte family theme. He also used French revolutionary songs that were supplied by Davis in early 1980 during a London meeting between Coppola, Davis and Brownlow. Two such songs were "Ah! ça ira" and "La Carmagnole". Coppola returns to "La Marseillaise" as the finale. Coppola's score was heard first in New York at Radio City Music Hall performed for very nearly four hours, accompanying a film projected at 24 frames per second as suggested by producer Robert A. Harris. Coppola included some sections of music carried solely by an organist to relieve the 60-piece orchestra. Gance was worried the film's finale would not have the proper impact by being confined to a small screen. Gance thought of expanding the frame by using three cameras next to each other. This is considered to be the best-known of the film's several innovative techniques. Though American filmmakers began experimenting with 70mm widescreen (such as Fox Grandeur) in 1929, widescreen did not take off until CinemaScope was introduced in 1953.

Polyvision was only used for the final reel of Napoleon, to create a climactic finale. Filming the whole story in Polyvision was logistically difficult as Gance wished for a number of innovative shots, each requiring greater flexibility than was allowed by three interlocked cameras. When the film was greatly trimmed by the distributors early on during exhibition, the new version only retained the centre strip to allow projection in standard single-projector cinemas. Gance was unable to eliminate the problem of the two seams dividing the three panels of film as shown on screen, so he avoided the problem by putting three completely different shots together in some of the Polyvision scenes. When Gance viewed Cinerama for the first time in 1955, he noticed the widescreen image was still not seamless, and the problem was not entirely fixed.

Restorations

thumb|left|The Apollo Theatre in France, during the 1927 theatrical release of Napoléon.

Film historian Kevin Brownlow conducted reconstructions of the film in the years leading up to 1980, including the Polyvision scenes. As a boy, Brownlow had purchased two 9.5 mm reels of the film from a street market. He was captivated by the cinematic boldness of short clips, and his research led to a lifelong fascination with the film and a quest to reconstruct it. On 31 August 1979, Napoléon was shown to a crowd of hundreds at the Telluride Film Festival, in Telluride, Colorado. The film was presented in full Polyvision at the specially constructed Abel Gance Open Air Cinema, which is still in use today. Gance was in the audience until the chilly air drove him indoors after which he watched from the window of his room at the New Sheridan Hotel. Kevin Brownlow was also in attendance and presented Gance with his Silver Medallion.

thumb|A group of friends gathers outside of the [[Chicago Theatre in 1981 to see Francis Ford Coppola's version of Napoléon]]

Brownlow's 1980 reconstruction was re-edited and released in the United States by American Zoetrope (through Universal Pictures) with a score by Carmine Coppola performed live at the screenings. The restoration premiered in the United States at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on 23–25 January 1981; each performance showed to a standing room only house. Coppola's single-screen version of the film was last projected for the public at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in two showings in celebration of Bastille Day on 13–14 July 2007, using a 70 mm print struck by Universal Studios in the early 1980s.

At the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in July 2011, Brownlow announced there would be four screenings of his 2000 version, shown at the original 20 frames per second, with the final triptych and a live orchestra, to be held at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California, from 24 March to 1 April 2012. These, the first US screenings of his 5.5-hour-long restoration were described as requiring 3 intermissions, one of which was a dinner break. Score arranger Carl Davis led the 46-piece Oakland East Bay Symphony for the performances.

At a screening of Napoléon on 30 November 2013, at the Royal Festival Hall in London, full to capacity, the film and orchestra received a standing ovation, without pause, from the front of the stalls to the rear of the balcony. Davis conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra in a performance that spanned a little over eight hours, including a 100-minute dinner break.

On 13 November 2016, Napoléon was the subject of the Film Programme on BBC Radio 4. The BBC website announced: "Historian Kevin Brownlow tells Francine Stock about his 50-year quest to restore Abel Gance's silent masterpiece Napoleon to its five and half-hour glory, and why the search for missing scenes still continues even though the film is about to be released on DVD for the very first time."

A restoration of the almost-seven-hour-long so-called Apollo version (i.e. the version of Napoléon shown at the Apollo Theatre in Paris in 1927), conducted by Cinémathèque Française under the direction of the restorer and director Georges Mourier, and financed by the CNC along with Netflix, was scheduled to be completed by 5 May 2021. Because of complications associated with the restoration process, the release was postponed, and premiered in France in July 2024. This was believed to be the first screening of the film in New York City since 1981.

{| class="sortable wikitable" style="font-size: 95%"

!Date

!Title

!Film length (meters)

!Time

(Hours:Minutes)

!FPS

!Editor

!Score

!Venues

!Triptych

!Format

|-

| align="center" | April 1927

| Napoléon

| 5,400

|4:10

|

|

| rowspan="2" |

| Paris Opera

| toned

| rowspan="9" | 35 mm

|-

| align="center" | May 1927

| Napoléon (version définitive)

| 12,800

|9:22

|

|

| Apollo Theatre, Paris

| none

|-

| align="center" | October 1927

| Napoléon (UFA)

|

|<3:00

|

| Universum Film AG

|

| Germany and Central Europe

| toned

|-

| align="center" | November 1927

| Napoléon

|

|4:10 (shown in two seatings, some scenes repeated)

|

|

|

| Marivaux Theatre, Paris

| toned, shown twice

|-

| align="center" | Winter 1927–28

| Napoléon

| various

|various

|

|

|

| French provinces

|

|-

| align="center" | ca. 1928

| Napoleon (version définitive as sent to the U.S. in 29 reels)

| 8,800

|6:43

|

|

|

| none

| none

|-

| align="center" | March–April 1928

| Napoléon (Gaumont)

|

|~3:00 (Shown in two parts)

|

| Gaumont Film Company

| rowspan="2" |

| Gaumont-Palace, Paris

| none

|-

| align="center" | June 1928

| Napoleon (UK 1928)

| 11,400

|7:20

|

|

| UK

| toned

|-

| align="center" | January 1929

| Napoleon (USA 1929)

| 2,400

|1:51

|

| Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

|

| USA

| none

|-

| align="center" | ca. 1928

| Napoléon (Pathé-Rural)

| 17 reels

|

|

|

|

| Rural France

| none

| 17.5&nbsp;mm

|-

| align="center" | 1928

| Napoléon (Pathé-Baby)

| 9 reels

|

|

|

|

| French homes

| none

| rowspan="2" | 9.5&nbsp;mm

|-

| align="center" | 1929

| Napoléon (Pathescope)

| 6 reels

|

|

|

|

| UK homes

| none

|-

| align="center" | 1935

| Napoléon Bonaparte vu et entendu par Abel Gance

| 4,000, later 3,000

|

|

| rowspan="2" |

| rowspan="2" |

|

| none

| 35&nbsp;mm

|-

| align="center" | 1935

| Napoléon Bonaparte (Film-Office version)

| 1,500

|

|

|

| none

| 16&nbsp;mm<br />9.5&nbsp;mm<br />8&nbsp;mm

|-

| align="center" | 1955

| Napoléon Bonaparte (Studio 28 version)

|

|

|

|

|

|

| black and white

| rowspan="5" | 35&nbsp;mm

|-

| align="center" | 1965

| Napoléon

|

|

|

|

|

| Cinémathèque Française

| none

|-

| align="center" | 1970

| Bonaparte et la Révolution

|

|4:45 (4:00 at 24 fps)

|20

|

|

|

| none

|-

| align="center" | 1979

| Napoléon (Brownlow)

|

|4:55

|20

| rowspan="2" |

| None: ad lib accompaniment on electronic piano

| Telluride Film Festival, Colorado

| black and white

|-

| align="center" | 1980

| Napoléon (Brownlow 1980)

|6,630

|4:50

|20

|

| Edinburgh Film Festival; National Film Theatre, London

| black and white

|-

| align="center" | 1981

| Napoleon (Coppola)

|

|4:00

|24

|

|

| Radio City Music Hall, New York City

| tinted

| 35&nbsp;mm

|-

| align="center" | 1983

| Napoléon (Brownlow 1983)

|7,155

|5:13

|20

| rowspan="10" |

| rowspan="2" |

| Cinémathèque Française

| black and white

| rowspan="9" | 35&nbsp;mm

|-

| align="center" | 1983

| Napoléon (Brownlow 1983 TV cut)

|

|4:50

|20

| Channel 4 (UK television)

| none

|-

| align="center" | 1989

| Napoleon (Brownlow 1980)

|6,630

|4:50

|20

|

| Cité de la Musique, Paris

| none

|-

| align="center" | 1989

| Napoléon (Brownlow 1989 TV cut)

|

|4:50

|20

| rowspan="7" |

| Channel 4 (UK television)

| toned, letterboxed inside 4:3

|-

| align="center" | 2000

| Napoléon (Brownlow 2000)

|7,542

|5:30

|20

| Royal Festival Hall, London

| toned

|-

| align="center" | 2004

| Napoléon (Brownlow 2004)

|

|5:32

|20

| Royal Festival Hall, London

| toned

|-

| align="center" | 2012

| Napoléon (Brownlow 2004)

|

|5:32

|20

| Paramount Theatre, Oakland

| toned

|-

| align="center" | 2013

| Napoléon (Brownlow 2004)

|

|5:32

|20

| Royal Festival Hall, London

| toned

|-

| align="center" | 2014

| Napoléon (Brownlow 2004)

|

|5:32

|20

| Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam

| toned

|-

| align="center" | 2016

|Napoléon (Brownlow 2004)

|

|5:32

|20

|Royal Festival Hall – London, BFI Southbank, Bristol Watershed

|toned

|DCP (2K scan)

|-

| align="center" | 2024

|Napoléon (Mourier)

|

|7:05

|18

|Georges Mourier

|Frank Strobel

|La Seine Musicale, Paris

|toned

|DCP (5K scan)

|-

| align="center" | 2025

|Napoléon (Brownlow 2004)

|

|5:32

|20

|Kevin Brownlow

|Carl Davis

|Film Forum, New York City

|toned

|DCP (2K scan)

|}

Legacy

Napoléon is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most innovative films of not only the silent era but also of all time. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 87% of critics have given the film a positive review, based upon 68 reviews, with an average score of 9.3/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Monumental in scale and distinguished by innovative technique, Napoléon is an expressive epic that maintains a singular intimacy with its subject."

Anita Brookner of London Review of Books wrote that the film has an "energy, extravagance, ambition, orgiastic pleasure, high drama and the desire for endless victory: not only Napoleon’s destiny but everyone’s most central hope." The 2012 screening has been acclaimed, with Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle calling the film, "A rich feast of images and emotions." He also praised the triptych finale, calling it, "An overwhelming and surprisingly emotional experience." Judith Martin of The Washington Post wrote that the film "inspires that wonderfully satisfying theatrical experience of whole-heartedly cheering a hero and hissing villains, while also providing the uplift that comes from a real work of art" and praised its visual metaphors, editing, and tableaus. Peter Bradshaw wrote in The Guardian that Napoléon "looks startlingly futuristic and experimental, as if we are being shown something from the 21st century’s bleeding edge. It’s as if it has evolved beyond spoken dialogue into some colossal mute hallucination." Mark Kermode described the film "as significant to the evolution of cinema as the works of Sergei Eisenstein and D. W. Griffith" that "created a kaleidoscopic motion picture which stretched the boundaries of the screen in every way possible."

Director Stanley Kubrick was not a fan of the film, saying in an interview "I found it really terrible. Technically [Gance] was ahead of his time and he introduced new film techniques – in fact Eisenstein credited him with stimulating his initial interest in montage – but as far as story and performance goes it's a very crude picture."

It is included by the Vatican in a list of important films, as compiled in 1995, under the category of "Art".

Home media

For many years the Brownlow restoration with Carl Davis's score was unavailable for home viewing. In 2016 it was released by BFI and Photoplay Productions on DVD, Blu-ray and for streaming via the BFI Player.

Francis Ford Coppola's 1981 edit (3 hours and 43 minutes), accompanied by Carmine Coppola's score and projected at 24 fps, has been released on VHS and Laserdisc in the US, and in Australia on a Region 4 DVD.

A 4K Blu-ray release of the Mourier restoration was announced by French label Potemkine for November 4, 2025.

See also

  • Cultural depictions of Napoleon
  • List of biographical films
  • List of early color feature films
  • List of longest films

References

Bibliography

  • Napoléon, SilentEra.com
  • The 2000 restoration, SilentEra.com
  • 1980 London screening
  • 1980 London screenings, announcement
  • 2004 London screening, symphony review
  • Brownlow's 2004 version
  • Projecting “Napoleon” – une pièce de resistance. Details of 2004 projection.
  • Various Napoléon movie posters, Adrian Curry in Notebook