Abel Gance's 1971 sound edition of his epic 1927 'Napoleon', which contains much of the silent original, with new material shot and added in both 1965 and 1971, and with sound synchronization from both the 1932 reissue and this version.
Direction
Gance's kinetic camera literally invented the medium's vocabulary.
Editing
The three-screen Polyvision climax remains unmatched spectacle.
Production
Thousands of extras, hand-tinted frames, pure obsessive cinema.
Director
Abel Gance
Albert Dieudonné
Napoléon Bonaparte (archive footage)
Annabella
Violene (archive footage)
Antonin Artaud
Marat (archive footage)
Pierre Batcheff
Hoche (archive footage)
Abel Gance
St. Just (archive footage)
Philippe Hériat
Salicetti (archive footage)
Nicolas Koline
Tristan (archive footage)
Alexandre Koubitzky
Danton (archive footage)
Gina Manès
Joséphine de Beauharnais (archive footage)
Jean Topart
Narrator (voice)
Edmond van Daële
Robespierre (archive footage)
Nicolas Roudenko
Napoléon Bonaparte (child) (archive footage)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Gance shot new scenes in 1965 and 1971 specifically for this version, making Dieudonné's Napoleon a ghost performance spanning four decades.
The original 1927 Napoleon was meant to be six films; Gance died in 1981 still planning sequels. This 1971 edit is his final word on his life's obsession.
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