Napoleon is a 1927 French silent epic film directed by Abel Gance, dramatizing the early life and military rise of Napoleon Bonaparte through the French Revolution and his early campaigns. The film is best known for its technically extraordinary finale, projected across three synchronized screens in a widescreen process Gance called Polyvision, an ambition that most cinemas of the time were entirely unequipped to exhibit as intended. Napoleon is widely regarded as one of the most technically innovative and ambitious achievements of the silent film era, and its restoration and rare full-scale theatrical presentations have remained landmark events in film preservation.
Facts
Release Year Classification
Original Language FAQs
How much of the Polyvision footage in Napoleon survives?
Only one of the four Polyvision sequences is preserved.
Abel Gance shot four sequences in the technique he called Polyvision, but only the climactic Italian campaign sequence is preserved and the other three are lost. Polyvision was an early form of widescreen projected in triptych across three separate screens from three projectors, a technique later developed as Cinerama.
Connections
Created By
Source Napoleon (Wikipedia)
In Medium
In the Other Atlases
Original Language
Also in Language Atlas: the original language of this subject.
Originated In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.
Source Napoleon (Wikipedia)Lead sentence 1Quote, Lead sentence 1
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.
Sources
1. Napoleon (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead paragraph, opening sentence
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.
Napoleon, Description, original language
Napoleon is a 1927 French silent epic film directed by Abel Gance, dramatizing the early life and military rise of Napoleon Bonaparte through the French Revolution and his early campaigns.
Created By: Abel Gance, Infobox: director
Abel Gance
In Group: French Silent Films, Lead
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.
View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.