Abel Gance

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DarkImbecile
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Abel Gance

#1 Post by DarkImbecile » Tue Jul 18, 2006 9:07 pm

Abel Gance (1889 - 1981)

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"Shakespeare, Rembrandt, Beethoven will make films . . . all legends, all mythologies and all myths, all founders of religion, and the very religions . . . await their exposed resurrection, and the heroes crowd each other at the gate."

Filmography

Features
La Digue [unreleased] (1911)
Le Tragique Amour de Mona Lisa (1912)
Il y a des pieds au plafond (1912)
La Pierre philosophe (1912)
Le Masque d'horreur (1912)
Le Nègre blanc (1912)
La Fleur des ruines (1915)
La Folie du docteur Tube (1915)
L'Énigme de dix heures (1915)
L'Héroïsme de Paddy (1915)
Strass et Compagnie (1915)
Un drame au château d'Acre (1915)
Ce que les flots racontent (1916)
Fioritures (1916)
Le Fou de la falaise (1916)
Le Périscope (1916)
Les Gaz mortels [AKA Le brouillard sur la ville] (1916)
Barberousse (1917)
La Zone de la mort (1917)
Le Droit à la vie (1917)
Mater Dolorosa (1917)
Ecce Homo [unfinished] (1918)
La Dixième Symphonie (1918)
J'accuse (1919)
La Roue (1923)
Napoléon (1927)
La Fin du monde (1931)
Mater Dolorosa (1933)
Poliche (1934)
Jérôme Perreau, héros des barricades (1935)
Le Roman d'un jeune homme pauvre (1935)
Lucrèce Borgia (1935)
Napoléon Bonaparte (1935)
Un grand amour de Beethoven (1937)
J'accuse (1938)
Le Voleur de femmes (1938)
Louise (1939)
Paradis perdu (1940)
Vénus aveugle (1941)
Le Capitaine Fracasse (1943)
La Tour de Nesle (1955)
Magirama (1956)
Austerlitz (1960)
Cyrano et d'Artagnan (1964)
Marie Tudor [TV film] (1966)
Valmy [TV film; w/Jean Chérasse] (1967)
Bonaparte et la Révolution (1971)

Shorts
"Au Secours!" (1924)
"Marines et cristaux" (1928)
"Quatorze juillet" (1953)

Books
Abel Gance, by René Jeanne and Charles Ford (1963)
Abel Gance, by Steven Philip Kramer and James Michael Welsh (1978)
Napoleon: Abel Gance's Classic Film, by Kevin Brownlow (1983)
Abel Gance: A Politics of Spectacle, by Norman King (1984)
French Cinema: The First Wave, 1915-1929, by Richard Abel (1984)
A Revolution for the Screen: Abel Gance's Napoleon, by Paul Cuff (2015)
Abel Gance and the End of Silent Cinema: Sounding Out Utopia, by Paul Cuff (2016)

Web Resources
1974 interview with Steven Philp Kramer, Film Comment [Free log-in required]
"Napoleon: 10 unmissable highlights from Abel Gance's five-and-a-half-hour masterpiece", BFI
"An Old-Fashioned, Sentimental Avant-Garde Film", by Kristin Thompson (2009)
"The Napoleon Comet, by Georges Mourier, Journal of Film Preservation, April 2012

Forum Discussion
Napoléon (Abel Gance, 1927)
Napoleon
J'accuse (1938)

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Knappen
Joined: Wed Jul 12, 2006 2:14 am
Location: Oslo/Paris

#2 Post by Knappen » Thu Jul 20, 2006 5:47 pm

La Clé du Ciel wrote:
Tue Jul 18, 2006 9:07 pm
Greetings.

I thought I'd start a new entry on Abel Gance. I am in the process of expanding a research project on NAPOLEON (1927) and Gance in general. I'm keen to here from anyone who may be interested in the works and life of this great director. I have already undertaken a large amount of research (and am continuing so to do) – if anyone feels like asking questions to which I may have answers then please feel free to reply. I shall do my best to pour information into your eyes.

I'm also eager to hear anyone who managed to attend the Gance retrospective in Madrid in the Autumn of 2005. As part of my all-consuming Gance-mania, I am trying to establish what prints get screened of which films and so would love to find out what the Madrid showings were like… The same goes for the Spring 2006 screening of J'ACCUSE (1919) at the National Gallery of Art, DC. I'd love to hear what Gance films people have seen, how they saw them, what condition they were in, and what people thought of them…

If interest starts swelling and swilling about the place, I may set up other threads/topics for discussion of individual films etc. In the meantime, I have breathed a little new life into the stale thread on NAPOLEON . Everything Gance-related should be posted here, anything specific to NAPOLEON there.
I have not attended the screenings you mention; I was, however, going to see Les gaz mortels (1916) at the Cinémathèque française two months ago. Unfortunately, (but being in Paris, not too surprisingly) there was a strike those few days and I will probably never have that opportunity again. Could you tell me if the gaz in question is the mustard gas? The pacifist Gance seems to have been deeply involved in the war at the time.

However, I have tracked down some Gance films, the last being Venus aveugle, of which I have an excellent copy.

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La Clé du Ciel
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#3 Post by La Clé du Ciel » Sun Jul 30, 2006 7:29 pm

Hullo there! Well, at least you had the possibility of seeing it… I've not seen LES GAZ MORTELS, but I do know something of the plot. The gas in question, as indeed the whole film, has nothing to do with the war. I do not know if the gas is specifically named or not. No doubt the title is playing on fear of the new weapon which had been used for the first time on the Western Front in 1915, but the film is by all accounts a fairly common melodrama-cum-thriller. Gance shot the film concurrently with BARBEROUSSE, having been instructed by Nalpas (his boss at Film d'Art) to catch a train for Cassis the next morning. He was to take four actors with him and return asap with two completed features. He wrote the scenarios on the journey and returned with LES GAZ MORTELS and BARBEROUSSE. I'm pleased to hear that such an early Gance film was going to be given an outing. Bambi Ballard did an excellent restoration of LA DIXIEME SYMPHONIE in the 1980s. Alas, the French haven't got round to restoring and (crucially) releasing his other early silent work. Not even J'ACCUSE (1919) has been restored – his first masterpiece. The French seem to be vaguely releasing his later (distinctly less interesting) films. There is even this page on Amazon.fr suggesting UN GRAND AMOUR DE BEETHOVEN (1936) is coming out soon.

I hope this is a decent dvd. At Madrid, a version of Gance's BEETHOVEN was shown with a runtime of 135 minutes – a longer version than the 116 minute cut on DVD in the US. In their book, Kramer and Welsh report that “last-minute production decisions eliminated key sequences from the originally released commercial versionâ€

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

#4 Post by Gregory » Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:07 pm

Is there reason to hope it could be released soon after Kaplan's death (she's in her seventies) or might there be further obstacles?

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:30 pm
Location: Brandywine River

#5 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:02 am

Which way do you want to go on this Greg? Soap on the stairs?? Drag the old witch out to be burned alive in a wicker Napoleon???

I'm busy melting down candles and looking for needles as we speak.

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HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

#6 Post by HerrSchreck » Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:02 am

Die, monster, die! Burn, witch, burn!

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Cinetwist
Joined: Fri Jun 09, 2006 7:00 am
Location: England

#7 Post by Cinetwist » Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:54 am

OK, I'd never wish death on ANYBODY. But I think we can all agree that the sooner these fascists; these iconoclasts (in the true sense of the word) die of natural causes, the better (Kaplan and Coppola).

I naively thought that living in a post Langlois film institute age, that films were looked after, regardless of idiots who are determined to destroy them. As a cinephile, I'm now extremely scared of how wrong I was.

Nobody would let the Mona Lisa burn. Why the hell are archivists, historians, lawyers etc standing by and letting people with strange incomprehensible chips on their shoulders alter film history. Surely a respectable film institute can overrule someone's dubious claim to having the rights to a film.

There are too many films already lost. If films continue to be lost, or shown (and kept) in incomplete or wrong versions in this day and age, that is inexcusable.

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
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#8 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Mon Jul 31, 2006 5:26 am

Just wondering how the clips from Cinema Europe escaped the Coppola/Kaplan Thought Police and whether this forum could be held accountable for Conspiracy to Murder by Occult means???

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La Clé du Ciel
Joined: Tue Jul 18, 2006 6:18 pm
Location: England

#9 Post by La Clé du Ciel » Thu Aug 03, 2006 9:10 pm

Well I'm glad to see I've aroused some enthusiasm (if of a violent disposition)…

The only other thing that could scupper a restoration of the film is a lack of interest – and by this I mean sponsorship and MONEY. Money and resources need to be poured into the project. If only Brownlow and Photoplay could get hold of the rights, the prints, and the cash to do a restoration! Not looking likely at the moment, though…

The French have been very slow moving in (not quite) restoring LA ROUE, too. As we shall see…

LA ROUE (1922).

“Creation is a Great Wheel, which does not move without crushing someone.â€
Last edited by La Clé du Ciel on Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Knappen
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Location: Oslo/Paris

#10 Post by Knappen » Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:43 am

Hullo. Or wait. You meant an actual 35mm film print, didn't you? My vhsrip runs for three hours.

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vogler
Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2006 8:42 am
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#11 Post by vogler » Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:47 am

Did you download this VHS rip with emule? I too have a vhs rip of La Roue which lasts 3 hours. It is completely silent and is not tinted but the quality is not too bad. It seems to me that this rip might be a corrupt file though due to very erratic visuals in the last 20 minutes or so. I know Abel Gance uses very experimental rapid cutting techniques and this is one of the reasons I love his work so much but this seemed like something else to me - peoples arms jiggling about in bizarre jump cut ways and scenes alternating in flashes - it looks to me like a corrupt digital file. Does your vhs rip have this problem?
If, however, the film is actually supposed to be like that then I will feel very silly and be utterly amazed by Gance's insane freakout editing. This has been bothering me ever since I downloaded this video.

Even with this severely truncated, untinted, silent, vhs and possibly corrupt version of the film I still found it to be astonishingly good and it instantly entered my top ten films of all time. I think I prefer it to Napoleon and I would love to see a decent restored version - or any version better than the one I have. The ending in particular is cinematic poetry at it's finest and left me in awe of it's sheer power and brilliance.

It makes me sick that Gance's work is being treated this way and the world is being deprived of these masterpieces. There is no doubt in my mind that he is one of the true masters of the silent era (or indeed any era) right up there with the greats like Murnau, Lang, Eisenstein, Dovzhenko, Sjostrom, Stiller etc.

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Knappen
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#12 Post by Knappen » Fri Aug 25, 2006 7:27 am

It's the emule version alright. I certainly agree that this is a film that cries to be rediscovered but I wouldn't place it next to Napoléon. As for the ending I can't recall about the quality. What I do remember is that the J'accuse version I found doesn't have the famous ending with the raising of the dead.

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vogler
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#13 Post by vogler » Fri Aug 25, 2006 7:52 am

I have that version of J'Accuse as well - what a disappointment that was. I think it may only be half of the film and I've been hoping that the rest might turn up but no sign of it yet.

'La Fin du Monde' and 'torture of Silence' are also available on emule but you probably already know that. Also 'La Fin du Monde' is not the heavily cut U.S. version with the ridiculous pseudo scientific intro but is a longer version that runs about an hour and a half.

I definitely prefer La Roue to Napoleon. I think Naploleon is a stunning film but for me this is mostly for visual/technical reasons whereas I found La Roue to be a far more complete film experience with a real sense of visual poetry in addition to the amazing editing, cinematography etc.
I think perhaps I'm not really too interested in Napoleon Bonaparte - I still love the film though.

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Knappen
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#14 Post by Knappen » Fri Aug 25, 2006 8:39 am

In addition to these silent classics I found on emule I have managed to get my hands on most of the Gance talkies that are of some worth. These are not subtitled though. Can you follow french?

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vogler
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#15 Post by vogler » Fri Aug 25, 2006 9:39 am

I have 'Un grand amour de Beethoven' and 'Lucrèce Borgia' on dvd.

I also just noticed that 'Austerlitz' and 'Le Capitaine Fracasse' are available on emule. Are there any others? I know just about enough french to watch without subtitles.

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Knappen
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#16 Post by Knappen » Fri Aug 25, 2006 10:23 am

I think Cyrano et d'Artagnan has come out too. Tour de Nesle has been announced from unreliable editor René Chateau. I got the others trading rare films with french collectors. These are vhsrips on dvd. I may be able to get a decent copy of the silent J'accuse from one of these french connections.

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tryavna
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#17 Post by tryavna » Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:02 pm

Hey, guys! You are aware that Image release both Un Grand Amour de Beethoven and Lucrezia Borgia on DVD in R1, aren't you? I presume that these are what Vogler was referring to....
vogler wrote:I have 'Un grand amour de Beethoven' and 'Lucrèce Borgia' on dvd.
If any of you don't have Beethoven yet, you may want to grab it soon from Amazon, as it's apparently OOP. This release appears to be a complete print with English subtitles. Unfortunately, I think Lucrezia Borgia is incomplete -- at least the running time is shorter than listings I've seen elsewhere. But it comes with two Gance shorts.

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Knappen
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#18 Post by Knappen » Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:22 pm

We're turning this interesting tread into a trivial discussion on dvd releases.

Clé du ciel, could you maybe say something on Gance's thoughts on melodrama? I read somewhere that he said "A melodrama is a flawed tragedy". Yet all his films seem to be utterly melodramatic in a very old fashioned sense of the word and for many close to a "kitsch" sensibility. This is of course also his appeal for followers of Stahl and Sirk.
Any thoughts?
Last edited by Knappen on Fri Aug 25, 2006 5:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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tryavna
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#19 Post by tryavna » Fri Aug 25, 2006 3:03 pm

Knappen wrote:We're turning this interesting tread into a trivial discussion on dvd releases.
Good point, Knappen -- though I just wanted to draw attention to the Beethoven DVD, since several of the above comments made it seem like people were entirely unaware of its existence (with subtitles).

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Knappen
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#20 Post by Knappen » Fri Aug 25, 2006 3:17 pm

I was mainly taking self criticism. All information is of value - especially on a visionary director who is only known outside of France for a single silent film.
May I also add that Un amour de B. is a wonderful film, his best talkie along with Fracasse, Venus, Paradis perdu and the 1938 version of J'accuse!
The bonus Au secours! on the Lucrèce Borgia disc is also a pure delight but mostly a showcase for Max Linder.

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La Clé du Ciel
Joined: Tue Jul 18, 2006 6:18 pm
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#21 Post by La Clé du Ciel » Fri Aug 25, 2006 8:02 pm

Goodness me…

I was meant to post something else before this… I shall post it after this, when some images from LA ROUE have been uploaded. [Speaking of which, is it just me or have the images I uploaded before been reduced to mere links?? And why?!]

Well, in dealing with Gance and melodrama we've opened up a kettle of monkeys.

Firstly, I should say my own view is that Gance's best silent films are superior to even the greatest of his sound films. I think the melodrama in his silent work is far more acceptable than that in his sound films. Whilst I of course accept that one can disagree with a director's views of his own work, I should point out that Gance himself disliked virtually all of his sound films. To him, these were “films made not to live, but in order not to dieâ€

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HerrSchreck
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#22 Post by HerrSchreck » Sat Aug 26, 2006 7:07 am

vogler wrote: Also 'La Fin du Monde' is not the heavily cut U.S. version with the ridiculous pseudo scientific intro but is a longer version that runs about an hour and a half..
This reminds me La Cle, my version of LA FIN is the heavily cut U.S. version with the ridiculous pseudo scientific intro .

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vogler
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#23 Post by vogler » Sat Aug 26, 2006 9:29 am

La Clé du Ciel wrote:And to those of you who do have mysterious 3-hour copies, I'd be keen to know what quality they are – and if they are at the correct speed or not!
I'm not sure if it is at the right speed but it appears to be about right. I have some screenshots to show the quality. I tried to match your screenshots for a comparison but this proved to be too difficult. I did manage this one though:

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and here's some more screenshots:

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this one helps to work out the origin of this copy

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and more:

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HerrSchreck wrote: This reminds me La Cle, my version of LA FIN is the heavily cut U.S. version with the ridiculous pseudo scientific intro.
I have this version also. I have not had a chance to watch the hour and a half version but I just had a brief look at it and it appears to be VERY different. Loads more story and it begins with some Jesus Christ on the cross stuff which I definitely don't remember from the U.S. version.

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Do I have a bad memory or is this stuff not in the U.S. version.
I'm going to have to compare these two versions thoroughly and perhaps try to assemble some sort of more complete version combining footage from both (unless all the footage from the U.S. version is already in this longer version). If only I can work out what order it is supposed to run in.

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HerrSchreck
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#24 Post by HerrSchreck » Sat Aug 26, 2006 9:42 am

I don't think that Jesus stuff is in the shorter "roadshow" version, though even this version of the film is so densely packed with wild montages that blow right by you & stuff building up the christlike importance of the Scientist-Savior , I cannot positively guarantee it's not in there until I slap it back in the player.

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vogler
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#25 Post by vogler » Sat Aug 26, 2006 9:49 am

I just checked my dvd-r of the U.S. version and the jesus part is not in it. There also seems to be less of the wild montage in the longer version than in the U.S. version so I think between the two versions there could be substantially more than an hour and a half of the film. This is going to take some time to work out though.

I get the impression that this film may have been a masterpiece if all had worked out as planned.

Since the jesus part occurs at the beginning of the longer version I just checked the beginning of the U.S. version and it is not there but it is not inconceivable that this section may appear somewhere else in this version amidst the wild montage. I don't think it does though.

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