Abel Gance et son Napoléon

This documentary focuses on the making of the 235minute silent epic Napoleon the masterpiece of French directorwriteractor Abel Gance Napoleon showcased Gances talents with the camera his use of multipleimages like a split screen and his handling of crowded action scenes all brought forward in this documentary by his later assistant Nelly Kaplan While Gance was shooting Napoleon in 192526 he and his crew were also being filmed for a documentary titled Autour de Napoleon The only extant reels from that documentary are included in this film as well as views of Gances unique triptychs three different scenes lined up sidebyside across a superwide screen to convey the effect of a panorama or of three separate interludes Nelly Kaplan put together this documentary using old footage such as Gance filming the famous snowball fight at the Brienne military school and still photographs and excerpts from Gances production diaries