Sightlines · reception
How Napoleon was received
1927 · Abel Gance · Napoleon on Sightlines
The arc
Hailed at its 1927 Paris Opéra premiere, then butchered abroad (MGM's US cut flopped) and nearly lost for decades — Kevin Brownlow's lifelong restoration project turned it into the holy grail of silent cinema, capped by the seven-hour 'Grande Version' unveiled at Cannes in 2024.
What’s debated
Fans endlessly argue over which restoration is the 'real' one — Brownlow/Carl Davis vs the 2024 French cut — and whether Gance's swooning hero-worship of Bonaparte is a feature or a problem.
Its footprint
The triple-screen 'Polyvision' finale — three projectors wide, decades before Cinerama — is one of cinema's most referenced images, and seeing it projected with a live orchestra remains a bucket-list event screening.
Where it stands
A summit of the silent canon and the ultimate 'you haven't really seen it until you've seen it in a cinema' film — Letterboxd logs of the 5+ hour versions are worn as a badge of honor.
Did you know? Gance strapped cameras to horses, pendulums and camera operators' chests to get his famously mobile shots — and cast himself as Saint-Just, with Antonin Artaud as Marat.