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Posted: **Sat Nov 17, 2007 1:44 am**

Sounds like this disc needs a good producer to sign onto the project, with a good rolodex into the financial world and a die-hard, totally committed work ethic.

Posted: **Sat Nov 17, 2007 8:18 am**

I'm amazed that no-one bothered to record Carl Davis's score. And what a pity that the BFI won't publish the restored version that was shown at the RFH in December 2004. A DVD or a theatrical release of that might even help to fund the further work that needs to be done, as well as satisfying the drooling fans.

Of course, we all want to see the "definitive" restoration, but if the BFI can't or won't allocate the necessary funds we don't seem to be much better off than when the Coppolas were contesting the rights.

Posted: **Sat Nov 17, 2007 5:29 pm**

Well, as the screenings in 2004 went ahead amid legal threats, and as new footage had already been found, there probably seemed little point in going to the expense of recording a score that would have to be altered anyway and for a film whose legal status was under imminent risk.

I don't think funding a release of the 2004 version on DVD would do much good as it would only have to be replaced by another (overall very very similar) restoration within a short space of time. If I were to take the view of a BFI sales person, I would also say that by taking such a step you run the risk of selling a product that is too similar to your planned subsequent release. Given that whatever recent/future restoration you wished to put on DVD would mean a 3-disc set, you may end up finding that people don't want to fork out the cash for yet another almost identical release soon after.

I am also horribly frustrated by this mess, but I would rather have a single and massively comprehensive release of this film (in conjunction with more screenings) than a rather damp squib of an intermediate release that I know is going to be superseded in a very short space of time.

And yes, things really DO seem to be back where they started three years ago (three years?!).

Posted: **Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:10 pm**

Can this be true?

According to this link (at the very bottom of the article), J' ACCUSE (1919) and LA ROUE (1923) are forthcoming on R1 DVD from Flicker Alley in 2008/9...plus Georges Franju's LE GRAND MELIES (1952), too!

Posted: **Wed Nov 21, 2007 12:26 am**

I dare say it is true.

Although, as my earlier posts suggest, I fear the version of LA ROUE will be far from definitive. Unless someone is prepared to pay up and use the original prints from the CinÃ©mathÃ¨que Suisse and the CF archives, then it won't be as complete nor as good quality as it could be (and should be). We can only hope the French will one day get themselves together and fund a definitive restoration, collating all available material and assembling the best possible version.

At least J'ACCUSE will be as complete as it can be.

Posted: **Thu Jan 31, 2008 3:19 am**

May I bring back this wonderful topic for a small question?

I just saw too quickly in a store a DVD called Abel Gance. It contains two features, Abel Gance et Son NapolÃ©on and Hier et Demain. I didn't had anytime to look more and won't be back there for a while. I couldn't find any information on google other than the thing exists here in Canada.
Are they making-of movies using footage from this "Autour de NapolÃ©on" I read about or it is something else, and well is it worth anything?

Edit to following post: Thank you! That's what I call a fast reply. I doubt it got subtitles as the cover was all in french, but it is my maternal language so I couldn't care less.

Posted: **Thu Jan 31, 2008 3:53 am**

I was planning to post something on this topic before long, but having just seen a new post I might as well reply now.

Both of those documentaries were made by Nelly Kaplan and do indeed include footage from AUTOUR DE NAPOLEON, along with clips of Ganceâ€™s silent films (I confess that I have seen neither, but I know what they are!). If it has English subtitles, it is worth getting. The only official DVD is in a box set of Kaplanâ€™s films, none of which have subtitles.

I picked up a copy of an OOP vhs from Grapevine the other week, containing AUTOUR DE LA ROUE, AUTOUR DE NAPOLEON (fragments thereof), and AUTOUR DE LA FIN DU MONDE. It is a decent transfer of AUTOUR DE LA ROUE, but the fifteen minutes of AUTOUR DE NAPOLEON are poor (and this runtime includes the climax of the snowfight, in a different editing pattern than current versions). AUTOUR DE LA FIN DU MONDE includes no sound sequences and looked like it was transferred at the wrong speed, as everything moves slightly too slowly. When I can get it transferred to DVD, I will put up some image captures for those who might be interested in these fascinating curiosities.

I was also alerted to this post the other day. It says that TCM have announced an airing of Gance and Gance-related stuffs on Sunday, April 27th:

7:00 PM Abel Gance: The Charm of Dynamite (1968)
Cast: Dir: C-0 mins,
8:00 PM Jâ€™Accuse (1919)
In this silent film, a soldier meets his wife's lover in the trenches during World War I. Cast: Romulad Joubi, Siverin-Mars, Maryse Dauvray. Dir: Abel Gance. BW-150 mins,
11:00 PM Roue, La (1923)
In this silent film, a railway man rescues a child from a train crash, then loses her to his son. Cast: Siverin-Mars, Ivy Close, Gabriel de Gravone. Dir: Abel Gance. BW-273 mins,
3:00 AM J'Accuse (1919)
In this silent film, a soldier meets his wife's lover in the trenches during World War I. Cast: Romulad Joubi, Siverin-Mars, Maryse Dauvray. Dir: Abel Gance. BW-150 mins

The runtimes appear to be guesses, based on previous incarnations. Jâ€™ACCUSE will be longer, LA ROUE will be shorter. And whoever expects someone to sit down at 7 in the evening and watch a whole documentary (mostly concerning NAPOLEON, which they wonâ€™t be seeing), followed by a three-hour epic, followed by a four-and-a-half-hour epic, is an idiot.

[In an unrelated footnote, does anyone know why my name is now La ClÃ© du Ciel and why numerous of my posts now contain script errors?]

[EDIT: My name has been fixed - thank you!]

Posted: **Thu Jan 31, 2008 9:56 am**

J'Acusse and La Roue should be new digital versions, due to Massino's involvement, from Flicker Alley and should hopefully be receiving dvd editions too.

Now to pray that someone has the balls to release a worthy version of Napoleon.

Posted: **Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:06 am**

[In an unrelated footnote, does anyone know why my name is now La ClÃ© du Ciel and why numerous of my posts now contain script errors?]

All letters with accents, foreign vocals, dollar/pound/euro symbols etc on the forum have been like this for quite a while now. Very frustrating indeed.

Posted: **Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:13 am**

Der MÃ¼de Tod had a similar problem. You need to contact one of the admins to get the diacritical in your username fixed.

Posted: **Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:24 am**

Knappen wrote:All letters with accents, foreign vocals, dollar/pound/euro symbols etc on the forum have been like this for quite a while now. Very frustrating indeed.

I find that if I switch to Unicode, the problem disappears - but my browser is set to Unicode as a default, so the forums seem to be overriding this. And I'm assuming this wasn't the case a few weeks ago.

Posted: **Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:22 pm**

La ClÃ© du Ciel wrote:And whoever expects someone to sit down at 7 in the evening and watch a whole documentary (mostly concerning NAPOLEON, which they wonâ€™t be seeing), followed by a three-hour epic, followed by a four-and-a-half-hour epic, is an idiot.

Good point!

However, I think TCM has long reconciled itself to the fact that many viewers record their mini-festival nights of programming to watch at their pleasure. That's certainly what I'll be doing. At any rate, regardless of however wrong-headed TCM's efforts might seem (in terms of bladder control, if nothing else), I'm not going to complain.

Posted: **Fri Feb 01, 2008 6:23 am**

I'd wager that the editions shown on TCM are indeed going to be precisely what will be on the forthcoming Flicker Alley discs, so I doubt there are guesses. if run times sound a little off it may be that they're including the usual spoken word intos etc. Most of Massino's self-produced material (i e non ports from R2, i e Retour La Flamme) in the silents arena (i e his new edition of Phantom, Judex, etc) were done in conjunction with TCM. So those who watch will most likely be getting a peek at what will be on the upcoming FA discs. Like Potemkin for Kino, Beyond The Rocks for Milestone, etc.

Posted: **Fri Feb 01, 2008 6:33 am**

Hopefully that signals that the releases of the dvds will be following right behind the April screenings...

Posted: **Fri Feb 01, 2008 2:32 pm**

Hopefully, but the Hughes silents were done in conjuntction with TCM (and given screenings? I don't have US TCM...) and they have yet to see their FA release.

Posted: **Sun Feb 03, 2008 2:49 pm**

There are 4 Gances on France 3 this month (starting tonight):

3 Feb: LucrÃ¨ce Borgia (1935)
10 Feb: Le Capitaine Fracasse (1943)
17 Feb: La Tour de Nesle (1954)
24 Feb: Cyrano et d'Artagnan (1963)

Not a very exciting selection, unfortunately, and nothing that isn't already available on DVD.

Posted: **Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:28 pm**

Brioncould at least have shown VÃ©nus aveugle - a much more satisfying film than LucrÃ¨ce Borgia. And not available on dvd. For once I'll not be asking my french friend to record an auteur series like this.

Posted: **Wed Mar 05, 2008 5:42 am**

Related to the TCM screening, with Flicker Alley, for those of you in Los Angeles:

4/13 @ 6pm
La Roue

Presented by Cinefamily and Los Angeles Filmforum
Join The Cinefamily and Turner Classic Movies as we co-present the world premiere digital restoration of filmmaker Abel Ganceâ€™s extraordinary work, La Roue (1922), which was created from the best available prints and negatives from several countries, and which will be accompanied by a new orchestral score by composer Robert Israel. Ganceâ€™s masterwork is a tragic love story set in the grime and soot of the railway yards, told with astonishing cinematic technical advances. French filmmaker Jean Cocteau took note of the filmâ€™s transformative power by declaring, â€œThere is cinema before and after La Roue, as there is painting before and after Picasso.â€ By 1923, Gance had established himself as Franceâ€™s leading filmmaker, and this film cemented that reputation. Its sophisticated use of cutting was so innovative that according to Gance, Russian directors Sergei Eisenstein and Vsevolod Pudovkin traveled to France and personally thanked him for educating them in the art of editing.
Dir. Abel Gance, 1923, Digibeta, 273 min.
There will be a 30 minute break for dinner.
Tickets - $12/ $8 for members

The Silent Movie Theatre
611 N Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, 90036
323-655-2510

Posted: **Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:39 pm**

I hate my life.

Why oh why did I choose to go to school in NY rather then LA.

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2008 2:17 pm**

A poster called SimonDelDesertio in the Usenet group a.b.m.vintage-film has come up with an interesting use for the Coppola edition of Napoleon.

----------------
| Release note |
----------------

This version is a reconstruction of the Kevin Brownlow 5 1/2 hour 1983 restoration, in two parts.
The template for this is from a single TV showing of the work (in this form) from 1984 on UK C4 in the Thames Silents series with a score by Carl Davis. DVD footage from the Coppola release has been slowed from 24fps to the correct 20fps, and replaces the majority of the vhs image. However Coppola also cut many scenes from the film and that vhs footage is restored here in place.

Luckily (For 1984 the sound was recorded in picture, in high fidelity, but unfortunately not in stereo (Was there even Nicam broadcast in 1984?).As the Coppola version was heavily tinted in various scenes,
I have attempted to tint the remaining VHS scenes to fit.

Kevin Brownlow has been restoring this film as his life's work, and at his first showing of the film (which had been lost) Francis Ford Coppola saw it and used his father to write a score, cut the film down considerably to 3 1/2 hours, and showed it at Keystone Cops speed 24fps instead of the intended 20 in 1981.

Thames silents also commissioned a score from Carl Davis, and showed the then complete restoration in 1984 on TV using more reclaimed footage, and Brownlow continued to make additions showing his most complete print in 2000. This most complete restoration (100 mins longer than the Coppola one) was last shown with a live orchestra in 2004 under legal threats by Coppola and universal, who claim to have the rights to the film, and the definitive restoration (- though all restoration was done by Brownlow, and Coppola only cut it down)

It is unlikely that the full restoration with the superior Carl Davis score will ever be released now in Coppola's lifetime, but this version comes fairly close.

Part 1 (a DVD9) is available here if you have Usenet access. I watched it last night; the reconstruction is fabulous: a real labour of love. Part 2 is coming shortly:

I have run into a couple of obstacles but should start the post in a few days . The main issue is the Tripple screen ending section (3 projectors side by side). As the Carl Davis VHS was for tv they had no choice but to avoid the 3 screen sections, which are one of the most well known features of this legend.

The trouble is that the tv versionis a totally different cut in the last 15 mins, and actually 10 mins shorter trhan the Coppola 3 screen version. There is only about 1 minutes footage in common also. I have decided to use the video section (as is) with the Carl Davis score as written for it.

It is actually to me much more preferable, as the Coppola version ending is a bit long and boring .

I will tack on an extra on the DVD with the Coppola version 3 screen ending as well.

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2008 4:01 pm**

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:33 pm**

My! I'd love to get this, but I have no idea what is a DVD9, what is this usernet thing, what I must do with that thing in order to put in on DVD (allright I know how to burn dvds with simple programs), etc. That's too bad I'm not in computers enough.

And that's 6 or 7 Go, right?

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:48 pm**

"DVD9" is telling you the size of DVD-R you'll need to burn this file to DVD

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:53 pm**

I'm all over this, but how the fuck to I download it? I've never used a Usernet thingy, and wouldn't know where to start. (Even the FAQ on that page is confusing.)

Posted: **Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:25 pm**

A very quick, and very off-topic guide to Usenet.

1. Go to a Usenet provider and sign up for a free trial account. I use Giganews.
2. Download and install a newsreader. I use Unison (Mac). Grabit appears to be a popular PC equivalent. Set it up with the username, password and server address from the Usenet provider.
3. Go to a Usenet search engine and search for the stuff you want - in this case "Napoleon". Newzleech is pretty good. When you find what you're looking for, download the small NZB file to your desktop.
4. Open the NZB file in your newsreader, and if it's all set up correctly it should start downloading the "binary" (in this case a DVD) from your Usenet provider.
5. When the download is finished, you'll probably have a whole load of files with "rar" and "par" suffixes. These need to be assembled into the DVD image. I use MacPar. Par-n-rar is a PC equivalent.
6. You should then have either a DVD image or a VIDEO_TS folder, either of which can be burnt to a blank or played on your computer.

criterionforum.org

Abel Gance

La Roue in Los Angeles on April 13