Google Scholar Sweet Search 'Napoleon' Returns To Conquer — The Screen hide captionAlbert Dieudonne plays Napoleon in director Abel Gance's 1927 epic. The San Francisco Silent Film Festival will present the U.S. premiere of Kevin Brownlow's restoration of the film, accompanied by a live symphony score conducted by composer Carl Davis, on March 24 in Oakland, Calif. Photoplay Productions There have been a lot of films about Napoleon, but the most famous one of all is also the hardest to see. Abel Gance's Napoleon premiered 85 years ago, a silent epic about the childhood and early career of the French leader. It's no wonder that Napoleon is seldom shown. hide captionTo meet Gance's demands for shooting chase scenes, Simone Feldman (right) used steam engine technology and compressed air to power the mounted cameras. The film is epic not only in length, but also in imagination and ambition. Gance anticipated widescreen films and projected multiple images on the screen simultaneously. So Brownlow set out to let more people see Napoleon by restoring it.
Napoleon: The Man and the Myth Mike (Minnesota): Though his achievements in law and the rewarding of merit were significantly positive, overall Napoleon changed Europe for the worse, as measured in total number of lives lost -- not just losses in the armies of Napoleon and his enemies, but losses caused by future tyrants inspired by Napoleon's rags-to-supremacy story. G. (California): Napoleon changed Europe. While he may have acted like a tyrant, he also gave the people of France and other countries in Europe a reason to hope - a glimmer in the dark. Brian (West Virginia): I think it can be argued that Napoleon both changed Europe for the better, and for the worse, which gives one an idea of how big is impact is on modern history. Thomas (Texas): Both. His imposition of the Napoleonic Law system improved almost all occupied countries, because of written law. His conquests of distant regions led to the concentration of relics and antiquities in Paris. Falstaff (Maryland): Napoleon changed Europe for the better. Better.