Abel Gance's Napoleon

I first read about this film during my short tenure at Sagrado Corazon college. I didn’t last there for long, but I was intrigued by it’s library of classic cinema books. One of those books was on the great foreign films of the twentieth century, and it’s longest chapter dealt with this movie alone. And with good reason. Thanks to Francis Ford Coppola, we can enjoy this film for the classic it is, a romanticized and epic vision from a director that is truly underrated. It traces all of Napoleon’s life, from when he’s a youngster in military school where he wins his first battles in snow fights against his friends, to the French Revolution, it’s iconic characters and his most important battle. It’s during these battles that the film turns into a three-camera spectacle, making it even more crowded, and more epic, than anything seen before or since. Yes, I thanked Coppola because of him I was able to finally see it, but I’m also very angry that he cut out 90 minutes of the film so that it suits his father’s music. This is bullshit, I want to see the whole movie!