Napoléon (1929)
84%RT Audience Score:
Awards & Nominations: 10 wins & 23 nominations
Abel Gance’s Napoleon is a cinematic masterpiece that transcends time and space, transporting the viewer to a world of epic proportions. The film’s elaborate spectacles and stunning visuals are a testament to the power of cinema, and its ability to convey emotion and drama on a grand scale. From the breathtaking war scenes to the romantic interludes with Josephine, Napoleon is a feast for the senses that leaves a lasting impression. While some may criticize the film’s poor photography and jumpy scenes, these flaws only serve to highlight the sheer audacity and ambition of Gance’s vision. In short, Napoleon is a triumph of cinema that deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible.
Abel Gance’s Napoleon is like a rollercoaster ride, but instead of loops and drops, you get to witness the grandeur of Napoleon’s early life. The film is a feast for the eyes, with elaborate spectacles that only cinema can convey. It’s like watching a real work of art come to life, inspiring you to cheer for the hero and hiss at the villains. And if you get the chance to see it on the big screen, don’t miss it! Just be prepared for some clumsy war scenes and a romance that could have used a bit more oomph. But hey, it’s still more than movie enough!
Production Company(ies)
Killer Films, New Line Cinema,
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Preston, Idaho, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG for thematic elements and language
Year of Release
2004
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:NA
Genre(s)
Historical Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Albert Dieudonne, Antonin Artaud, Pierre Batcheff, Wladimir Roudenko, Gina Manes, Nicolas Koline, Tristan Fleuri, directed by Abel Gance, written by Abel Gance, produced by Abel Gance, biography, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Times (UK) Staff, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Observer (UK), Independent (UK), Guardian, L.A Weekly, Harrison’s Reports, London Review of Books, Film Daily Staff, Fred Schader, Alex Ramon, MPAA rating G, French ruler, Napoleon Bonaparte, childhood, military campaign, Corsica, French mainland, military ranks, groundbreaking camerawork, editing, innovative technique, expressive epic, singular intimacy, theatrical experience, hero, villains, uplift, art, sensory experience, energy, extravagance, ambition, orgiastic pleasure, high drama, destiny, war scenes, romance, Josephine, jumpy, disconnected, wretched photography, clumsy direction
Worldwide gross: $46,138,887
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $72,783,467
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,175
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 7,937,128
US/Canada gross: $44,540,956
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $70,262,753
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 916
US/Canada opening weekend: $116,666
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $184,039
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,695
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $400,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $630,995
Production budget ranking: 2,106
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $339,791
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $71,812,682
ROI to date (est.): 7,397%
ROI ranking: 12
Antonin Artaud – Marat
Pierre Batcheff – Le général Lazare Hoche
Wladimir Roudenko –
Gina Manès – Joséphine de Beauharnais
Nicolas Koline – Tristan Fleuri
Director(s)
Abel Gance
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
Abel Gance
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
10 wins & 23 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (41) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (36) | Rotten (5)
The result is a film to be enjoyed for its elaborate spectacles rather than for its interest as a dramatic summary of Napoleon’s early life.
August 5, 2020
Times (UK) Staff
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Abel Gance’s Napoleon is an incomparable theatrical experience. It is spectacle as only the cinema can convey it.
April 27, 2018
Bruce McCabe
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
Inspires that wonderfully satisfying theatrical experience of whole-heartedly cheering a hero and hissing villains, while also providing the uplift that comes from a real work of art.
May 9, 2017
Judith Martin
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
This magnificent piece of cinema history should be seen on the biggest screen possible.
November 13, 2016 | Rating: 5/5
Wendy Ide
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Seen on the big screen in its new digitally cleaned up version with its Carl Davis score, Abel Gance’s 1927 masterpiece Napoleon is a truly startling experience.
November 10, 2016 | Rating: 5/5
Geoffrey Macnab
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Gance’s Napoleon looks startlingly futuristic and experimental, as if we are being shown something from the 21st century’s bleeding edge. It’s as if it has evolved beyond spoken dialogue into some colossal mute hallucination
November 10, 2016 | Rating: 5/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
As a sensory experience, there is simply no equal to Abel Gance’s Napoléon. The intensity of its images and their rhythms take the breath away and exhilarate the body, touching places and hungers that are hard to name.
November 10, 2021
Ginger Varney
L.A. Weekly
[Napoléon] was produced on rather a lavish scale with a large cast. But the photography is very poor, the scenes jumpy and disconnected. The picture is on the whole, tiresome.
August 5, 2020
P.S. Harrison
Harrison’s Reports
Above all, there is energy, extravagance, ambition, orgiastic pleasure, high drama and the desire for endless victory: not only Napoleon’s destiny but everyone’s most central hope.
August 5, 2020
Anita Brookner
London Review of Books
There are innumerable war scenes, and these were done clumsily. The romance with Josephine is not sufficiently played up.
August 5, 2020
Film Daily Staff
The Film Daily
The photography is wretched and the direction even worse than that. If I was running a house and the picture was offered me I wouldn’t play it for nothing.
August 5, 2020
Fred Schader
Motion Picture News
In its glory and intermittent absurdity, the stunning Napoléon is more than movie enough.
August 5, 2020 | Rating: 8/10
Alex Ramon
PopMatters…
Plot
Preston, Idaho’s most curious resident, Napoleon Dynamite, lives with his grandma and his 32-year-old brother (who cruises chat rooms for ladies) and works to help his best friend, Pedro, snatch the Student Body President title from mean teen Summer Wheatley.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film Napoleon on Fresh Kernels.
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