Napoleon

A film about the French general's youth and early military career. A massive six-hour biopic of Napoleon, tracing his career from his schooldays (where a snowball fight is staged like a military campaign), his flight from Corsica, through the French Revolution (where a real storm is intercut with a political storm) and the Terror, culminating in his triumphant invasion of Italy in 1797 (the film stops there because it was intended to be part one of six, but director Abel Gance never raised the money to make the other five). The film's legendary reputation is due to the astonishing range of techniques that Gance uses to tell his story, culminating in the final twenty-minute triptych sequence, which alternates widescreen panoramas with complex multiple- image montages projected simultaneously on three screens. —Michael Brooke <michael@everyman.demon.co.uk> Director Abel Gance's epic biopic of the life of Napoleon from his days as a schoolboy to his invasion of Italy soon after his appointment as commander-in-chief of the French army in March 1796 and the subsequent invasion of Italy. As a young lad, his talent for tactics were shown when playing a war game in the snow - with snowballs as their primary weapons. As as adult, Napoleon is deeply affected by the revolution and the chaos that results in everyday life. On his return to France from Corsica, we follow his life through his military career and his rise to power. —garykmcd