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| Abel Gance: Charm Of Dynamite; TCM Press Release | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 4 2008, 08:46 AM (327 Views) | |
| Laughing Gravy | Mar 4 2008, 08:46 AM Post #1 |
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World Premiere Restorations of Two Groundbreaking Works From Legendary Filmmaker Abel Gance: J’ACCUSE and LA ROUE April 27 Double-Feature Preceded by 1968 Documentary ABEL GANCE: THE CHARM OF DYNAMITE In the latest installment of Turner Classic Movies’ ongoing film series Lost & Found, the network will present the world premiere digital restorations of two extraordinary works from filmmaker Abel Gance. J’ACCUSE (1919) is a World War I tale that is considered one of the most technically advanced films of the era and the first major pacifist film. And LA ROUE (1923) is a love story set in the grime and soot of the railway yards that, according to film historian Kevin Brownlow, “advanced the cinema further than any other single work since Birth of a Nation.” TCM will present both silent films uncut and commercial free in a special double feature Sunday, April 27, beginning at 8 p.m. (ET). The restorations were created from the best available prints and negatives and are accompanied by new orchestral film scores. As a prelude to the night of Abel Gance restorations, TCM will present a chronicle of Gance’s career, the 1968 documentary ABEL GANCE: THE CHARM OF DYNAMITE, which airs at 7 p.m. (ET). The documentary was written and directed by film historian Kevin Brownlow and features interview footage with Gance. “At TCM, we take great pride in bringing our audience classic films that demonstrate the extraordinary potential of cinematic storytelling,” said Charles Tabesh, senior vice president of programming for TCM. “Both of these rarely seen Abel Gance films are seminal works, advancing the artform to a level that had not been achieved before. We are proud to be able to present these ground-breaking films as part of our ongoing Lost & Found series.” J’ACCUSE, Gance’s harrowing look at World War I, stars Marise Dauvray as Marie, a young woman who is forced by her father (Maxime des Jardins) to marry an older man (Severin-Mars), though she’s actually in love with a young poet (Romuald Joube). After war breaks out, Marie is captured by Germans and endures horrible atrocities at the hands of her captors, including multiple rapes that eventually lead to her becoming pregnant. Her husband, who has enlisted in the service, mistakenly believes the poet to be the father of the child, prompting a series of tragic events for all involved. The film ends with a celebrated sequence in which thousands of dead soldiers rise from the battlefield and march through the countryside to see if their sacrifice was warranted. J’ACCUSE introduced such technical advances as rapid-cut editing style and highly expressive camerawork and lighting. Gance, who had served briefly in the military during World War I, decided to return to active service in 1919 in order to film real battle scenes to include in the project. Kevin Brownlow, who dedicated his book The Parade’s Gone By to Gance, calls J’ACCUSE “a miracle film.” Like J’ACCUSE, Gance’s LA ROUE is a tragic love story told with astonishing cinematic technical advances. French filmmaker Jean Cocteau took note of LA ROUE’s transformative power by declaring, “There is cinema before and after LA ROUE, as there is painting before and after Picasso.” The story of LA ROUE opens with Sisif (Severin Mars), a railroad engineer who adopts an orphan girl named Norma (Ivy Close), whom he raises as his own along with his son Elie (Gabriel de Gravone). When the two grow into adulthood, Elie comes to love Norma, but she has been promised to the vain and unpleasant Jacques de Herson (Pierre Magnier). A fight for her love leads to a tragic death for Elie, and Sisif blames Norma for the loss of his only son. But after Sisif becomes a blind recluse, it is Norma who secretly cares for him until the end of his days. Abel Gance is considered to be one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, but one whose genius, like that of Erich von Stroheim, often led to clashes with producers over expanding budgets and Gance’s obsession with realism. Born in 1889, he began his career writing scripts for theater, transitioning to cinema in 1911 with the film La Digue. During World War I, he began dabbling in the cinematic technical advances that would later become his trademark. He achieved his first commercial success in 1917 with Mater Dolorosa, later followed by his first international acclaim with J’ACCUSE. By 1923, Gance had established himself as France ’s leading filmmaker, and LA ROUE cemented that reputation. Its sophisticated use of editing was so extraordinary that according to Gance, Russian directors Sergei Eisenstein and Vsevolod Pudovkin traveled to France and personally thanked him for teaching them editing.. Gance’s most ambitious project came with the production of 1927’s Napoleon, a landmark film that utilized Polyvision, a three-screen presentation that sometimes presents one widescreen image or a juxtaposition of three separate images. Unfortunately, it was this latter technical advance that led to the film disappearing from release, since few theaters were able to accommodate it. In 1981, the film was restored to its Polyvision glory and presented with live orchestral music. After several sound films, including the successful Un Grand Amour de Beethoven (1936), Louise (1939) and Le Capitaine Fracasse (1943), Gance’s career was put on hold by World War II. He fled France and then to Spain after the Nazi invasion of his homeland. It would be 12 years before he would make another film, La Tour de Nesle. While unremarkable as a film, La Tour de Nesle helped revive interest in Gance’s earlier work, especially by then-critic Francois Truffaut. Gance died in 1981, shortly after seeing his masterpiece Napoleon restored and presented to a new generation of film enthusiasts. The digital restoration on J’ACCUSE was carried out by Lobster Film Studios in Paris under the direction of Eric Lange and Serge Bromberg, and the Netherlands Filmmuseum. Legal services were provided by Ruxandra Medrea. Technical advisors were Kevin Brownlow and Lenny Borger. The new English language titles were completed by Lenny Borger. This Flicker Alley digital edition, licensed through Lobster Films, contains a new music score composed, arranged and conducted by Robert Israel. The project was produced by Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange of Lobster Film Studios, Paris, and Jeffery Masino of Flicker Alley, LLC. The digital restoration of LA ROUE, a Flicker Alley Digital Edition, was carried out by Lobster Film Studios in Paris under the direction of Eric Lange, who also produced the restoration with David Shepard. Serge Bromberg and Jeffery Masino served as associate producers. The film’s score was composed, arranged and conducted by Robert Israel. |
| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
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| panzer the great & terrible | Mar 4 2008, 10:18 AM Post #2 |
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Mouth Breather
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I've never been able to figure out why Gance is so esteemed -- his silent shorts and his talkies are pretty deadly -- so maybe this release will settle the question. |
| Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious... | |
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| riddlerider | Mar 4 2008, 11:47 AM Post #3 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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I'm with you, Panzer. IMO, even his much-acclaimed NAPOLEON -- despite its undeniable scope and frequent flashes of cinematic brilliance -- is just a good two-hour movie trapped inside a lumbering, five-hour butt-buster. Having said that, I have enormous respect for everybody connected with the LA ROUE restoration. David Shepard and Robert Israel are friends of many years' standing and I believe the latter to be today's preeminent scorer of silent movies. Seeing the restored 1924 version of THE SEA HAWK at its UCLA premiere -- projected in 35mm on the big screen, with Robert performing the score he assembled from authentic period music -- still ranks among my most memorable moviegoing experiences. |
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| Ignatz Ratzkywatzky | Mar 4 2008, 09:10 PM Post #4 |
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Charter Member
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Actually Gance wasn't held in high esteem until Brownlow restored Napoleon. I actually consider Napoleon the Citizen Kane of the silent era. I can't wait to see his other silent features. I'd also love to see Brownlow's expanded restoration of Napoleon released on video with its Carl Davis score, but I doubt that will ever come to pass. I haven't seen any of Gance's talkies, and what I've heard of them is not promising. Even Brownlow was not enthusiastic about his hero's later work. |
| IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF! is a movie recommendation site, focusing on forgotten classics, lesser-known gems, and oddball discoveries. https://www.bottomshelfmovies.com | |
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| panzer the great & terrible | Mar 6 2008, 10:13 AM Post #5 |
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Mouth Breather
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LA ROUE and J'ACCUSE were highly regarded in some history books before the NAPOLEON restoration. Often the French exaggerate the merits of their pioneers -- I sure as heck won't buy that huge Melies set -- and this may or may not be another case of Gallic self-esteem. We shall see. I've known Dave Shepard since college and usually buy every DVD he does (drawing the line at COBRA, though), and this will be no exception. |
| Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious... | |
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| panzer the great & terrible | Jun 12 2008, 07:00 PM Post #6 |
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Mouth Breather
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OK, it's crow chomping time. LA ROUE is a great movie by any standard. Five tickets, easy. Is my face red! |
| Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious... | |
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| George Kaplan | Jun 13 2008, 04:52 AM Post #7 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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Glad to hear it. My copy hasn't arrived yet, and I was beginning to feel guilty about my wallet's sudden weight loss. |
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12:47 AM Jul 11