NAPOLEON DVD?

[Mike Gebert]

A discussion of the DVD market and piracy has been split off from the Napoleon thread. It's here.

[Decrepit FilmFan]

I attended a showing of Coppola's Napoleon when it toured southern California during the early (?) 80s. Sadly, my overriding memory of that event is pain. A horrific migraine set in not 15min into the presentation. I really ought to have thrown in the tower and left at that point, but couldn't bring myself to do so. How could I walk out on what was apt to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience? In hindsight, it didn't really matter whether I stayed or not, since I felt too poorly to pay much attention to the screen and orchestra. Or, if I did pay attention, battling pain quickly erased it from my mind.

I also own the Coppola Napoleon on laserdisc. 3hrs 55min length. CX encoded with matrixed surround soundtrack, 5 sides, the fifth being CAV. I must say that while Carmine does a respectable job of scoring the film, I've never been wholly enamored with his music score. I'd love to hear what Davis does with the film, and of course want to see the extra footage and a hopefully better image restoration. A real shame us Yanks will be denied the chance unless we invest in a region-free blu ray or DVD player. I don't necessarily mind doing so if I can find a good quality model cheap. My hesitation, aside from being tight on funds for the next some months, is not being sure how much I want to invest in 'conventional' blu ray with 4k supposedly set to take over the market before too long. On the other hand, even if 4k catches on right away, it's likely to be some years before I make the jump, if at all.

[silentfilm]

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1223774.shtml

Epic movie restoration for 7-hour Napoleon classic
Silent film returns
By AFP Published: May 18, 2021 05:48 PM

A film editor works on the reconstruction of the Apollo version of the movie Napoleon (1927) by French director Abel Gance in the buildings of the Cinematheque Francaise at the Fort-de-Saint-Cyr in Montigny-le-Bretonneux, near Paris, on May 6. Photo: AFP

In a mammoth restoration task for one of cinema's most audacious and elusive treasures, a team of obsessives has spent 12 years recreating the original seven-hour cut of Abel Gance's 1927 silent classic, Napoleon.

"It's an act of madness," admits Georges Mourier, head of the 2.5 million euro ($3 million) project.

When they began in 2008, he and editor Laure Marchaut had only planned to spend a few months tidying up Gance's archives in the basement of the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris.

But in the process, they realized that previous restorations had mixed up two versions shown at the original film premieres: a short one for the general public (still some three hours in length) and a longer version that Gance cut himself.

Piecing together the French director's original version has been a mixture of detective work, digital wizardry and extraordinary dedication.

Despite initial excitement upon its release in 1927, the epic tale of Napoleon's early years struggled to find an audience, in part due to its gargantuan length, but also because it came just as the advent of sound killed off interest in silent movies.

Repeated attempts to re-edit the film by distributors, film historians and Gance himself meant reels were scattered around the globe - some lost, some damaged, others mixed up or respliced, leaving up to 22 versions in existence.

"It's a Frankenstein film!" Mourier told AFP.

His team often had to work shot by shot.

To put together the original scene of Napoleon hearing "La Marseillaise," for instance, Mourier and Marchaut had to combine images from a version found in Rome with others found in Copenhagen.

"We weren't just sewing pieces together, we were lacing them," said Mourier.

His team has now worked through 100 kilometers of film, much of it on the verge of disintegrating and highly flammable.

Marchaut had to keep her gloves on at all times while working with the reels and still recalls the "strong stench of vinegar" when she opened one box in which a reel had gone moldy.

Using a mix of chemical processes and the latest digitization techniques, they have managed to restore missing frames and turn the whole film into a high-definition print that promises to maintain the "soul and feel" of the celluloid original.

'Cinematic revolution'

The film itself has long had a near-mythical status among cinephiles and filmmakers, not least director Francis Ford Coppola who owns many of the rights through his company, American Zoetrope, and presented one of the restored versions to widespread acclaim in 1981.

A British film historian, Kevin Brownlow, dedicated 50 years of his life to finding and restoring different cuts of the film, and it is his version (a breezy five and a half hours) that was released on DVD and Blu-Ray by the British Film Institute in 2016.

The film's reputation stems from its many technical innovations, including rapid editing, hand-held - and horse-mounted - camera shots, super-imposition and a famous final sequence featuring three split screens requiring three projectors in the cinema.

"Each sequence was a cinematic revolution," said Mourier, describing it as the last "super-production" of the silent era.

There had been hopes of presenting this latest version in time for the bicentennial of Napoleon's death on May 5, but the work has taken longer than expected.

Mourier hopes to complete the project by the end of 2021.

The job now is to find a setting worthy of such a massive spectacle.

Previous showings have been expensive affairs, using live orchestras and requiring vast screens to accommodate the triple-screen finale.

Mourier dreams of pulling in thousands for a mass screening and staging it in the courtyard alongside Napoleon's tomb at Les Invalides in Paris.

"One thing is certain: The audience will never have any idea of how far we went with this," he said.

[R Michael Pyle]

Three cheers and "La Marseillaise"!! I'd love to see it!

[IA]

I'd be interested to hear Kevin Brownlow's opinion on this new restoration.

[Keatonesque]

To me, the main issue is going to be the score. The Apollo version being seen for the first time since its premiere could be the revelation to end all revelations –– perhaps even surpassing the restored METROPOLIS in terms of spectacle and anticipation. But if the score is the Carmine Coppola one, this is going to be really disappointing. However, if the Carl Davis score is reworked and expanded to fit this Apollo version, I would not hesitate to say this will live up to the hype, as that score is truly majestic (as are all of Carl Davis' silent film scores). I worry that because this is in France, the Coppola score may be prioritized, but I would prefer a new score entirely to that. Ideally, the Carl Davis score won't be forgotten, but if those working on the restoration are unable to use it for whatever reason or don't care to (which would be ridiculous, imo), then good luck finding a composer capable of capturing the incomparable grandeur of this film like Davis.

[Mike Gebert]

I'd love to hear what Davis does with the film,

https://shop.bfi.org.uk/napoleon-blu-ray.html

It's an hour and a half longer than the US version from the 80s, by the way.

Given Coppola's involvement, I would assume that any US version will have the Coppola score, adapted for the increase in length.

[Big Silent Fan]

I'd love to hear what Davis does with the film,

https://shop.bfi.org.uk/napoleon-blu-ray.html

It's an hour and a half longer than the US version from the 80s, by the way.

Since the 1981 recording at Radio City Music Hall was deliberately played too fast (about 24 FPS), at least 30 minutes of that time difference was do to the faster projection speed. I've recorded my original VHS copy at .8 speed and it now runs 4 hours, 27 minutes.
Because Coppola's score had to be sped up to accompany the faster film in 1981, I think it plays well at the reduced speed.
I've seen the latest Blu ray version with the Carl Davis score, but after my twenty-five years of repeated viewings, Coppola's music works just fine for me.

[BrianG]

I hope it makes it to Blu-ray. There's room for a 7 hour Napoleon on the shelf with my 4.5 and 7 hour La Roue's and the BFI Napoleon. Some version of the Coppola score wouldn't put me off. I remember seeing a copy of a 223 minute version from the early 80s with the Coppola score and thought it was good.

[R Michael Pyle]

I saw the 1981 presentation in Indianapolis with the Coppola score. It was a memorable evening, and it was a wonderful score. What's wrong with it?

[Mike Gebert]

As noted, the Radio City/touring version was shortened and sped up to fall within the 4 hour limit of union rules (the price of going past that limit would have made the program unaffordable). In addition, more footage has been found, so that the Oakland presentation in 2012 ran to 5-1/2 hours. That's the version that is on the BFI disc. So, nothing is wrong, but there are different versions. The French version promises a fresh start at assembling the footage, with various claims being made that Brownlow mixed footage from too many distinct original cuts of the film-- take a recent film that has multiple cuts between theatrical and home video, like, say, Kingdom of Heaven, and now imagine intercutting scenes from the two-hours-ish theatrical and the 3-hours-ish home video version, and making a 2-1/2 hour-ish cut with scenes from both. That's kind of what they're implying Brownlow did, though it seems to me given the state of the footage and Gance's frequent recutting, it's basically inevitable— and we'll see to what extent the same "sin" is theirs.

[R Michael Pyle]

No, I meant "What is wrong with the Coppola score?" It seems many are complaining about it.

[Nick_M]

The Coppola score simply isn't nearly as good as the one by Davis. By far.

[R Michael Pyle]

I've heard both, and several times each. I think both are superb. After having watched so many silents in my life without any accompaniment at all, or almost countless numbers with some classical piece played over and over and over and over above the terrible quality picture, I think that to have both of these options - Coppola or Davis - is a god-send. Just my opinion.

[daveboz]

The problem with the Coppola score for NAPOLEON is that it is wholly inadequate for the epic quality of the film. It’s a pathetic pastiche, with many, many quotations of La Marseillaise and Ça Ira, giant irrelevant dollops of Beethoven and Smetana, and the most irritatingly trite and trivial "theme" imaginable for the title character, a stone in the show that grows larger with each repetition.

In fact, it’s not a theme at all but a jingle, crying out for words. Try it yourself!

"We just know that you’ll love our frozen peas"

or,

"When your friends show up unexpectedly"

or even—

"If your best friends won’t tell you, why should I?"

[Arndt]

There's room for a 7 hour Napoleon on the shelf with my 4.5 and 7 hour La Roue's and the BFI Napoleon.

Sure there is room on my shelf for this, but is there room enough in my schedule?

[BrianG]

There's room for a 7 hour Napoleon on the shelf with my 4.5 and 7 hour La Roue's and the BFI Napoleon.

Sure there is room on my shelf for this, but is there room enough in my schedule?

I may live in the U.S., but French, German and Swedish silents get priority in my schedule. After purchase of a 65" TV and new multi-region BD player this year, I finally began tracking my haves, and my watched, in Excel '97.

[Roscoe]

I'll go along with the complaints about the Coppola score, one of the most banal ever.

[Frame Rate]

No, I meant "What is wrong with the Coppola score?" It seems many are complaining about it.

Although I've heard the Coppola score far more often over the years (laserdisc or VHS screenings for my students and frequent appearances of the film on cable TV) than the Davis score (which I agree is definitely a more nuanced and effective accompaniment) -- I must admit that those opening, drumbeat-heavy strains of the Coppola score never fail to mentally transport me back to that "magic time" when Gance's epic had its massively promoted restoration-revival before a huge and appreciative crowd at the cavernous/ornate Chicago Theater movie palace.

I suspect it's not just the perceived differences in effectiveness (between the scores) that's likely motivating so much "complaining," but also some degree of resentment prompted by the fanatical parochialism of current U.S. rights-controller Francis F. Coppola, who (in clench-fisted honor to daddy's memory) has long opposed the film's public showing or release stateside with any other score.

The American copyright on the film was originally registered (by MGM) in October of 1928, but even when that finally expires there will likely still be enforceable claims on the various restorations. The question will then be -- does F.F. Coppola's legal hold, in the U.S., apply to all of the revised-and-extended versions???

[wich2]

^This.

I'm a fan of Davis's work, and was blessed to see him accompany THE WIND at Radio City.

But I was also there a few years earlier for NAPOLEON, and I also do not get the hate for Coppola Sr.'s score. It was rousing, touching, and appropriate that amazing re-premiere night, where I met Brownlow after the screening. And it has remained so on CD and DVD.

Taste is taste.

- Craig

[Mike Gebert]

The American copyright on the film was originally registered (by MGM) in October of 1928, but even when that finally expires there will likely still be enforceable claims on the various restorations. The question will then be -- does F.F. Coppola's legal hold, in the U.S., apply to all of the revised-and-extended versions???

Here's a good piece on the convoluted history of both film and restoration:
https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/si ... estoration

Two key bits:

March 1981

Radio City Music Hall, New York, hosts the US premiere of Napoleon with Carmine Coppola’s score. To avoid crippling overtime bills, Brownlow’s restoration must be reduced to less than four hours, in part by cutting material but mainly by showing the film at a faster speed. Napoleon is a triumph in New York and elsewhere in the US, but Coppola’s music is poorly received. Coppola and [Robert A.] Harris acquire world rights outside France.

February 2015

The Cinémathèque française announces its restoration of Napoleon will be released in 2017. Music will be by the late Carmine Coppola, arranged by Francis Ford Coppola. (The history of Napoleon in the Cinémathèque’s press release mentions neither Brownlow nor Davis.)

I assume the effort in the new article about the restoration is the same effort as the one talked about in that piece, so when it is finally done, it will be shown with Coppola/Harris approval and cooperation, as well as Coppola (Sr.) score (adapted to a new length). But who knows?

[Keatonesque]

The American copyright on the film was originally registered (by MGM) in October of 1928, but even when that finally expires there will likely still be enforceable claims on the various restorations. The question will then be -- does F.F. Coppola's legal hold, in the U.S., apply to all of the revised-and-extended versions???

Here's a good piece on the convoluted history of both film and restoration:
https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/si ... estoration

Two key bits:

March 1981

Radio City Music Hall, New York, hosts the US premiere of Napoleon with Carmine Coppola’s score. To avoid crippling overtime bills, Brownlow’s restoration must be reduced to less than four hours, in part by cutting material but mainly by showing the film at a faster speed. Napoleon is a triumph in New York and elsewhere in the US, but Coppola’s music is poorly received. Coppola and [Robert A.] Harris acquire world rights outside France.

February 2015

The Cinémathèque française announces its restoration of Napoleon will be released in 2017. Music will be by the late Carmine Coppola, arranged by Francis Ford Coppola. (The history of Napoleon in the Cinémathèque’s press release mentions neither Brownlow nor Davis.)

I assume the effort in the new article about the restoration is the same effort as the one talked about in that piece, so when it is finally done, it will be shown with Coppola/Harris approval and cooperation, as well as Coppola (Sr.) score (adapted to a new length). But who knows?

This would be immensely unfortunate. I understand the near-fanatical desire to continue shoving down the Coppola score down our throats, and to be fair, I don't even hate it (banal was the perfect way to describe it), but making that the definitive score for this restoration is truly sad. It's also a slap in the face of Carl Davis, who is truly the consummate professional and master of silent film scores, so to not even give his score a chance to be adapted alongside the Coppola is rather petty. I have no idea why FFC was allowed to have such a monopoly over this film this long, and it is clear he refuses to budge on his father's score and insists that it is the only way anyone should see the film, including in the past truncated form while refusing any distribution of the film on disc. I will take a Davis orchestral score any day over something as forgettable as the Coppola score, and it's really quite amusing how many of those involved in this restoration actually believe Coppola should be preferred over Davis despite the track record of Davis. Ironically, we could've had something truly special to anticipate, but now that it's known the Coppola score is the only one that will be used, this will go down as another what–could've–been if not for the stranglehold monopoly FFC has had on this film despite Kevin Brownlow doing infinitely more to help rescue, preserve, and restore it until these recent efforts at the Cinemateque.

[Nick_M]

Music will be [...] arranged by Francis Ford Coppola.

Wait, wait, what? I'm throwing serious side-eye to this.

[daveboz]

I fear this disc shall ne’er be mine,
If scored by Coppolanodyne…

[Frame Rate]

"Radio City Music Hall, New York, hosts the US premiere of Napoleon with Carmine Coppola’s score. To avoid crippling overtime bills, Brownlow’s restoration must be reduced to less than four hours, in part by cutting material but mainly by showing the film at a faster speed. Napoleon is a triumph in New York and elsewhere in the US..."

When this historic "re-premiere roadshow" got to the Chicago Theater, local musicians from the orchestra of the Lyric Opera were employed to perform the Coppola opus, and "the avoidance of union-defined overtime," (or at least a nicotine-and-bathroom-break) was provided for them by having organist Dennis James fill in during the mid-section.

Anyone recall if that was done in other live performances of Daddy Carmine's score?

[oldposterho]

Music will be [...] arranged by Francis Ford Coppola.

Wait, wait, what? I'm throwing serious side-eye to this.

It sounds like Francis will be cutting/editing/reusing the tracks Papa created so they can fill in the missing hours of music. That's going to take some time.

The royalties must flow.

[wich2]

When this historic "re-premiere roadshow" got to the Chicago Theater, local musicians from the orchestra of the Lyric Opera were employed to perform the Coppola opus, and "the avoidance of union-defined overtime," (or at least a nicotine-and-bathroom-break) was provided for them by having organist Dennis James fill in during the mid-section. Anyone recall if that was done in other live performances of Daddy Carmine's score?

No need for recall - it's in cyber-print in this very thread!

https://nitrateville.com/search.php?key ... sf=msgonly

[Mike Gebert]

There was an organist when I saw it in Kansas City. No idea who, but I knew that that was to give the orchestra their union-required breaks.

[Paul Penna]

There were organ breaks (Dennis James) in the score when I saw it at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, Coppola conducting, in 1981.

[BrianG]

There were organ breaks (Dennis James) in the score when I saw it at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, Coppola conducting, in 1981.

That may be the version I have, but it's a PAL disc I got from some guy in Austria 12+ years ago. I found it today after a week of searching through hundreds of dvd's. I watched the snowball scene today: Harris/Coppola vs BFI Brownlow/Davis. While the BFI/Brownlow/Davis blu-ray may well be my definitive version, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a 7 hour Harris/Coppola reconstruction. Interesting that my 1981 Harris/Coppola dvd states that it's based on a Brownlow reconstruction.