Netflix partners with Cinematheque on Gance's Napoleon restoration

[s.w.a.c.]

Spotted this on the Dr. Film page on Facebook ... apparently, Kevin Brownlow will not be involved.

https://www.en24news.com/60339/2021/01/ ... piece.html

Note: there may be some glitches with the translation.

With this first foray into the restaurant business, he tackles a monument in the history of cinema: Napoleon, by Abel Gance, with Albert Dieudonné and Antonin Artaud, was screened for the first time in 1927.

[boblipton]

Bring me some Armagnac and eclairs.

Bob

[s.w.a.c.]

And a very comfy chair.

Maybe I should have put this info in this thread that was in Talking About Silents, but the Netflix angle makes it worthy of being in Silent News (and Coppola and Harris are not mentioned in the story).

[maliejandra]

It would be wonderful to finally get to see this one! I'm not sure why Brownlow isn't involved. I've been contemplating getting a region free player to get the BFI release.

[s.w.a.c.]

I'm not sure why Brownlow isn't involved.

There's a discussion about this on that Dr. Film FB page I linked to, with some insider info. To boil it down to one word: politics. It's also not quite that simple, but I recommend reading that thread, it appears there have been issues between the Cinematheque and Brownlow for some time (and I don't want to summarize it further when it's explained as well as possible there).

Although apparently someone asked Brownlow about the situation a while back, and it seems his response was "Hasn't Hollywood always been this way?"

It does seem remarkable that after all the decades of scrounging for footage by Brownlow to assemble a stunning version of Napoleon, there's still more to be found in the Cinematheque's "cold storage". I wonder what else is down there that was previously ... unknown?

[missdupont]

A few years ago, an archivist from the Cinematheque showed work they had been doing on this at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, and it was in conjunction with Coppola. They had already been working on this for several years at this point, so maybe they gave up on them ever finishing and moved on and then Netflix stepped in to help with financing.

[Battra92]

It would be wonderful to finally get to see this one! I'm not sure why Brownlow isn't involved. I've been contemplating getting a region free player to get the BFI release.

While I don't watch a ton of Region B Blu-rays, I never regret purchasing a region free player. One alternate option is to purchase a BD player from the UK or Germany so long as it has a power supply that accepts US voltages (Sonys with their external power bricks are usually safe bets)

Region Free DVD players are a dime a dozen so if you don't think you'll miss the BD quality, you can always just buy it on DVD.

[Salty Dog]

I had a problem with my Samsung Blu-Ray player last year when they had the massive firmware failure which caused most of them to keep rebooting. I sent my years old player back to Samsung, not so sure of when or if I would get it back, and decided to bite the bullet and purchase a region free Blu-Ray player, a modified Sony. As it turns out, Samsung impressively fixed the player and sent it back, no charge, in less than 2 weeks, by which time I had the Sony. As for the region free player, the first disc I bought for it was the BFI Napoleon, which I have yet to watch; like others, I am a bit daunted by the length and need to find the right time for it. I saw the Coppola version at Radio City back in the day, and it was one of my all time best theatre screenings (along with The Wind, with Carl Davis playing, also at Radio City). I have a small collection of Region B discs, mostly from BFI and Eureka. I have not regretted the purchase.

[s.w.a.c.]

I had a great multi-region blu-ray player made by Seiki that cost less than $100 from a major retailer whose name starts with W and ends in T, but later decided to get a fancy one from Oppo that also plays HDCD and SACD music discs, but I'm thinking there should still be some of those cheaper models out there, you just have to do a little research.

[mwalls]

I had a great multi-region blu-ray player made by Seiki that cost less than $100 from a major retailer whose name starts with W and ends in T, but later decided to get a fancy one from Oppo that also plays HDCD and SACD music discs, but I'm thinking there should still be some of those cheaper models out there, you just have to do a little research.

I have the Seiki model. No frills and you can tell physically it is not top of the line. But it has never failed to play any disk from Europe and the picture/sound is really good.

Matthew

[Mike Gebert]

I would point out that 220-electronics.com is having a winter sale and has region free blu-ray players as low as $99.

That said, I'll probably move the player discussion to a more appropriate thread at some point.

[Professor Echo]

I would point out that 220-electronics.com is having a winter sale and has region free blu-ray players as low as $99.

That said, I'll probably move the player discussion to a more appropriate thread at some point.

Just a quick addition for anyone contemplating the purchase of a region free Blu player: I have dealt in person at the offices/showroom of 220 Electronics in suburban Chicago for years and vouch for their work on region free players and their customer service. I've always found them to be really nice people and, in fact, whenever I came in with my Dad, who is now in his early 90's, they always treated him with respect and even reverence.

The bottom line for all of us cinephiles though is no matter where you get a region free player, if you can afford it, get one. Life is too short to not embrace all the cinematic wonders that have been and continue to be released around the world. Watching the BFI Blu of NAPOLEON was a sublime experience. If the Netflix restored version is streaming only and doesn't involve Brownlow, yes, I will still watch it, but knowing I have a physical copy in my library will help me to feel more secure.

[DavidWelling]

All-region blu-rays are so inexpensive now that it makes sense for any serious movie lover. I keep mine stored away until I have a specific title to watch. Napoleon was the release to make me make the plunge (along with the amazing silent homage, Dr. Plonk) and it was well worth it. I love the ability to watch films regardless of regions. Plus I finally was able to see all two seasons of Rock Follies (cheers to Andy Mackay).

[s.w.a.c.]

Napoleon was the release to make me make the plunge (along with the amazing silent homage, Dr. Plonk) and it was well worth it.

Nice to see another Dr. Plonk fan here, I grabbed a copy after finding Magda Szubanski hilarious on Kath & Kim.

Steering things back to Gance's Napoleon, with Netflix involved, there's a chance that this version might come out in physical form via Criterion, which is also handling Netflix-produced titles like Roma, Marriage Story, The Irishman, American Factory and Atlantics.