54. GANCE (Abel). Manuscript and 4 letters. Of the great p - Lot 54

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  3. 54. GANCE (Abel). Manuscript and 4 letters. Of the great p - Lot 54
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54. GANCE (Abel). Manuscript and 4 letters. Of the great p - Lot 54
54. GANCE (Abel). Manuscript and 4 letters. Of the great project he had conceived of a film cycle devoted to the life of Napoleon I, Abel Gance was only able to make two films, Napoleon, released in 1927 (reviewed in 1935 and in 1971), and Austerlitz, released in 1960. "Why Austerlitz?" Typescript signed in 2 places, with autograph title and corrections, entitled "Why Austerlitz?" [Circa 1960]. "It can hardly be disputed that THE FORMULA OF THE HISTORICAL FILM, which was so famous in the great days of silent film, especially in Italy, has undergone an eclipse which for the last quarter of a century has left us with nothing but beautiful memories. This outdated formula, LITTLE BY LITTLE PETRIFIED IN A SORT OF SCLEROSIS, HAS NOT FOLLOWED THE TRACK OF TIME - and it is essential for the historical film to regain the pre-eminence it is due - to renew both the writing and the spirit. By dint of confining the historical heroes used on the screen to theatrical, standardized expressions, where the events themselves seem frozen, this type of film can no longer find the attentive audience of large international audiences, which are increasingly difficult to satisfy. I HAVE THEREFORE, THROUGHOUT MY WORK, TRIED TO FIGHT AGAINST THIS SPIRIT OF CONVENTION. It is certain that for all audiences in the world, the idea of Napoleon generally corresponds to the lithographs, paintings and descriptions that we have of him. These stereotyped images, simplistic enough in fact, have come to give a feeling of "déjà vu" - for the eyes of an increasingly sceptical and jaded public - and it is against this danger that I WANTED TO REVEAL VISUAL AND AUDITIVE REVELATIONS OF UNUSUAL IMPORTANCE. [The historian Evgeny Tarlé notes more than 200,000 volumes of historians on this great theme of the imperial period, while 4 or 5 films since the origin of cinema have tried to give us a pale outline of this extraordinary period. The field offered to us is therefore immense. This is one of the great opportunities of this new subject in cinema. For why, indeed, should the realm of images hesitate to renew the appearance of the famous figure of THE MAN WHO SAID AT THE SHELTER, AFTER AUSTERLITZ, IN FRONT OF A GALLERY OF THOUSANDS OF TABLES THAT REPRESENTED HIM from every angle - "That's good, but I only see a fraction of the time, a fraction of the action, AS I WISH IT WERE ALL MOVING!", and who thoughtfully added, "I WISH I WERE MY POST-TERITORY AND WERE ATTENDING WHAT A POET WOULD MAKE ME THINK, FEEL AND SAY." DON'T WE GUESS IN THESE PROFOUND WORDS THE PREMONITION OF THE CINEMA? SENSITIZED BY THESE WISHES OF NAPOLEON, I TRIED, WITH MY MOST SINCERE CONVICTION, TO BE THE POET OF WHICH HE SPEAKEDED, in order, in fulfilling my wish, to place him in time in front of himself in order to draw impartially the lessons. Was Napoleon an exceptional being who defied all criticism, as his admirers believe, or, on the contrary, a sort of fearsome autocratic robot who, after having left France ruined and bloodless, became the prototype of the harmful man, as his detractors believe? For my part, I cannot set myself up as a judge or an apologist, but presenting my work in a scrupulous synthesis that uncovers him under both aspects, I wanted to leave the spectators the opportunity to draw serious lessons from his extraordinary history. In order to renew a curiosity around his name that the formulas used until now in the cinema had dulled, I HAVE THEREFORE, in a shortcut dictated by time (for it is necessary to summarize 4 years of history, from 1802 to 1805, in 3 hours), ATTEMPTED TO GET AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE TO AN UNKNOWN NAPOLEON, whom few people know, with the exception of informed historians. In the new work, we will see him not as an opera hero, but as a prisoner, like each of us, of his physical constitution, his heredity and his weaknesses, in addition to his political and military genius. IT IS AS IF AN INVISIBLE CAMERA, SUDDENLY BREAKING INTO THE HEART OF HIS PRIVATE LIFE AT MOMENTS WHEN HE WOULD LEAST EXPECT IT, CAPTURED, BEFORE OUR STUPEFIED CURIOSITY, HIS FLASHES OF GENIUS ALONGSIDE HIS FLAWS AND PRESENTED US ALTERNATELY AND OFTEN SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THESE TWO APPARENTLY CONTRADICTORY FACETS..." (3 PP 1/2). (3 1/2 pp., last leaf faded with damage to a few words). "... if I do or do not do Waterloo..." 4 letters (2 autographed and 2 signed), namely: 3 to the photographer Jacques-Henri Lartigue and one to his wife Madeleine Messager. Paris, 1922. « ... I need to convert Mr. Lartigue to a philosophical optimism that he does not seem to have, & for that, I need a few days of contact so that he can accept the sunny drink of some ideas that I believe to be quite new, - under our great company
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