The event is huge. After sixteen years of restoration undertaken by the Cinémathèque française with the support of the CNC, the Napoleon made in 1927 by Abel Gance will, finally, be revealed to the public. Before the film concert event, scheduled for July 4 and 5 at the Seine Musicale in Paris, which will offer the full and definitive 7-hour version over two evenings, spectators of the Cannes film festival, the largest film festival in the world, will have the premiere of the “first era”. Lasting 3 hours 40 minutes, it will be presented, exclusively, at the opening of the section Classic CannesTuesday May 14.
In partnership with Casa di lume
In a letter sent this Friday, Jean Pierre Mattei, founder of the Cinémathèque de Corse and president of the association “Corsica and Cinema” recalled the investment of the Casa di lume in this restoration. “[…] for about fifteen years, it has been the restoration of the version” Apollo of seven hours that the Cinémathèque française is tackling, under the direction of Georges Mourier, who will be able to benefit from the very precise notes written by Abel Gance and discovered in the archives of the establishment and at the National Library of France.
The Cinémathèque de Corse will have the chance to be associated with this resurrection, as Costa Gavras, the president of the French cinematheque, recalls in the preface to the book “Napoléon 2021 Retours sur image” of which I took the initiative at the occasion of the bicentenary of Napoleon’s death: “The Corsican cinema library, by providing us with an original nitrate copy, has provided a useful reference to this ambitious and unique restoration. It is fortunate that Napoleon’s native island is participating in this project.”
Thus, in 2024 in Cannes, in addition to Caroline Poggi, Thierry de Peretti and Julien Colonna, another Corsican will leave his mark on the festival: Napoléon Bonaparte.
