Cinema doesn't get more epic than this; silent story-telling doesn't
come more eloquent. Gance's hymn to the triumph of individual will
retains a fierce majesty and magnificence, despite being politically
naïve and over-impressed with technical tricks. It charts the
early life and times of one N. Bonaparte, feisty school-kid whose
military genius in playground snowfights leads him to command vast
armies - all under the eye of his totem animal, the eagle. With Carl
Davis' thunderous Beethoven-driven music, seen on the triple screen
in Kevin Brownlow's impeccable restoration, it's a vital movie-going
experience.
