Gance, Abel

Gance, Abel
orig. Eugène Alexandre Péréthon

born Oct. 25, 1889, Paris, France
died Nov. 10, 1981, Paris

French film director and screenwriter.

He worked in the cinema from 1909, finally winning acclaim with Mater dolorosa (1917) and Tenth Symphony (1918). His J'accuse (1918) and The Wheel (1923) were hailed as masterpieces. He devoted four years to his greatest film, Napoléon (1927), in which he used experimental techniques to emphasize cinematic movement. Battle sequences were shot with three synchronized cameras, and the images were projected on a triple screen to produce a three-dimensional effect; the film also pioneered the use of stereophonic sound. A triumph in Europe, it fared badly in a harshly edited version in the U.S. but was finally released in its original glory in 1981. Gance's later films, largely controlled by the studios, gave inadequate scope for his creative genius.

Gance, 1954

H. Roger-Viollet

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▪ French director
born Oct. 25, 1889, Paris, France
died Nov. 10, 1981, Paris

      important director in the post-World War I revival of the French cinema who is best known for extravagant historical spectacles.

      Working in the cinema from 1909, Gance first gained recognition with his films Mater dolorosa (1917; “Sorrowful Mother,” remade in 1932) and La Dixième Symphonie (1918; “Tenth Symphony”). Influenced by the epic style of the pioneer American director D.W. Griffith, he earned a reputation for grand-scale dramas such as J'accuse! (1918; “I Accuse!”, remade in 1937), a 14-reel antiwar statement, and La Roue (1922; “The Wheel”), a film about railway workers and the mechanization of modern life that was consciously composed to a definite rhythmic pattern.

      Napoléon vu par Abel Gance (1927; “Napoleon as Seen by Abel Gance,” reedited and revised in 1934, 1971, and 1979), his best-known film, was a monumental four-year undertaking in which he used experimental techniques such as superimposition, hand-coloured film, and rapid cutting to emphasize cinematic movement; it included sweeping battle sequences filmed with three separate cameras. When the film appeared in theatres, three projectors showed separate views of certain vital scenes on three connecting screens. This Polyvision technique was a precursor of Cinerama, the wide-screen process using synchronized projectors, popularized during the 1950s. Gance also pioneered in the use of stereophonic sound. Another of his ambitious films was Un Grand Amour de Beethoven (1936; The Life and Loves of Beethoven). His later films, mainly period adventures, included La Tour de Nesle (1954; “The Tower of Nesle”), Austerlitz (1960; The Battle of Austerlitz), and Cyrano et d'Artagnan (1963).

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Gance, Abel — (1889 1981)    Actor, director, and screenwriter. Born the illegitimate son of a Jewish doctor and a working class girl, Abel Gance rose to prominence as one of the most visionary directors of the silent film era. Until the age of eight, Gance… …   Guide to cinema

  • Gance, Abel — (1889 1981)    Actor, director, and screenwriter. Born the illegitimate son of a Jewish doctor and a working class girl, Abel Gance rose to prominence as one of the most visionary directors of the silent film era. Until the age of eight, Gance… …   Historical Dictionary of French Cinema

  • Gance, Abel — (October 25, 1889, Paris, France November 10, 1981, Paris, France)    The illegitimate son of a physician, Abel Flamant, he was educated by his mother and his stepfather, a mechanic named Adolphe Gance. He had to work as a lawyer clerk to earn… …   Encyclopedia of French film directors

  • Gance, Abel — ► (1889 1981) Director de cine francés. En 1934 inició el sistema sonoro que hoy conocemos por «sonido estereofónico». Películas: Mater Dolorosa (1917), Yo acuso (1919) y La rueda (1921 24). * * * orig. Eugène Alexandre Péréthon (25 oct. 1889,… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Gance, Abel — • ГАНС (Gance) Абель (25.10.1889 10.11.1981)    франц. режиссёр. Творч. деятельность начал как поэт и драматург. В 1909 снялся в ф. Мольер (реж. Л. Перре). В 1910 11 писал сц. для реж. Фёйада и А. Капеллани. Первая реж. работа ф. Плотина (1912).… …   Кино: Энциклопедический словарь

  • Gance, Abel — (1889 1981)    French film director. Born in Paris, he was initially a stage actor and dramatist. His films include Lafolie du Docteur Tube, Mater Dolorosa, J accuse, La roue, Un grand amour de Beethoven and Bonaparte et la Revolution …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Gance — Gance, Abel …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Abel Gance — (París, 25 de octubre de 1889 ídem, 10 de noviembre de 1981) fue un cineasta francés, pionero del cine mudo, autor de obras emblemáticas como Napoleón. Su carrera se prolongó durante 60 años …   Wikipedia Español

  • Abel Gance — (* 25. Oktober 1889 in Paris; † 10. November 1981 in Paris) war ein französischer Filmpionier. Leben Abel Gance wurde als unehelicher Sohn des wohlhabenden Arztes Abel Flamant geboren. Er wuchs auf bei seiner a …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Gance — Abel Gance (* 25. Oktober 1889 in Paris, Frankreich; † 10. November 1981 in Paris) war ein französischer Filmpionier. Abel Gance wurde als unehelicher Sohn des wohlhabenden Arztes Abel Flamant geboren. Er wuchs auf bei seiner aus der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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