In “The Evolution of the Language of Cinema,” an article by André Bazin, the author declares, “it was montage that gave birth to film as an art, setting it apart from mere animated photography, in short, creating a language.” Before individuals like Eisenstein, Bazin elaborates, the common way of editing film was “invisible” and did not register in the consciousness of the viewer. Then came the advent of montage, an editing style that grabs the viewer’s attention. The benefit of montage and obvious editing is that it takes advantage of the viewer’s awareness, creating an effect or making a subtle point by cutting between two or more scenes. Several of the styles of montage Bazin identifies are utilized in Abel Gance’s 1927 film, Napoléon.
The first noticeable editing style Gance utilizes is parallel montage. As we discussed in class, Gance compares Napoleon’s boat ride on the ocean with the chaos occurring back at the Convention. He cuts rapidly between shots; as Napoleon’s boat is tossed on the waves, waves of politicians rise out of their seats in anger at the Convention meeting. Gance also makes heavy use of “montage by attraction.” He compares Napoleon to his pet eagle by cutting between shots of each subject and eventually superimposing them, as we discussed, but I also noted other example. During one of the bloody battle scenes, Gance flashes back to Napoleon’s intense snowball fight as a schoolboy. He associates the present battle with Napoleon’s early penchant for fighting and strategy. There are several more examples of Gance’s effective use of montage in the film. He draws clear associations with superimposition and rapid cuts. This editing style streamlines the film by eliminating excess explanation via text or dialogue.
