Abel Gance & J'accuse: Cinematic Pacifism & Filmic Poetry
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The document discusses the life and work of Abel Gance, particularly his film 'J'accuse,' which is recognized as one of the first anti-war films. Gance emphasized the importance of cinema as a medium for expressing human feelings rather than mere action, using innovative techniques to portray the psychological impact of war. The reception of 'J'accuse' highlighted its powerful indictment of war through the portrayal of simple, natural humanity and its potential to evoke a horror of conflict if widely shared.
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Abel Gance & J'accuse: Cinematic Pacifism & Filmic Poetry
- 1. Abel Gance & J’accuse Cinematic Pacifism & Filmic Poetry Abel Gance, 1889-1981
- 2. Setting the Stage
- 7. Still Life with Bowl and Fruit Femme devant sa fenetre Picasso, 1912 Fernand Leger, 1923
- 8. Inception of a Film
- 9. Abel Gance 1889 - 1981
- 11. “I pulled myself up short and said, ‘Why are people making films which are nothing but events, when they have at their disposal such a marvelous medium for psychological stories? They go on making films about people chasing each other, killing each other or trying to commit suicide, but why not films which show feelings instead of merely action?’” - Abel Gance, 1960
- 12. La Folie du Dr. Tube (1915)
- 15. Francois Jean
- 20. Close-Ups “Don’t take your camera too close. you know you’re supposed to show the whole of your actors, so you can see their gestures. “What are these huge pictures supposed to mean? They’ll show up all the faults in the face. you’ll have people panicking in the cinema. They’ll make for the exits!” - Louis Nalpas (Gance’s producer), 1915
- 21. Dynamic Lighting
- 23. Traveling Shots
- 25. Traveling Shots
- 26. Rapid Editing
- 27. Cinematic Poetry
- 28. A Bag of Tricks
- 29. Is it Poetry? • Ode • Repetition • Symbolism • Sonnet • Rhyme • Metaphor • Haiku • Rhythm • Irony
- 30. Poetic Elements: Rhythm
- 31. Poetic Elements: Symbolism & Metaphor
- 32. Hands Going to War
- 33. Poetic Elements: Repetition
- 34. Jean as a Poet
- 35. Ode to the Sun
- 36. Ode to the Sun (repeated)
- 40. The weather is mild and the morning indifferent. The dead won’t hold back the spring. - A Soldier’s Letter
- 41. If these letters reach anyone, may they instill in the honest heart a horror of the infamy of those responsible for this war. - A Soldier’s Letter
- 42. Darling mama - If you receive no more letters from me after this one, tell yourself that your son has left this world for a country without postmen, but that he still thinks of you night and day. - A Soldier’s Letter
- 44. “J’accuse for me was not just a film. I felt that I must use what I had left of my strength and health to make it. I was very ill at the time. When I saw the horrors of war and that all my best friends were dead - I had ten good friends and all were killed except one. I had a feeling of frenzy to use this new medium, the cinema, to show the world the stupidity of war.” - Abel Gance, 1965
- 45. The Human Toll
- 46. The Battle of Verdun
- 47. The Dead Awake
- 48. “How I would like to see all those killed in the war rising up one night to visit their countries, their homes, to see if their sacrifice was worth anything at all. The war would stop of its own accord, horrified by its own awfulness.” - Abel Gance, 1917
- 49. Reception of the Film
- 51. “J’accuse forms one of the most terrible indictments against war which it is possible to imagine. But the effect is not produced by the insistent horrors and sheer frightfulness. It is obtained by the emphasis of simple, natural humanity.” - Kine Weekly, 1919.
- 52. “If this film had been shown in every country and in every town in the world in 1913, then perhaps there would have been no war.” - Prague Newspaper, 1919
- 53. Abel Gance in Times Square, 1921
- 54. Abel Gance and D.W. Griffith, 1921
- 55. GANCE AFTER J’ACCUSE
- 57. Napoleon, Abel Gance, 1927
- 58. Napoleon, Abel Gance, 1927
- 60. Where to Go from Here
- 61. Where to Go From Here
- 62. Where to Go From Here
- 63. Thank you!