THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ

 

French filmmaker Abel Gance will always be known for his stupendous silent-era epic NAPOLEON. But he also made another movie featuring the famed conqueror--a 1959 production called THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ (aka just AUSTERLITZ). 

I recently purchased a bargain-priced DVD of this film from Edward R. Hamilton Booksellers. The DVD was produced by Reel Vault, and I was wondering what the quality of it would be. I have to say I was presently surprised. Not only was the movie in anamorphic widescreen, the sound was in stereo--and the picture quality was excellent, with a very colorful and sharp print. 

As for the movie itself--needless to say, it has nowhere near the virtuosity and ingenuity of Gance's 1927 NAPOLEON. The story starts out right before Napoleon crowns himself Emperor of France, and deals with his problems with the English, and his relationships with various aides and family members. Eventually Napoleon calls off his planned invasion of England, and he marches his Grande Armee into the heart of Europe, to fight the famous battle near Austerlitz. 

It must be pointed out that this is the English-language version of the movie, which runs about two hours. According to my research, the original version of this film is almost three hours long. On the version I watched it was easy to ascertain that the film had been truncated. The story had a very disjointed feel to it, with several unconnected sequences detailing events in Napoleon's life. The movie became much more focused when the actual battle started. 

A number of characters pop in and out throughout the film, and they are played by a number of notable names. Martine Carol plays Napoleon's wife Josephine, and Leslie Caron plays one of the Emperor's mistresses. Claudia Cardinale plays one of Napoleon's sisters, and Vittorio De Sica plays the Pope. Orson Welles is inventor Robert Fulton, while Jack Palance is a cocky Russian general. European stars such as Jean Marais, Michel Simon, Rossano Brazzi, and Jean-Louis Trintignant also make appearances. 

The problem is that all of these performers that I have mentioned have only one or two scenes at the most, and they do not get a chance to make much of an impression. Pierre Mondy plays Napoleon, and here he does look the part. Mondy's Bonaparte is an impetuous and temperamental fellow, but the portrayal is hampered by the flat American voice used in the dubbing. Most of the characters have underwhelming American voices dubbed on them, which doesn't do much for a story set in early 19th Century Europe. Orson Welles dubbed in his own voice, but it's hard to tell if Jack Palance did or not, since he (or the dubber) is using a weird accent that doesn't sound Russian. 

As for the battle itself, it's kind of generic--which is disappointing, when one considers how flamboyantly cinematic Gance was in the '27 NAPOLEON. We see groups of soldiers marching or riding toward each other, but always on what appears to be the same ground. (There's plenty of talk among the opposing generals about capturing the Prazen heights, but we see nothing that resembles a "height".) 

Perhaps Gance did not have the budget to fulfill his vision here, but the overall movie does look fairly expensive, with impressive sets and costumes. (There also had to have been some money paid out to all the notable actors who appear in the production.) 

It's probably unfair to judge this version of THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ without seeing the un-dubbed, unedited original. But one must assume that all the "good stuff" was kept in the English-language version. For me, THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ felt like a dry historical montage. I certainly didn't expect it to reach the heights of the '27 NAPOLEON (almost no film could ever do that), but I was hoping for something a bit more dynamic. 

One also has to realize that Abel Gance was about 70 when this film was made, and his credited collaborator on the project, Roger Richebe, was in his 60s. Age is just a number, but there is a definite lack of gusto here. 

I still think THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ is worth a look to fans of war & historical films, especially if you can get the fine-looking version of it on the low-priced Reel Vault DVD.