Abel Gance and the End of Silent Cinema : Sounding Out Utopia

"This book explores the creation and destruction of Abel Gance's most ambitious film project, and seeks to explain why his meteoric career was so nearly extinguished at the end of silent cinema. By 1929, Gance was France's most famous director. Acclaimed for his technical innovation and visual imagination, he was also admonished for the excessive length and expense of his productions. Gance's first sound film, La Fin du Monde (1930), was a critical and financial disaster so great that it nearly destroyed his career. But what went wrong? Gance claimed it was commercial sabotage whilst critics blamed the director's inexperience with new technology. Neither excuse is satisfactory. Based on extensive archival research, this book re-investigates the cultural background and aesthetic consequences of Gance's transition from silent filmmaking to sound cinema. La Fin du Monde is revealed to be only one element of an extraordinary cultural project to transform cinema into a universal religion and propagate its power through the League of Nations. From unfinished films to unrealized social revolutions, the reader is given a fascinating tour of Gance's lost cinematic utopia"--OCLC Preface: The Sublime And The Ridiculous; Part I: Overcoming The Past. Introduction; Chapter 1: In The Shadow Of War ; Medium And Message; Accusations; Fate; Reclaiming History; Notes; Chapter 2: Towards Utopia ; Art As Religion; Utopian Narratives; Note; Chapter 3: Prophets Of The Future ; Cinematic Messiahs; Embodying Revolution; Taking Action; Note; Chapter 4: Cinema And The Life Of Space; Citizens Of Space; The Psychic Universe; Art And Metaphysics; Magic, Music, Light; Note; Summary; Part Ii: Impossible Dreams; Introduction; Chapter 5: Artistic Integrity And Industrial Change ; Author And Industry; World Cinema; The Coming Of Sound; Notes; Chapter 6: A History Of Incompletion ; Leadership And Recruitment; Sacred Labour; Crises; Distribution; Reverberations; Notes; Summary; Note; Part Iii: The Marvel Of Ruins; Introduction; Chapter 7: Passion And Performance ; Premonitions; Projecting The Voice; Rivals; Film As Testament; Notes; Chapter 8: Fighting To Be Heard; The Speed Of Exchange; Voices Of Authority; Resolutions; Note; Chapter 9: The World On Fire ; Absence And Excess; Orgies; The End; Epilogue; Note; Summary; Notes; Conclusion: 'why Have I Been Only What I Am?'; The Burden Of Reality; Alternative Histories; Looking To The Future; Filmography And Bibliography; Index. Paul Cuff. Preface: The sublime and the ridiculous.-Part I: Overcoming the past.- Introduction.- 1. In the shadow of war.- 2. Towards utopia.- 3. Prophets of the future.- 4. Cinema and the life of space.- Summary: Part I.- Part II: Impossible dreams.- Introduction.- 5. Artistic integrity and industrial change.- 6. A history of incompletion.- Summary: Part II.- Part III: The marvels of ruins.- Introduction.- 7. Passion and performance.- 8. Fighting to be heard.- 9. The world on fire.- Summary: Part III.- Conclusion: "Why have I been only what I am?".