The Battle of Austerlitz

1960
The Battle of Austerlitz
6.2| 2h46m| en| More Info
Released: 17 June 1960 Released
Producted By: Dubrava Film
Country: Yugoslavia
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself emperor and fights the English, Austrians and Russians in 1802.

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Cristi_Ciopron I will begin by saying that I enjoyed enormously "Austerlitz"'s second part,that is,the military show as such.The political preamble is interesting by many things:Pierre Mondy's acting (though a miscast),the many good cameos (we have Mrs. Caron,Mrs. Cardinale,Mrs. Popesco, Palance, Marais,Simon,Trintignant,Welles,Pavloff,Jean Mercure in the same show,and at their best),many well-thought scenes,the cinematographic thinking of Gance,the script's sobriety in the treatment of the Bonaparte family (arrogance,vanity,etc.). I cannot but admire the choice of the bit parts.Many vignettes are ANTHOLOGICAL (e.g.,the Pope calling Bonaparte a comedian).No cheap jokes.The script is unconventional,dense and considerate. Napoleon appears as a peevish, tetchy, burlesque, selfish,petulant, aggressive and endowed man (this portrait is very fair and balanced,and,if ironical and humorist, it is not at all disrespectful, heinous, outrageous--it is not a cartoon);his family:a bevy of greedy pushers,arrogant, vain parvenus, coarse intriguers, cads. The pettiness and the misery do not lack in Bonaparte's life.His sweetheart is a dowdy.I liked a lot the costumes,the clothes,the uniforms.Gance makes parade before our pleased eyes a series of expressive figurines,exquisitely molded (Carnot, Talleyrand,Kutuzov, Fulton,Mlle De Vaudey,Madame Récamier,Weirother,Lannes,Pius VII,etc.,etc.).The women in this movie (Mrs. Caron,Mrs. Cardinale,Mrs. Elvire Popesco) are radiant and brilliant.The more I think about "Austerlitz",the more I perceive its greatness and value."Austerlitz" must be tasted,but also thought about,analyzed. It satisfies both the heart and mind.For me,"Austerlitz" is one of the most amazing,though imperfect, masterpieces.This movie has its flaws;it also has obvious qualities and is worth watching .Practically,all the cameos are exceptional,a real feast:first of all,Marais and Simon,and also Wells,a very young Trintignant,Palance (it is quite debatable if Palance's histrionic performance is really that kitsch and tasteless;I think he was just playing Russian,though his role is that of an Austrian,and he succeeded in creating some funny moments in the movie;I enjoy what Palance did with his role:it's buffoonish,but also fun),etc..Marais is a standout,simply astonishing. The same is true about Jean Mercure (as "Talleyrand") and Polycarpe Pavloff (as "Kutuzov").Pierre Mondy is an obviously skilled actor,but a miscast as Bonaparte.His ingrate physique does not help him this way.In the first part,that of the political rise of Napoleon,Pierre Mondy looks choleric,roguish,voluntary,brutal,mocking,irascible,clownish enough;but he can't look inspired,exceptional,larger-than-life.Maybe this is not Bonaparte,but is a well-made role.Undoubtedly,Pierre Mondy knows his job;but his performing is,sometimes,theatrical,and rather inadequate for cinema.A pleasant surprise is "Austerlitz"'s realism and irony,its lack of idolatry and of inhibitions:we see the Bonaparte family as it was,a bevy of parvenus and cads.Gance does not incense Bonaparte's holy cards,does not extol him measureless.On the contrary,the script shows a powerful,able,sharp and temperate mind.In "Austerlitz"'s first part,that might be entitled "Napoleon's rising" ,some actors play stiffly ,are theatrical and formal,obsolete and worn out,the movie recalls the scene.But the cameos (Marais,Simon, Trintignant,Pavloff) bring in a vast amount of exciting and largehearted acting.I guess the first part of "Austerlitz" was intended as a prologue,a preparation,a political and historical preface.The society depicted was a theatrical and quite cold one;still,the THEATRALISM of some of the performances displeases.Even the theatrical characters must be performed lively.Simon's performance (as "Auboise") simply sweeps away anyone else on the set;his comic role is a great landmark in the history of cinema.I am a huge fan of this second part of "Austerlitz";its photography is excellent:a gorgeous looking film .I also enjoyed a lot the cameos from Marais,Simon,De Sica (flawless!!!),Mrs. Elvire Popesco,Wells,Marchal (though not very remarkable here).This fresco must be rehabilitated urgently.Any national cinematography would take pride in a movie like "Austerlitz". But I guess many don't get this film's greatness, nor Gance's showmanship and taste.Finally,I will add that Bloy held Bonaparte in high esteem;so did Hegel,Balzac, Stendhal,and even,in his youth,Schopenhauer.
dbdumonteil ...and to "Napoleon" whose life Gance transferred to the screen in the silent era.Sandwiched between two very underrated Gance works ("la Tour de Nesles" and "Cyrano et D'Artagnan" )it is a return to "real " "true" history.I will go as far as to write that Gance impressed me much more when his movies dealt with fictionalized history (the two mentioned movies,but "j'accuse" too)."Austerlitz has something academic ,conventional.It has nothing of Gance's madness.The first part is a stream of stars from Martine Carol to Claudia Cardinale ,from Jean Marais to Orson Welles (in a part which reminds us how Gance was interested in the development of science through the centuries ,à la Jules Verne,we find this interest in "Cyrano" and "J'accuse" too).THe lead is a good actor but he might be ,on an international level, the least known of them all:Pierre Mondy's name is buried in the cast and credits and although he is on the screen from the beginning to the end,his name is not bigger than that of Welles who appears barely five minutes.Ah fame! The first part has only one sequence where we find back the inventive Gance:we do not attend the coronation in Notre Dame ;the marechal de Ségur (Jean-Louis Trintignant) tells the whole story with the model in front of a strange audience:servants ;then the "mamma " ("pourvu que ça dure!=lets hope it lasts!") ,Napoleon's mother (Elvire Popesco) enters and her tears begin to flow .Although David put her in his famous painting she did not attend the ceremony.The second part is more historically interesting ,but if you are not fond of military strategy ,you may stop yourself yawning.Fortunately a soldier of the old guard of Napoléon (un "grognard" )played by Michel Simon brings a bit of life among these troop movements.Last but not least:I have always asked myself why a convinced pacifist such as Gance (his two versions of "j'accuse" may be the strongest anti-war films ever)could be so fascinated by a warrior such as Napoleon.
francophile50 My review of this film can be summed up in five words a brilliant work of art.As described in the previous description the film itself is long and sometimes tedious.What it fails to mention is that it was created by the same Director that brought us the Silent film about Napoleon Abel Gance.The film is in colour and is very faithful to the feel of Napoleon and the time he ruled Europe.It is primarily about the greatest victory Napoleon achieved in his career,however it also touches on many of the events in his life leading up to that moment including his coronation as Emperor of France.If you are a student of Napoleon or French history or this time period you will enjoy this picture.Shot all throughout Europe in the fifties in many languages it remains in my opinion as the greatest picture chronicling Napoleon and his life.The film not only tells a story from his perspective but many others as well.It is difficult to find and even more expensive to own but I definitely recommend you see it at least once for yourself.
delbruk I believe the reason after so many votes that no one has decided to offer a review of this film is because it appears so hard to define it as a film. This is much more a tedious, detailed account of Napoleon's victory at the battle of Austerlitz. The film focuses so much on the strategic underpinnings of the battle that is almost seems more like watching a risk or stratego game than a film. From the political maneuvering of how the French and Russian forces came to the battle to the strategic genius that was Napoleon this film does not offer much in the way of character development, acting, or even special effects. What the film does offer is a historical recount of how battles were fought in the early 19th century. The only interesting cinematic points of interest is to look for a young Jack Palance as a Russian General and a scene stealing Orson Welles as an American inventor. Also this was one of the last films directed by the French "DW Griffith" - Abel Gance.