The British Film Institute has announced that a brand new restoration of Abel Gance's legendary film
Napoléon (1927) will be released on Blu-ray later this year. The new restoration will have its theatrical premiere with a live performance by the Philharmonia Orchestra of Carl Davis' score (the longest ever composed for a silent film) in early November at the Royal Festival Hall.
The new restoration was undertaken by experts from the BFI National Archive and Photoplay Productions working with Dragon DI post-production in Wales. The film has been fully regraded and carefully cleaned up.
The current version of the film was compiled by Academy Award-winning filmmaker, archivist and historian Kevin Brownlow, and is the most complete version of the film in existence. Mr. Brownlow spent more than 50 years tracking down surviving film elements.
The film runs at well over 5½ hours on screen, but live performances, which require intermissions, typically last around 8 hours.
The upcoming Blu-ray release will be the world premiere of the full version of the epic film.