Customer Reviews

End Of The World

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Review of Abel Gance's "End of the World" is really quite unfair. The version offered by Sinister Cinema is the 55 minute version released in the United States way back in 1934. In fact the movie poster, as seen on the DVD cover, does not name Gance as the director, but rather shows it as being presented by Harold Auten, the American Distributor and directed by someone named Dr. V. Invanoff. Gance's name doesn't even appear in the credits though he not only directed the movie, he stared in it and played a major role (which was cut out).

The 55 minute DVD is the shaved down version of a film that Gance originally envisioned as a three hour epic. It appears the film's backers were discouraged by its length so they opted to shorten it by more than two thirds. I have only seen two of Abel Gance's movies besides this one: Napoleon and J'Accuse. I can only say that those movies were visually and emotionally stimulating and proof, at least to me, that Abel Gance is a giant among filmmakers, past and present. I feel certain that if "End of the World" had been left to Gance's devices it would have reigned highly among his other masterpieces.

Wikipedia mentions this about "End of the World":
"Abel Gance himself referred to the film as "an abortive work" ruined by the producer taking the film away from him so he could edit it himself."

So unfortunate. The 55 minute film lacks much. It is obviously fragmented and disjointed. It is a ruined film, really not worth watching. However, there is still that style, the invasive imagery, that hand that reaches out and grabs you, shakes you, makes you feel uncomfortable and lays permanent impressions on your mind. It may be like watching through a steam clouded window, but its still Abel Gance. You can feel it.