La roue (1923)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Abel Gance

Writer:

Abel Gance (writer)

Release Date:

17 February 1923 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Sisif, a railwayman, and his son Elie fall in love with the beautiful Norma (whom Sisif rescued from...

Plot Keywords:

Train | Railwayman | Blindness | Freeze Frame

Cast

Séverin-Mars	...	Sisif
Ivy Close	...	Norma
Gabriel de Gravone	...	Elie
Pierre Magnier	...	Jacques de Hersan
Max Maxudian	...	Le minéralogiste Kalatikascopoulos
Georges Térof	...	Machefer
Gil Clary	...	Dalilah (as Mme. Gil-Clary)

Also Known As:

La rose du rail (France)
The Wheel (USA) (literal English title)
A Roda (Portugal) [pt]
Kolo udreki (Poland) [pl]
La rosa sulle rotaie (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

273 min

Country:

France

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Mont-Blanc, Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France

Company:

Films Abel Gance

Trivia:

This film was originally released with a running time of 8 hours, 32 minutes. It was edited down to just over 5 hours for general release.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Odilon Redon or The Eye Like a Strange Balloon Mounts Toward Infinity (1995)

recommendation

Gance seems overwhelmed by the theme of humanity crushed by incredible suffering, and some of the symbolism may seem heavy-handed, but this film deserves to be listed among the greats for its wonderful cinematography, the strong contrasts between the first parts portrayal of trains and the second parts moving to the beautiful, impassive scenery of the high Alps.

I have always been an admirer of Gance's Napoleon, but his J'accuse turned me off. La Roue has restored my desire to see the others: La fin de monde, Beethoven, and Austerlitz.

As for the suffering, this was made in 1921 in the aftermath of WW I, which is sufficient to account for Gance's obsession with the theme.