Paul Cuff

Reframing History: Erich von Stroheim's Europe

This essay examines the treatment of European settings in the work of Erich von Stroheim. My thinking about these films has been informed by what Victor Perkins referred to as the “horizon of event...

Encountering sound: the musical dimensions of silent cinema

ABSTRACT This article identifies silent film soundtracks as evidence of the tensions between old and new audiovisual cultures, and examines the distinctions between our experience of live and mediated cinema through contemporary modes of presentation. My primary interest is in the aesthetic and cultural dimensions of film sound, and the ways in which digital technology influences the creation, performance, and recording of music for silent cinema. Parallel to this subject, I address the relationship between scholars and their object of study. I analyse how different audiovisual environments (rehearsal and concert spaces, recording studios, theatrical and domestic spaces) shape the aesthetics of film sound and the culture of its reception. More generally, this article seeks to engage film studies with media and performance studies, arguing that a reflective and interdisciplinary approach is needed to evaluate our ever-changing encounters with live and recorded film sound.

Artistic Integrity and Industrial Change

This chapter offers a chronological contextualization of Gance’s place within the European film industry. Cuff details the relationship between Gance and his producers: Louis Nalpas, Charles Pathe, and Jacques Grinieff. The chapter argues that Gance grew increasingly frustrated with the commercial constraints imposed upon his artistic ambitions. Cuff reveals how Gance sought to establish an international film syndicate whose work would be supported by the League of Nations. The chapter explores how Gance planned to mobilize cinema to achieve global pacifism and cultural reconciliation. Cuff concludes by showing the ways in which Gance accommodated sound technology into his utopian schemes.

In the Shadow of War

This chapter details the sequence of projects Gance envisaged during the 1910s and 1920s, concentrating on the ways in which they were informed by the humanitarian disaster of the Great War. Cuff contextualizes Gance’s pacifist political position in relation to controversial writers like Emile Zola, Henri Barbusse, and Richard Grelling. The chapter details the relationship between the finished production of J’accuse! (1919) and the unfinished war trilogy of which it was part, as well as the aborted film Ecce Homo (1918) and the religious trilogy of which it was part. Cuff shows how their ideological concern with cultural reform was the basis for many subsequent projects, and concludes the chapter by evaluating La Roue (1922) and Napoleon (1927) in this post-war context.

A History of Incompletion

This chapter contains a detailed production history of La Fin du Monde. Cuff analyses how and why Gance lost control of his most cherished project, offering a precise chronology of the film’s production from scripting to release. Using a wealth of archival evidence, Cuff demonstrates how the narrative scale and technological complexity of La Fin du Monde led to the breakdown of Gance’s relationship with his producer Vassili Ivanoff. The chapter reveals the financial, logistical, organizational, and personal crises that ultimately compromised La Fin du Monde in its French- and German-language editions. Cuff concludes with an account of the different versions of La Fin du Monde issued in the 1930s, and explains the physical history of surviving prints in relation to this original material.

Passion and Performance

This chapter begins a chronological analysis of Gance’s La Fin du Monde. Cuff analyses ‘Part One’ of the film, discussing the impact of various changes from screenplay to film. The chapter pays particular attention to the opening scenes of La Fin du Monde, exploring how and why Gance’s characterization of Jean Novalic is problematic for the viewer. Cuff discusses performance style and the use of sound in La Fin du Monde, exploring key aesthetic and narrative tensions apparent in both screenplay and film. The chapter also evaluates missing and cut scenes, highlighting the ambition of Gance’s plans and the difficulties in their realization.

The World on Fire

This chapter analyses the final part of La Fin du Monde and its depiction of global catastrophe. Cuff explores the radical differences between the screenplay and the surviving montage of La Fin du Monde. The chapter emphasizes how unlikely it was for Gance to realize his original ideas within the context of early sound technology. Cuff analyses the film’s uneven attempts to depict the threat of an incoming comet on life on Earth. The chapter counters some of the negative critical reactions to La Fin du Monde, making a case for the aesthetic value of scenes such as the orgy, Martial’s announcement of the ‘universal republic’, and the worldwide panic.

Cinema and the Life of Space

This chapter analyses how the narrative of terrestrial disaster in La Fin du Monde relates to Gance’s spiritual view of the universe—and the role he believed cinema should play in reshaping humanity’s awareness of reality. Cuff relates the various literary, philosophic, and scientific influences on Gance’s utopian conception of cinema. The chapter shows how this conception of cinema drew upon various forms of scientific mysticism. The figures Cuff discusses include Erasmus Darwin, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Camille Flammarion, and Ricciotto Canudo. The chapter examines how aspects of pantheism, spiritualism, and utopian discourse shaped Gance’s belief in the power of cinema to solve international discord.

Fighting to be Heard

This chapter analyses Part Two of La Fin du Monde. Cuff examines the surviving film in conjunction with the scenario and screenplay to determine the differences in narrative and character development. The chapter explores how these differences affect the viewer’s understanding of character motivation, as well as the portrayal of modern capitalism and technology in La Fin du Monde. Cuff also analyses the relationship between sound and image in Part Two of the film, paying particular attention to the way La Fin du Monde uses audio technology such as radio and telephony as part of its narrative design.

Prophets of the Future

In this chapter, Cuff explores the blend of science and mysticism at the heart of Gance’s cinematic ideology. The chapter focuses on the way these utopian ideas are embodied by Gance’s cinematic prophets—particularly the main characters of La Fin du Monde, Jean and Martial Novalic. Cuff relates how the figure of the messianic artist or prophet recurs in Gance’s work, and compares the characters of Jean and Martial Novalic with Jean Diaz in J’accuse and Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon. The chapter explores the way in which Gance’s prophets of cinema drew upon Romantic ideas of the artist-hero and their role in shaping human society. In particular, Cuff demonstrates the influence on Gance of Novalis, Henri de Saint-Simon, Gerard de Nerval, and Edouard Schure.