This book explores the creation and destruction of Abel Gance¿s most ambitious film project
and seeks to explain why his meteoric career was so nearly extinguished at the end of silent
cinema. By 1929 Gance was France¿s most famous director. Acclaimed for his technical
innovation and visual imagination he was also admonished for the excessive length and expense
of his productions. Gance¿s first sound film La Fin du Monde (1930) was a critical and
financial disaster so great that it nearly destroyed his career. But what went wrong? Gance
claimed it was commercial sabotage whilst critics blamed the director¿s inexperience with new
technology. Neither excuse is satisfactory. Based on extensive archival research this book
re-investigates the cultural background and aesthetic consequences of Gance¿s transition from
silent filmmaking to sound cinema. La Fin du Monde is revealed to be only one element of an
extraordinary cultural project to transform cinema into a universal religion and propagate its
power through the League of Nations. From unfinished films to unrealized social revolutions
the reader is given a fascinating tour of Gance¿s lost cinematic utopia.
