Documentation on the genesis and the shooting of the famous ?Napol?on? of 1927 with Albert Dieudonn?, the assistant and close relative of Abel Gance. Nelly Kaplan discusses the creation of a mythical film and shows unpublished material: film sequences during the shooting of the film, photos of the work, sound recordings, Gance's logbook. ?Nelly Kaplan doesn't like legends, pious or not. But she likes life, the human truth. Gance and his work, Gance and his genious, entirely free from immortal wreaths.? (Jacques Siciier, ?Le Monde?, Mai 84)