Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Ron in LA The 2006 restoration of this amazing 1919 film presents one of the very best opportunities to learn about the period from watching a contemporaneous film. Aesthetically, it stands on its own merit as a completely engaging and emotional piece, which on the whole deserves a much wider audience. The restoration drops whatever there was of a phony happy ending in the 1922 re-release, and adds an excellent score by Robert Israel. Israel scores are a quick tip that a silent film has been given a sensitive and elegant restoration that will be very palatable to modern tastes.The story is a complex family/romantic melodrama built around a poet in love with a woman trapped in a bad marriage to a violent man. With the war, the two men become comrades in arms, and complications ensue. (I really dislike reviews that go on and on telling the film's story. If someone is going to watch the movie, it is up to the director to tell the story in his own style and at his own pace.) I believe the film is mischaracterized as an anti-war film. No one is really for war, so a realistic film like this by a veteran and using real footage will include a lot of pathos that will serve the purpose of an anti-war message. But everyone is anti-war, the difference between a pro-war and and an anti-war film is that a pro-war film blames the war on the enemy and creates situations for nobility based on service of the just cause. An anti-war film turns the proponents of war into greedy liars, emphasizes the humanity of the enemy, and creates situations for nobility based on refusal to participate in the war. So defined, this piece (like The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse - 1921) is a pro-war film.

didi-5 This film by Abel Gance was lost for many years but has now been restored from a number of sources and made available for viewing by the Nederlands Museum. Gance's later silent spectacular Napoleon is rightly revered for its innovation and inventiveness - but is the same true of his war epic, J'accuse? In three parts, this film is first a conventional love triangle between the tiresome and bullied Edith, her drunken husband Francois, and dreaming poet Jean. But when the great war strikes, it will affect them all in ways they can't imagine.With some great images, especially in parts one and two, and for the most part, restrained acting, J'accuse is a powerful plea against the waste of war. For a film made ninety years ago, it has a modern feel with numerous close-ups, overlays, and other camera tricks. Although a bit ponderous in places it does not flag and is still extremely watchable, and relevant in a world where war has not yet become a thing of the past.J'accuse deserves to be regarded highly, and shows Gance to have been a skilled and ahead-of-time filmmaker in the silent era.

peterportez-1 I wish that we could read a comment from at least one of the 91 persons who gave a "1" rating to this silent film masterpiece. What were these 91 thinking? Do they hate all silents? Did they object to the length? If "J'Accuse!" is a "1," why did they suffer through its almost three-hour duration? If they gave up watching after 10 minutes, why bother to vote and muck up the weighted average, now standing at an absurd 6.4? Thank you, Turner Classic Movies, for making "J'Accuse" available to a wide audience. That network is most capably helping fill the void left by the shutting down of most of America's repertory film theaters.

Cineanalyst The print I saw required my full engagement; it was in poor shape, and the intertitles were in their original French (not my native language). I couldn't even clearly see the words of one. Fortunately, Abel Gance was a very visual filmmaker. And, I understood the gist of what was said. Originally, "J'accuse!" was some three hours, but the video I saw was about 107 minutes. I don't know if there's more footage out there, but I hope this film will be restored (and translated) someday and made more accessible. Its cinematic merits are clear, and the anti-war message is worthy of a larger audience.The Great War ended the expansion of French cinema, ceasing the international market dominance of Pathé Frères. Now, avant-garde filmmakers like Abel Gance rose to prominence, which he did with this film. The narrative of "J'accuse!", in the way of Impressionism, is dictated by the characters' emotions and thoughts, and the juxtaposition of images becomes what has been called "psychological editing". The montages become rapid at times. One of my favorite shots, however, is a tracking long take of Jean on his homecoming. The camera follows him and turns back when he stops to see what he is looking at. There are also many symbolic images of death and religious iconography. The fantastic dénouement of the dead soldiers of war arising to accuse climactically binds the film's message and its impressionistic aesthetic.The story involves a simple love triangle, but which is analogous to the war: the peaceful friendship the two men attain makes the point well. "J'accuse!" is the earliest of powerful anti-war films. It's images and message are not encumbered by too much Christian allegory or over-reaching sentimental appeals, such as with Griffith's "Hearts of the World" (1918) or Ince's "Civilization" (1916). Neither is it overly artistically obscure, and as the popular appreciation of Gance's "Napoléon" (1927) attests to, a large audience of film enthusiasts is out there who would treasure this forgotten monument.(EDIT: Comments below added 4 November 2012)My above comments from over seven years ago were based an abbreviated version that was available on VHS from the distributor Facets during the 1990s. Another IMDb member questioned the validity of these and others' reviews that were written before this film was restored and made available on Turner Classic Movies and the Flicker Alley DVDs. I'll take the opportunity to assure everyone that despite some of my reviews being on obscure films, I watched all of them shortly before writing my comments. Just ask me, and I'll inform of the exact source (usually DVD or VHS). Additionally, this IMDb member was incorrect in stating, "J'accuse" was "assumed lost until quite recently". There've always been incomplete prints available. What we have now is the most complete and crisp version since its initial release, which, as I expressed in my original comments, was what I longed for.Having now seen "J'accuse" in excellent condition, I find the film ever more remarkable—a masterpiece of its time. Its cinematic Impressionism and pacifist message are clearer. There is some outstanding cinematography and editing here for 1919, including chiaroscuro effects, moving camera shots, nighttime scenes, picturesque scenery aside brutal depictions of war and its consequences and ominous images of dancing skeletons. There are iris frames and transitions, good use of fades, split screen and matte shots. In addition to Jean's homecoming, which I mentioned in my earlier comments, other outstanding scenes include those of life in the trenches and a fast-paced montage of the marching on a village. Yet, "J'accuse" isn't about featuring great battle scenes. The greatest scenes take place on the homefront and show the effects of war, including the darkly-lit deathbed sequence of the mother and the finale where the dead soldiers accuse the living, as well as the narrative of the allegorical love triangle that is sacrificed by war.Enhanced by a good-quality print is the film's impressionistic emphasis on light. Beams of light symbolically shine into dark rooms. Scenes of sunrises and sunsets represent Jean's "Ode to the Sun". Superimposed images of Edith walk through Impressionist paintings. Poetry is also essential to Gance's message. The protagonist is a poet turned shell-shocked soldier, but the images and narrative are also poetically told. As Gance once said, "To get the public enthusiastic, you have to get the same feeling into your camera-work—poetry, exaltation… but above all, poetry."