When Abel Gance says, “Shakespeare, Rembrandt, Beethoven will make films… all legends, all mythologies, all myths, all the founders of religion, and the religions themselves… await their resurrection, and heroes gather at the door,” (pg. 221-222) he’s not just making a poetic statement, he’s making a bold assertion about the spiritual and creative potential of cinema. I agree with him. For me, this quote captures the essence of what makes cinema such a powerful medium, where we can see its ability to bring all the arts such as literature, painting, music, theater, into a unified, living form. When Gance names Shakespeare, Rembrandt, and Beethoven, he’s referring to the titans of their respective crafts. But he’s not suggesting they will literally come to life, rather, he means that their spirits, their ways of seeing and shaping the world, can be reborn through cinema. In that sense, cinema becomes not just a successor to the art forms of the past, but a kind of resurrection device, a way for timeless human ideas and emotions to find new life.
I find this idea interesting because cinema isn’t just a screen you see, it’s a portal through which ancient myths, forgotten geniuses, and universal truths can speak to us again, perhaps more intensely than ever. Therefore, I feel like cinema has the ability to revive the past not as a copy, but as a living reinterpretation. When we watch a film inspired by Shakespeare, for example, we don’t just see his story: you feel it with the music, the colors, the camera movements, the acting. It’s a multisensory experience, much more complete than just reading a play or seeing a painting.
In today’s world, where cinema is often reduced to spectacle or franchise entertainment, Gance’s words feel like a challenge. A reminder. He invites us to see cinema not just as content, but as mythmaker, world-builder, and soul-stirring force. He believed in the almost sacred potential of cinema, not just to entertain, but to resurrect meaning. And I believe that’s still possible today, when a film truly moves us, when it awakens something ancient and deep in our hearts, I think that is Gance’s vision realized.