Abel Gance (1889-1981) was a French film director and pioneer who recognised that war is cinema and cinema is war. His films J’Accuse and Napoleon employed innovative techniques including the triple screen (Polyvision) attempting to outpace military technology through experimental form.
Gance understood cinema’s relationship to military command and editing. However, his inventions represented a tragic race after military dynamism that cinema ultimately lost to actual weapons systems.
Related: war-and-cinema, Paul-Virilio