A post-war reimagining of Gance's silent epic, this version of The Wheel represents a thoroughly different experience to that of the original one that transitions from whistles to horns as the age of steam and the men who worked tirelessly to keep it on track are slowly left behind, a fleeting glimpse from the brake van. Gance's original film was streamlined, cutting the script down from its original mammoth 7-hour runtime to a mere 100 minutes meant that details and subplots were going to be lost in the process but for the most part, the base narrative remains somewhat similar even if the tone is vastly more upbeat. On a technical level, I'm very impressed, there are plenty of great shots throughout; directors Haguet and Delbez have done an admirable job, there's a few instances of them even paying tribute to Gance with select scenes, the turntable shot being a prime example, taken as its own thing, it's hard not to be impressed with a lot of the film. With some solid lead performances from its cast and decent music to back it up, The Wheel is a very admirable update on Gance's original. Although lacking a lot of the finer details due to its shorter runtime, it makes for a very interesting companion piece and is well worth seeking out a copy although given the film's very little internet presence in the English-speaking world, that's easier said than done.
