Polyvision involved the use of three cameras to photograph the action, requiring three projectors to display it on a cinema screen.  In many shots the action spanned all three screens but in some the major action is located on the middle section, with mirror-images of relevant events playing at the sides, thus achieving a visual metaphor of the eagle and its wings, a frequently-used image in the film.

The widescreen effect occurs only in the final few scenes of the currently-existing prints, as Gance destroyed many of the other Polyvision sequences in a fit of depression.  Other techniques utilised included stereo sound, and coloured sequences – forming a French tricolour across the three screens at the film’s climax).  Some sequences were even shot in 3D, but these are unfortunately now believed lost.

Many different versions of the film have existed over the years, with two currently in circulation.  Silent-film historian Kevin Brownlow restored the film in 1981 (the year of Abel Gance’s death) with Carl Davis providing a new score.  With various changes over the years this version now runs in excess of 5 hours!  Francis Coppola also released a slightly shorter version incorporating a rather heavy-handed soundtrack by his father, Carmine.  Coppola tried unsuccessfully to prevent the British Film Institute from showing the film in 2004 without his father’s music, and the legal arguments continue.