Working in the cinema from 1909, Gance first gained recognition with his films Mater dolorosa (1917; “Sorrowful Mother,” remade in 1932) and La Dixième Symphonie (1918; “Tenth Symphony”). Influenced by the epic style of the pioneer American director DW Griffith, he earned a reputation for grand-scale dramas such as J'accuse! (1918; “I Accuse!,” remade in 1937), a 14-reel antiwar statement, and La Roue (1922; “The Wheel”), a film about railway workers and the mechanization of modern life that was consciously composed to a definite rhythmic pattern.