The press at the time exclaimed: “a formidable work of art”, “a pure gem”, “a masterful example without precedent”. The large display of means, the realism of the sets (plus perfect tricks) and the throngs of extras used astounded audiences. Even Georges Sadoul in his Histoire générale du cinéma recognized its historic value, the grandeur of the en plein air scenes (in Vauda di San Maurizio in the Piedmont plains), the quality of Vitrotti’s cinematography (“he knew how to use snow as a character in the drama”). The plot: the grenadier Roland returns to his village and finds his betrothed Elena married to an officer. He enlists for the Russian Campaign and at the front encounters his beloved following her husband. During the retreat, Roland is willing to sacrify his life to rescue the wounded officer and to save Elena from misfortune. The film is still surprising today for the expert staging in big and small spaces and the use of an epic episode for an intimate drama. And for the snow, as Sadoul significantly noted. Colouring film for a movie about snow seems a paradox. However, the blinding white does not lose its leading role with the palette of this restoration. Frusta played the part of Napoleon, after opposing the choice of Oreste Grandi with his unpresentable imposing nose. As Frusta himself recalls, he had to sacrifice his “enormous, sensational moustache”.